• great blue heron rookeries

    working together to provide sustainable breeding habitats By Jude Mead Great Blue Herons are a familiar sight in Norfolk and are one of the largest of all North American herons, standing up to four feet tall with a wingspan of close to six feet. They are most noticeable in flight as they soar across the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn […]

  • Looking Back Over the Years

    The End of an Era for Norfolk Now By Colleen Gundlach After 10 years and over 30 issues, Ruth Melville has put on her Norfolk Now editor’s hat for the last time. In June, the paper marked the end of an era with the publication of Ruth’s final issue as one of the executive editors […]

  • A Look Into Norfolk’s Past

    Exhibit Explores Pupin’s Haven of Happiness on Westside Road By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Historical Museum graces Norfolk’s village green with the reserve and understated elegance of a New Englander well worth getting to know. Visitors who step inside will find exhibits that tell the stories of the town’s past, often with intriguing ties to […]

  • Norfolk Past and Present

    The Summer Chapel Eases Gracefully Into Its 130 Years By Elizabeth Bailey Ayreslea Rowland Denny began attending services at The Church of the Transfiguration in Norfolk in 1939 on the eve of World War II. A New Yorker, she was a student at the Chapin School in New York City, but her family had been […]

  • Church Steeple Shines Once Again

    Local dignitaries and friends of Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational gathered on Saturday, May 25, to formally celebrate the completion of the steeple restoration project. The Rev. Erick Olsen thanked the community for supporting the years-long effort and welcomed everyone to enjoy a splendid cake featuring an image of the steeple.

  • Making the Native… Personal

    Cheryl Heller Builds a Wild Garden in Norfolk By Joe Kelly Gardens are best when they’re personal, argued the late Fred McGourty, who remains Norfolk’s best- known plantsmen. McGourty’s 1989 book, “The Perennial Gardener,” recounts the gardens he and his wife, Mary Ann, created at Hillside, their home near Dennis Hill State Park. Were he […]

  • This Old Norfolk House

    Stevens House By Joe KellyWhen our Puritan forebears arrived on these shores in the early 1600s, they were no doubt surprised todiscover how the traditional thatched roof cottages they knew from back home were no match for thewind and cold of a typical New England winter. But it would have likely surprised them even more […]

  • Can wildlife safely cross Norfolk’s Roads?

    By Shelley Harms Where are animals crossing Norfolk’s roads? Are they making it across? Is it possible to make theircrossings safer? Julia Rogers, Senior Land Protection Manager at the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), helped agroup of interested Norfolk residents explore these questions at a training session sponsored by theNorfolk Land Trust on March 22 at […]

  • Great Mountain Forest’s New Executive Director Returns to His Connecticut Roots

    By David Beers Mike Zarfos started his new position as executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) at the end ofFebruary. It has been a lively time for Zarfos and his family; in addition to moving from Washington,D.C., to Connecticut, they are expecting a baby in April. Zarfos grew up in Deep River, Conn., where […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the late 19th century, the arrival of every train at the depot on Station Place was widely anticipated.There were freight trains, milk trains and passenger trains unloading throngs of summer visitors. Theattractive station pictured here was built in 1898, replacing an earlier modest structure. Constructed ofnative granite, it was designed by Hill & Turner, […]

  • Focus on New Firehouse shifts to funding

    Costs likely to rise beyond initial $5 million estimate By Joe Kelly After months of sometimes contentious public hearings, plans for a new Norfolk firehouse are nearing the end of the wetlands/zoning part of the approval process and heading into a decisive new phase: finding the money to pay for it all. The Planning & […]

Articles

Two Child Care Centers Serve Norfolk

From Famine to Feast By Colleen Gundlach After surviving several months with no organized day care programs in town, Norfolk parents will now have the choice of two licensed options operated by Norfolk natives. One is a home-based early childhood care option in South Norfolk, and the other, a center-based model on Laurel Way. Donna […]

Trying For Another Award Winning Robot

The “Gearheads” from Regional #7 Gear Up For Competition By Joshua DeCerbo Emboldened by their success in last year’s Connecticut Regional Robotics Competition, a team of over 30 students from Northwest Regional School #7 have designed and built a totally new frisbee-throwing robot for this year’s event that opens at the Hartford Convention Center on March […]

Coming Soon: Low-cost Loans for Local Businesses

Coalition for Sound Growth launches new venture with National Iron Bank By Lloyd Garrison The non-profit Coalition for Sound Growth is poised to provide modest capital infusions to aspiring entrepreneurs in Norfolk who lack the credit to get a loan that they could afford to repay. “What makes Norfolk viable,” says coalition President Vint Lawrence, […]

Arrest Imminent in Norfolk Copper Theft

Police say the perpetrators have been identified By Bob Bumcrot On the night of January 29, two men were recorded on videotape stealing copper gutters and downspouts in Norfolk. The metal was removed from the Church of Christ and other nearby sites, and loaded into a small truck. The short videotape of the theft can […]

Nemo Dumped a Pile of Snow But Never Matched the Hype

Norfolk’s roads cleared within 38 hours By Lloyd Garrison Like Hurricane Sandy, the winter storm named Nemo was tracked several days in advance and prompted some forecasters to predict a “storm of the century.” Unlike Sandy, its full impact was limited to coastal areas and eastern Connecticut. A record 40 inches of snow fell in […]

Supporting Young Artists’ Passions

The Battell Arts Foundation accepting scholarship application By Tom Hodgkin Amelia Benedict loved art from the beginning.  In her first years, it was finger painting and play dough.  Then, after art classes in grade school, her interest turned to oil painting, sculpture, and ceramic hand building.  But when she first tried throwing clay on the […]

Rising From the Ashes

Rising from the ashes of December 2011, the Norfolk Curling Club is well on its way in erecting a new building where the previous facilities stood. The Golf Drive project is the result of a major fund-raising effort spearheaded by Mary Fanette, president of the group. The old building was razed after a late night […]

Forest Lyceum at Norfolk Library

By Lloyd Garrison Norfolk Library last month served as host for the first of several free lectures produced by Great Mountain Forest. The lectures, which continue through early June, are collectively known as The Forest Lyceum.  While some of the events are slated for libraries in neighboring towns, Norfolk Library will host the majority of […]

Curling Club Arsonists Imprisoned for 10 Years

State’s Attorney Unveils  Story of Nocturnal Rampage By Wiley Wood The two young men arrested on Mountain Road in the small hours of December 18, 2011, while a fire smoldered on Wheeler Road and another roared at the Norfolk Curling Club on Golf Drive, were sentenced to 10  years in prison for arson and other […]

Local Band Plays Infinity Hall

Matt Papanek of the band Ibis is shown on stage at Infinity Hall during the group’s concert last month. Not shown are the band’s other members, Brock Wehry – vocals, rhythm guitar; Rob Sanzone – lead guitar; Van Daalhuyzen – bass; Alex Hotchkiss – drums. Ibis has a return engagement scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 7, […]

State Trooper Naylor Honored for Investigative Skills

Medal cites his exceptionally high rate of crimes solved By Sally Quale Norfolk’s Resident State Trooper Greg Naylor is not only a first responder but also a crime solver, and such a good one that late last year the Connecticut State Police awarded him the Medal for Outstanding Service. The medal is given to a […]

Walk on the Wild Side

Land Trust buys 311 acre Girl Scouts Camp By Janet Gokay The Norfolk Land Trust is looking forward to June, when they expect to finalize their acquisition of 311 acres of pristine wilderness, formerly part of the Girl Scouts’ Camp Iwakta. The purchase will significantly enlarge the corridor of conservation lands stretching from Aton Forest […]