• Sweets on the Green

    A Decade of Decadent Desserts By Andra Moss How is your naughty versus nice rating? Those needing to influence Santa with an especially impressive treat should grab their stockings and head to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) for the 10th Annual Cake Auction on Saturday, Dec. 7.     Now a Norfolk holiday tradition, the event was […]

  • Artist Tom Burr Brings His Torrington Project to an End

    Performances celebrate studio closing By Stephen Melville Norfolk resident and artist Tom Burr organized a day of performances and exhibition at his studio in Torrington on Oct. 26, marking an end to what he has called “The Torrington Project.” For the past three and a half years, Burr has rented a vast—15,000 square foot—former industrial […]

  • New Meanings for a Monument

    Light Shines on the Memorial Green By Joe Kelly On Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, a crowd of about 100 gathered for the rededication of Norfolk’s World War 1 memorial, artfully restored under the auspices of the Norfolk Community Association. It was sunny. Temperatures in the low ‘60’s. Another day of no rain. Everyone talked […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1920s postcard shows Memorial Green just after the War Memorial, designed by Alfredo Taylor, was built. It was Taylor’s wife Minna who first proposed that a memorial “heroes grove” be planted on the small lot of land known as the Triangle opposite the Catholic Church. The lot had been left empty with the demolition […]

  • Restored war memorial to be celebrated on veterans day

    plaque now honors all who served By Patricia Platt A World War I monument, designed by Alfredo Taylor and erected on Norfolk’s Memorial Green in 1921, bears the inscription, “for those who gave and those who offered their lives for liberty, the people of Norfolk have built this monument and crowned it with the Liberty […]

  • NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners

    More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]

  • Can you spot the Real Curler?

    There was movie magic ice to be made, and the pros of the Norfolk Curling Club were the first to get the call. In October, NCC’s Jon Barbagallo, Lou Barbagallo, Rachel Barbagallo, Mark Walsh, Harvey Chalmers and Phill West were hired by a production company to make curling ice at a Rhode Island hockey rink […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1917 photograph is a timely reminder of the long struggle fought by many dedicated women for basic civil liberties, including the right to own property, hold public office, sit on juries, participate in public assemblies and vote. The group of 25 suffragists—20 women and five men—gathered on the porch following their meeting with Congressman […]

  • The chicken who wanted to be a star and other tales from a norfolk movie set

    By Andra Moss Secrets and small towns don’t often pair well, and Norfolk is a small town. Yet, for eight weeks this summer, a crew of nearly 100 people quietly transformed Tim and Paula Webster’s 1908 Norfolk farmhouse into a film set for a feature-length production, all the while staying under the local radar.  It […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

Move to Boost Small Businesses in Norfolk

EDC to offer seminars on how to launch, maintain businesses By Colleen Gundlach To start a new business in Connecticut, which state agency should a potential new owner approach first, the Secretary of State, Department of Revenue Services, or the Department of Labor?  This question and many others will be addressed at an upcoming series […]

Allen Melville, Advocate for the Disadvantaged, Dies

Family Trust Focused on Building Programs and Policies to End Homelessness  By Leila Javitz Allen Whitley Melville, a resident of Norfolk for almost 30 years, died on Jan. 1 at age 85 . A memorial service in February at the Lyceum in Hartford highlighted her work for social justice and for the rights of the […]

Anne Garrels Garners Yet Another Honor

Veteran NPR foreign correspondent Anne Garrels is one of three Connecticut residents slated to be inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame at the Hartford Convention Center in October.  Already the recipient of numerous coveted journalism awards, Garrels’ front line coverage in many overseas war zones was cited along with the work of international […]

Curling Club to Rebuild

Down But Not Out By Lloyd Garrison All was calm in Norfolk as darkness fell on Saturday, Dec. 17, exactly one week before Christmas. The town’s village green was bathed in the glow of multicolored tree lights. Many Norfolkians were home decorating their own trees in advance of the holidays.           Just before midnight, the […]

Geothermal Systems Come to Norfolk

By Bob Bumcrot Norfolk is not on a geothermal “hotspot,” like Iceland, where steam and superheated water can be easily extracted and used for heat and power, but like many parts of the earth, Norfolk sits atop its own virtually inexhaustible source of heating and cooling energy. From about ten feet below the surface to several […]

Accolades

   Four Norfolk students made Dean’s List at the University of Connecticut for the fall 2011 semester. To attain this distinction, students must take at least 12 credits, finish the semester with a grade point average that is among the top 25 percent of students enrolled in their school and have no grade below a […]

Regional’s Robotics Club

Building their own destiny By Joel Howard Working under the mantra of “gracious professionalism,” the Northwest Robotics Gearheads at Northwestern Regional High School are well on their way to creating a competitive robot. Originally championed by Superintendent Dr. Judith Palmer and Principal Kenneth Chichester, the group came into being last October. Robotics teams at various […]

This ‘n’ That for Habitat

Out & About By Colleen Gundlach Anyone who has participated in fundraising for a non-profit organization knows what a challenge it can be to find the perfect method for raising money. Bake sales, wine tastings and house tours have all been tried. While no one method is perfect, Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut seems […]

Habits of the Beaver

Comeback Kids Great Mountain Forest’s 2012 Forest Lyceum series began on January 14 with, “The Life and Habits of the North American Beaver” lecture by Dr. Stephen DeStefano at the Norfolk Library. “The first wave of beaver trapping started a decade after the Pilgrims landed, and beavers were almost wiped out to make hats later,” […]

Curling Club’s Destruction Sends Shock Waves Through Norfolk and Beyond

The morning after the fire, stunned Norfolk residents stood mourning the still smoking wreckage of the curling club, some fighting back tears, others consumed with rage.             The fire touched many in a deeply personal way, and none more so than Jon Barbagallo, the club’s ice manager and veteran of Norfolk’s Volunteer Fire Department. “The […]

Holiday Trumpeters

By Bob Bumcrot Norfolk resident John Allyn has played trumpet for most of his life. On December 4, 2011 he realized a dream when, along with four other trumpet players and about fifteen enthusiastic hikers and bikers, he ascended Haystack Mountain Tower with instruments, sheet music and stands. As the Sunday bells of the Church […]

Dr. David Leffell Publishes Photography Book

By Sally Quale Since 1994, Dr. David Leffell, a world-renowned dermatologist and author of several dermatology publications, has been coming to Norfolk with his wife Cindy and their two children. Initially summer renters and subsequently homeowners, the Leffells spend as much time here as they can depending on their busy weekly schedules in New Haven. […]