• 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 […]

  • Winsted Church Auctions Tiffany Window for $1.25 Million

    Sale highlights women’s role in Tiffany designs By Joe Kelly When medieval architects found ways to build taller cathedrals, the techniques they developed also made possible the enormous stained-glass windows that we so enjoy today, such as at Chartres and Sainte-Chapelle in France and Canterbury Cathedral in England. American-made stained glass is more recent, dating […]

  • A Revolutionary Year

    1776 Norfolk explored in summer exhibition By Andra Moss Communities across the country are looking back with wonder at 1776, the year that 13 British colonies initiated a revolution that, against astonishing odds, led to the birth of an independent republic. In Norfolk, two curators have combed the Norfolk Historical Society’s (NHS) collection for colonial-era […]

Articles

Touring Musician Posts Norfolk Video Online

  While in Norfolk on February 27 to play a concert at Infinity Hall, folk musician Brett Dennen wandered the downtown area and made a short video, which has recently been posted to YouTube. In it he comments drolly on the nonexistent rush-hour traffic, the overly solicitous signs and the friendliness of the locals—who remained […]

Rosemary Gill Reads Dorothy Parker

As the audience drifted into the Norfolk Library on Saturday, April 5, they were directed to the reference room, where a gleaming tray of martinis greeted them. The story on offer that evening, “Here We Are,” was written by the Algonquin Round Table stalwart Dorothy Parker in 1931, a time when it was not unusual […]

Eye on Town Government

By Wiley Wood At the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting on April 1, 2014, a letter from a Norfolk resident prompted a discussion of crime prevention. First Selectman Sue Dyer had investigated the possibility of hiring a constable to help the resident trooper with his duties. Her research revealed that the town would have to […]

Plan to Fight Homelessness in NW CT

Everyone needs safe place to call home By Ruth Melville Rural homelessness may not be as visible as urban homelessness, but that does not make it less real or less painful. A 2011 point-in-time count suggests that on any given night over 150 people in the Northwest Corner are homeless, and the percentage of those […]

Norfolk Land Trust Earns Accreditation

 National Recognition of Excellence   In February, the Norfolk Land Trust (NLT) received its accreditation from the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). One of only 254 land trusts across the country that are currently accredited, the NLT is authorized to display a seal indicating to the […]

Norfolk Real Estate Officially Loses 9 Percent of Value in Last Five Years

Town Budget Likely to Remain Flat But Tax Rate Will Rise Slightly   By Wiley Wood Property in Norfolk is appraised every five years in keeping with state law, and the latest results are in, according to Assessor Michele Sloane. The grand list has lost about 4.6 percent of its value overall, with real estate […]

Digital Norfolk Council Formed

Fiber Optic Has Potential to Attract New Norfolk Residents   By Kurt Steele Kim Maxwell, a Norfolk resident who has been involved in a number of communications businesses, has been talking since last spring with town leaders and residents about the benefits of Norfolk building its own fiber optic high-speed system. “If fiber high-speed services […]

Robin Hood Radio & TV

Navigating The Sherwood Forest of Public Access   By Colleen Gundlach In Norfolk, tuning in to Channel 6 on cable television brings an array of locally produced programs, from a Botelle Board of Education meeting to a Salisbury zoning meeting to the daily Morning Show simulcast from WHDD in Sharon. Formally titled Community Access Television […]

Norfolk Foundation Plans Two-Building Project

Downtown Will Get Six Affordable Apartments   By Bob Bumcrot The Foundation for Norfolk Living is moving forward with plans to purchase two houses and convert them into affordable apartments. The houses, at 40 and 46 Greenwoods Road, sit next to the town meadow.   “We have options to purchase these adjacent homes,” said Lou […]

College Scholarships Available

The Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation offers college scholarships to high school seniors who are Norfolk residents.  Completed applications are due by no later than May 15, 2014.  The application form is available on the NCCF website (www.norfolkchildren.com – “Apply For a Grant” tab).  If you have questions or need additional information, please contact any board member.

The Botelle Beat

Community Volunteers and a Winter Concert Enliven Winter Term   By Ann DeCerbo On Wednesday, February 5, Botelle School participated in the statewide Read Aloud Day. An annual event sponsored by the NW Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Read Aloud Day stresses the importance of reading to elementary school students. Botelle Curriculum Coordinator Rachel Incillo recruited […]

Norfolk a Prime Target in Drug-Related Break-ins

Resident Trooper Greg Naylor warns the rise in crime here has become epidemic By Lloyd Garrison There has been a notable increase in criminal activity in and around  Norfolk since the last issue of Norfolk Now featured the arrest of Christopher Goodall. Goodall, who said he was suffering from pain pill withdrawal, confessed to stealing […]