• 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

Vocal Music – A Norfolk Tradition

By Rosanna Trestman Norfolk will be singing this summer when the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival season opens with a concert by the Yale Choral Artists, a new 24-voice chorus of professional singers from around the U.S. It will be directed by Jeffrey Douma, who also directs the Yale Glee Club, and will perform Rachmaninov’s “All […]

Wood Creek Bridge On 272 Under Repair

Construction could end by fall By Bob Bumcrot The bridge across Wood Creek at the intersection of routes 44 and 272 next to Memorial Green is being rebuilt by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The bridge surface itself will be removed, one side at a time, and replaced with concrete and paving. Much of the […]

New Signage Planned For Norfolk

Two new signs at either end of town on Route 44 will welcome cyclists, motorists and the occasional pedestrian to Norfolk. The design, featuring an arch with a hanging signboard and the date of Norfolk’s founding, was recently approved by the Board of Selectmen. The cost of fabrication and installation will be underwritten by a […]

A Globe-trotting Entrepreneur Loves Norfolk But Laments Lack of Broadband

Leaving Manhattan’s Noise Behind By Lloyd Garrison Running an internet-based business from Norfolk isn’t that unusual these days. In fact, Bryan Stanton has been running a worldwide marketing and public relations business from Norfolk since 1997. “From the agency’s founding 20 years prior, clients were always more foreign than domestic,” he explained, “as our expertise […]

State and BNE Energy Sued For Canaan Mountain Clear-cut

Star Childs charges DEEP decision in case a “rip-off” By Veronica Burns In December 2010, a brief article in the Hartford Courant alleged that there had been a non-permissible clear-cutting of trees on State-owned land on Canaan Mountain. The article seemed to mark the end of it. Now, three years later, the Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council […]

School and Library Collaborate

Appreciating The Arts Through Thinking, Analyzing and Discussing By Colleen Gundlach Exposure to the arts has always been a big part of life in Norfolk. Now, as a result of a unique collaboration between Botelle School and the Norfolk Library, the town’s children will have access to fun and learning at the same time. Ann DeCerbo, coordinator […]

FIRST ALERT

Town to Alert Households of Major Emergencies —Emails to residents will aid in crisis management By Lloyd Garrison Norfolk is preparing a “First Alert” system using email to inform homeowners of any threats related to weather, road conditions, public health and personal security. Shortly, the town’s 852 households will get a letter from First Selectman […]

State’s Gun Control Legislation Leaves Confusion in its Wake

Over 100 guns added to the state’s existing list of banned weapons By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo While the United States Senate voted on April 17 to defeat a compromise plan that would have banned some semi-automatic weapons and expanded background checks on firearms sales, the Connecticut legislature passed one of the toughest sets of gun […]

Eye On Town Government — May 2013

By Wiley Wood   Budget discussions this past month were led off by the Board of Selectmen, which presented its preliminary budget to the Board of Finance on April 2. Total expenditures for the town, exclusive of education, were set at $3,371,800, an increase of 4-percent or $131,550 over last year.   A number of […]

Serving Time in Connecticut

For Majewski and Carey, No Easy Road to Freedom By Susanna Wood Ten years in jail is a long time.  With two leap years that’s 3,652 days, 87,648 hours, 5,258,880 minutes. How does that time pass for inmates like Kyle Majewski and Matthew Carey, the two young men recently sentenced for a crime spree that […]

Election Officials Facing a Retirement Problem

Replacements needed to help oversee voting By Bob Bumcrot Staging local elections depends on a small cadre of Norfolk residents who supervise the polling, for which they are paid modestly, yet who keep coming back seemingly year after year. But change is in the offing. The town is looking for a few good men or […]

Are You Ready for Summer?

Norfolk Children’s Foundation Offers Camperships to Camp Jewell By Julie Scharnberg Imagine being able to spend a week or two this summer horseback riding, swimming, trying out archery or pottery, mountain boarding, rock climbing, kayaking, learning how to use high ropes or how to play the guitar, hiking, fishing, playing soccer and lots more. The […]