• A Forest of Dreams

    Planting the seeds of Norfolk’s wildlife habitat By Carol Goodstein A moose and her calf spotted in a Colebrook backyard. Black bears lumbering across Route 44 to Norfolk’s City Meadow. A ruffed grouse who, this summer, took up residence in the Norfolk Country Club parking lot. “This is what my grandfather envisioned,” recalls Betsy Gill, […]

  • LCCU Sings America at 250

    By Patricia Platt In keeping with the 2026 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival’s theme of “Anniversaries,” the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) will celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a special multi-cultural performance entitled “From Roots to Promise: Singing America at 250” on Sunday, Aug. 2, at 5 p.m., in the Battell Music Shed, conducted by Gabriel […]

  • From Botelle to the Big Stage: Norfolk Thespians Shine at Sharon Playhouse

    Norfolk is home to many talented young artists, and three local performers are proving that dedication and a love of theater can take you far beyond the school stage. Botelle Elementary School students Adilyn Keyes and Fiona Padua and Botelle Theatre alum Chloe Keyes are sharing their talents this summer with audiences at the renowned […]

  • Sadie and Shakespeare

    The Bard and a highschooler inspire young readers By Jude Mead While many teenagers spend their summer vacations relaxing or working seasonal jobs, rising high school senior Sadie Rotolo is sharing her passion for one of history’s greatest playwrights with the next generation. Rotolo recently led a weeklong Shakespeare program at the Norfolk Library, where […]

  • A Farm Stand For All at Oak Hill Farm

    A dream garden grows on Bruey Road By Andra Moss There is a new farm stand in town—and a pair of new farmers. Bonnie Simmons and Bart Wenrich moved to Norfolk in 2018 with no immediate thoughts of working the land. However, a visit to their Oak Hill Farm this summer reveals a significant vegetable-growing […]

  • GREENING OF NORFOLK

    Heroic Spotted Joe-Pye Weed By Jill Chase A key rule of thumb for gardening is “right plant in the right place,” meaning that properly matching up the needs of the plant with the existing conditions will go a long way toward low maintenance gardening. That being said, if you have a moist-to-wet place that is […]

  • Norfolk Crowds Return to New Farmers Market

    By Andra Moss The crowd was large, loud and loving it at July’s Northwest Farm to Fork farmers market, held under the pavilion at Norbrook Farm Brewery. “We were very pleased with the turnout, with approximately 230 customers coming through and 16 food and farm vendors,” says Lisa Auclair, a co-founder, with Devin Grosso and […]

  • Friday Night on the Green Celebrates America’s 250th

    July 3 was a picture-perfect night for the community-wide event cel-ebrating America’s Independence. Following a quick parade, picnickers enjoyed burgers and ice cream while judges dug into the entries in the pie baking contest. First Selectman Hen-ry Tirrell moved seamlessly from his welcome speech to the dunk tank, and a few folks, like Pete Sanders […]

  • NORFOLK REMEMBERS Laurene Mary Wallace

    Laurene Mary Wallace, 77, of Colebrook passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Friday, July 10, 2026. Laurene was born on April 28, 1949, in Bridgeport, the last of four children born to the late Lawrence and Irene (Misencik) Firmender of Stratford. A retired registered nurse, Laurene’s career in nursing and cardiac rehabilitation […]

  • Norfolk Remembers Sally Sterling Ellis Quale

    Sally Sterling Ellis Quale, of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Bronxville, N.Y., died unexpectedly of heart failure on July 7 at the age of 87. Sally will be remembered for her deep commitment to her family and communities and for her warmth, kindness, intelligence, creativity … and, of course, for her beautiful smile […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This charming house, still standing on the west side of Litchfield Rd., was built in 1905 for Richmond Paine, the newly appointed conductor of the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU). Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel engaged the architect Ehrick Rossiter to design the house for Paine as well as the Music Shed for performances by […]

  • Norfolk’s Newest Neighborhood Puts Down Roots

    Haystack Woods lauded as a “model for the state” By Joe Kelly Norfolk’s newest neighborhood, the Haystack Woods affordable housing development, has officially come to life. A year ago, the 39-acre location—a former gravel pit off Old Colony Road—was little more than a muddy building site. Now construction of the 10, two- and three-bedroom homes […]

Articles

New Firehouse Vote Set for Oct. 6

The Board of Selectmen have called a special town meeting for Monday, Oct. 6, at 6:30 p.m. in the Botelle School Hall of Flags to increase the appropriation and borrowing limits for the town’s proposed new firehouse. Voters will be asked to approve a $10.4 million appropriation—up from the $9.3 million approved earlier in the […]

Conservation Commission and Public Works Team Up Against Invasives

Knotweed, mugwort are priorities By Avice Meehan As a member of Norfolk’s Conservation Commission, Becky Eaton finds herself thinking a great deal about 21st-century road and property maintenance and building relationships with folks like Troy LaMere, the town’s public works supervisor. The motivation is clear: invasive plants like bittersweet kill trees and create roadside hazards […]

Community in Action

Scoville Piece to Join Norfolk Sculpture Trail By Andra Moss Norfolk’s public art collection—made possible through donations from local art supporters to the Norfolk Community Association—is growing. According to Doreen Kelly and Barry Webber, co-presidents of the Norfolk Community Association (NCA), the latest addition to the town’s outdoor sculpture trail, planned to connect Norfolk’s monuments […]

High or Low Tech?

New Strategies Considered for Speed Control in Norfolk By Avice Meehan First Selectman Matt Riiska often ends his monthly Norfolk Now column by asking people to slow down and observe the speed limit. But what exactly is the speed limit on town roads?“It is 25 miles an hour all through the town, on all town […]

Ten Years of Weekend in Norfolk

This year is the 10th annual Weekend in Norfolk (WIN) and it’s bigger and better than ever. From Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3, Norfolk opens its doors all over town to host a great variety of activities such as live music, art shows, open houses, hiking trails, bocce, fly-fishing lessons and the best […]

Norfolk in the Civil War

As part of researching the current exhibition at the Norfolk Historical Society, “A New Birth of Freedom: Norfolk in the Civil War,” Norfolk town historians have discovered many additional graves of Civil War soldiers who were part of the Connecticut 29th and 54th regiments. According to Barry Webber, executive director of the historical society, “One […]

Keeping Watch

Lifeguards Train for Tobey Pond By Jude Mead Lifeguarding Tobey Pond requires a sense of responsibility, safety and leadership—along with, quick thinking. Josh DeCerbo, Tobey Pond supervisor for the past several years, said the role teaches important life skills and makes a difference in the community because the job of a lifeguard at a beach […]

Botelle Sixth Graders Have Big Plans for the Future

By Avice Meehan More than a few already had middle school homework on their minds, but the nine students who completed sixth grade at Botelle Elementary School on June 11 are looking to make a major mark on the world. Their goals range from working for NASA to playing major league sports, becoming a chef, […]

Historical Society Explores Norfolk’s Civil War Past

By Andra Moss Norfolk had already been a thriving town for over a century when President Abraham Lincoln issued the call on April 15, 1861, for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to defend the Union after the fall of Fort Sumter at the entrance of Charleston Harbor. The men of Norfolk responded—some immediately, others throughout the four […]

A Different Kind of Beaver Dam

By Colleen Gundlach Beavers, the semiaquatic rodents that often change the structure of waterways with their dams, are seldom known to dam up a roadway. In Norfolk, though, one of these little animals was enough to block traffic in both directions at the Route 44 retaining wall project when it took a stand at about […]

Norfolk Land Trust Earns National Accreditation Renewal

The Norfolk Land Trust (NLT) has achieved accreditation for a third 5-year period from the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). “The Norfolk Land Trust has always striven for excellence,” said Libby Borden, the organization’s co-president. “With the LTA ‘Seal of Approval,’ our members, donors, and everyone […]

Norfolk Palooza

Mark Your Calendars to WIN! Throughout the winter and spring, the elves of Norfolk have been hard at work thinking about ways to showcase Norfolk at its summer best and draw visitors to its manifold attractions. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for the first weekend in August as “Weekend in Norfolk” gets underway […]