• Work to Resume on Route 44 and New Firehouse

    Warmer temps ensure concrete quality By Avice Meehan Two significant Norfolk projects that were put on hold because of below-zero temperatures this winter are expected to resume by mid-March: Reconstruction of two retaining walls along Route 44 and the construction of a new firehouse for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department. Engineers for the state Department […]

  • Richard Byrne Retires as Active Firefighter

    After 58 years, veteran status By Joseph Kelly He was a young Navy veteran, about to be married and ready to start a family in his hometown when, in February 1968, his older brother convinced him to join the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD). For Richard Byrne it was the start of an association that […]

  • Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus Will Benefit Local Food Banks

    Three Grammy nominees to perform at Infinity Hall By Colleen Gundlach On April 11, Infinity Hall will be the setting for Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus, a concert that will benefit Stock the Shelves, an outreach of United Way of Northwestern Connecticut. The Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus will feature three Grammy nominees […]

  • Rom-Com Curling Film Released With Olympics

    To get the ice just right, filmmakers tapped Norfolk expertise By Joseph Kelly The underdogs who battle the odds—the washed-up boxer, the outclassed football team, the aging baseball slugger with one last homerun in him—are all Hollywood standbys. Ronald Reagan may be remembered as much for “win one for the Gipper” as he is for […]

  • How Botelle (Carefully) Uses AI for Learning

    By Avice Meehan For more than three decades, children visited the fictional town of Frog Creek, Penn., home to two children named Jack and Annie. With the help of a magic tree house, the pair are whisked away to distant places where they have adventures, solve problems and, perhaps, learn a thing or two. Like […]

  • Choral Singing Meets Bluegrass

    LCCU welcomes all ages to sing new styles By Andra Moss The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) is entering its 127th concert year with decidedly youthful energy. Under the direction of Music Director Dr. Gabriel Löfvall, the LCCU will convene a youth choral festival in Norfolk in late spring; offer a series of choral seminars […]

  • Winter Weekend In Norfolk

    It was a cold and blustery weekend, but that didn’t stop the hardy from coming out on Feb. 21 and 22 for Winter WIN, the weekend for enjoying all things Norfolk in the winter season. The photos below show a story of a town that came together to strut its stuff for the world to […]

  • From Freeze to Flow: Extreme Temps and the Maple Syrup Season

    Reaching that ideal mix of natural conditions By Jude Mead The extreme cold and heavy snowfall this season has raised some concern among maple syrup producers. Reports of loud, cracking noises in wooded areas have set the stage for a phenomenon called “frost cracking.” During these periods of intense cold, the water and sap inside […]

  • Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale

    With Jude Mead at the guitar and with great enthusiasm, members of the Isabella Eldridge Club defied a threatened winter storm and entered Battell Chapel on Feb. 10 for a memorable performance of an episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” a daft 1960s television comedy. Despite the best efforts of the Professor (played by Marinell Crippen, left) […]

  • Cook For Goodness Sake

    America The Melting Pot By Linda Garrettson In celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, it seems appropriate to dedicate my food column this year to America, who we are, and what we eat. Get ready for some history lessons, and perhaps surprises that might enlighten you to what we call American […]

  • Be Careful, Very Careful

    An expert team from the Glass Source Stained Glass Studio spent nearly six hours in cold mid-January weather care-fully removing a cathedral stained glass window from Battell Chapel at the United Church of Christ before transporting it to their studio in Seymour for restoration. In this photo, Michael Skrtic balances one section of the window […]

  • The Week that Was

    First, frigid temperatures forced the relocation of Norfolk’s valiant Post Office staff to Winsted because of scheduled asbestos remediation, leaving box holders temporarily puzzled. Then, the big snow arrived on Jan. 25 and 26. Estimates vary widely: Russell Russ reported the official tally at the Great Mountain Forest weather station as 15.2 inches, but others […]

Articles

Norfolk 2023! Event Draws Strong Community Support

By Wiley Wood When the doors of Infinity Hall opened at 9:30 a.m. on October 5, the staff of Norfolk Now wondered a little nervously why anyone would give up a perfectly good Saturday morning to wrangle about Norfolk’s future. In fact, just over 150 residents of Norfolk attended, and their reasons appeared to cover […]

Missing Funds Investigated At Botelle PTO

No money in PTO account for children’s programs By Shelley Harms Members of the Botelle Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization were shocked to discover in September that nearly all the money was missing from the PTO bank account. Only about $1,000 remained of what should have been at least a $12,000 balance, with bills of […]

November 5 Is Election Day

Register, Get Your Absentee Ballot This Month The candidates have been chosen for this year’s municipal elections on November 5. Norfolk is fortunate to have so many citizens willing to take on these important public service roles. Coming out to vote is one way to show your support for them. Registering to vote is quick […]

It’s Time To Think About Your Health (Coverage)

A new health exchange wants to help the uninsured By Veronica Burns It is estimated that there are 344,000 individuals in the state of Connecticut who either do not have any health insurance or are underinsured. That should start to change on October 1, when open enrollment begins as part of the implementation of the […]

Northwestern Regional Robotics Team Gears Up For 3rd Season

By Megan Llewellyn Each member of the Northwestern Robotics Gearheads, NRG, started 2013 with one goal in mind: to build a robot capable of shooting Frisbees and climbing pyramids. To accomplish their goal, NRG spent six intense weeks designing, building, wiring, and programming a robot. The result was an eighty pound robot capable of shooting […]

Church of Christ Celebrates Erick Olsen’s Tenth Anniversary as Pastor

By Sally Quale The Church of Christ Congregational in Norfolk held its regular 10 a.m. service on Sunday, September 15 in the Battell Chapel, as opposed to the usual Church chancel, to mark the opening day of Sunday School classes for the year. Unbeknownst to Pastor Erick Olsen, however, this arrangement also facilitated a surprise […]

The Joint Chiefs to Play Ambulance Benefit at Infinity Hall

By Grant Mudge The Norfolk Lions Club Ambulance (NLCA) is pleased to have The Joint Chiefs of Salisbury, CT, play a benefit concert at Infinity Hall on Wednesday October 9 at 8 p.m. Known for their “tight harmonies and loose attitude,” The Joint Chiefs play a delightful mix of homespun music and country folk. The […]

Agricultural Fair a Success

By Sally Quale Norfolk’s first Agricultural Fair, which took place on August 24 at the weekly farmer’s market on Maple Avenue, was “a huge success and will be repeated next year on Saturday, August 14, 2014,” reports market manager Lisa Auclair. It ran an hour longer than the usual market – 4 rather than 3 […]

Plans For New Firehouse Go To Finance Board

Town Would Borrow Money Through a Bond Issue/ By Wiley Wood Plans for a new firehouse were presented to the Board of Finance on August 13. The design, which incorporates and expands the existing building on Shepard Rd., was described by architect Michael Fortuna as “pretty bare bones.” Total costs are budgeted at $2.7 million. […]

Record Number Of Norfolk Homes On Market

Local Realtors Guardedly Optimistic By Sally Quale Reports show that 56 single-family residences in Norfolk are currently on the market, over 6 percent of its housing stock. “It’s by far the largest number of single-family houses for sale that I’ve known in my twenty-two years in Norfolk,” reports Betsy Little of Betsy Little Real Estate. […]

Norfolk’s Pension Fund $1 Million In Debt

By Wiley Wood At a gathering of the Coalition for Sound Growth on August 25 Michael Sconyers, chairman of Norfolk’s board of finance, reported that the town’s pension fund is $1 million in debt. “We had been underfunding the pension plan,” said Sconyers, “and then the market went down and didn’t rebound enough. This is […]

Heavy Rainfall Breaks Beaver Dam

A Road Is Damaged And A Pond Ecosystem Lost: by John Anderson Early on the stormy night of August 10th a catastrophic event occurred: after nearly six inches of rainfall, a beaver dam impounding 20 acres of water in Aton Forest broke. One person living nearby heard what she thought was a falling tree during […]