• Inside the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art

    A season of student and community activity By Patricia Platt For over 80 years, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust has endowed Yale University’s summer music and art programs in Norfolk. The renowned Yale Norfolk School of Art opens the 2026 summer season on May 23, before the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival begins, and shares its […]

  • Trio Revives Local Farmers Market

    Northwest Farm to Fork launches at Norbrook By Andra Moss When Devin Grosso and her husband moved to Norfolk in 2024, she was disappointed to learn that the town’s farmers market had permanently closed just the year before. However, a chance meeting at the Botelle School garden with Lisa Auclair, who had managed the Norfolk […]

  • Tracing the Dudley Legacy

    Family history and the truth behind Dudleytown By Jude Mead The Dudley name, with roots stretching back to 14th-century England, carries with it a long and often dramatic history. For Susan Dudley of Winchester, that legacy has been a lifelong source of curiosity—particularly her family’s connection to Dudleytown, the long-abandoned settlement hidden within Cornwall’s Dark […]

  • Cultivars, Nativars and Natives: The Lowdown

    by Susannah Wood It’s May and gardening is in full swing. At nurseries and on gardening sites, beginners and enthusiasts often encounter plants labelled “cultivar” or “nativar,” as well as “native.” What is the difference between a cultivar and a nativar? If someone wants to support local ecosystems and biological diversity, are nativars a good […]

  • Noteworthy Natives: Arrowwood Viburnum

    By Jill Chase For some, a mass of viburnums in bloom on the woodlands edge rivals the beauty of any formal garden around. The fresh white flowers on green foliage let you know that the spring garden season is well and truly on. There are several good varieties of viburnum—some produce blooms like snowballs, while […]

  • A Town Hall Treat for Pollinators

    The Norfolk Nature Alliance sponsored a student native plant garden project at Town Hall. The Northwestern Regional 7 Agricultural Education Program/FFA arrived on a sunny Sunday to install the donated native shrubs and perennials.

  • Birds Now

    A view on the prose and poetry of spring By Cheryl Heller As I write, the red-winged blackbirds are partying outside my window. Goldfinches, in their bright almost-summer feathers, make yellow polkadots in the dogwood that will flower any day. The phoebe (or her daughter) who has nested on our hanging porch light for the […]

  • Happiness Is …

    Smiles and squeals greeted “Farmer John” Coston as he surprised the Merrymakers group of kindergarten and first-graders with a lamb visit at the Norfolk Library’s after-school program on March 23. Cuties and lambs—need we say more?

  • Greenwoods Puppet Festival Returns to Norfolk Library

    By Bina ThomsonThe Greenwoods Puppet Festival returns to Norfolk for a third exciting showcase of puppet magic. Children’s Librarian and Event Coordinator Eileen Fitzgibbons, who has coordinated the previous two festivals, is busy fine-tuning this year’s offerings. In addition to a full day of performances, a puppetry workshop for adults will also be offered. Festivities […]

  • Botelle Beat

    Power Goals and WIN Time Personalize Learning at Botelle By Lauren Valentino One of Botelle School’s SOAR expectations is to Achieve Your Goals. We believe that when students know their goals—what they are learning, why and what success looks like—they are more engaged and motivated. They are partners in the learning process and own their […]

  • Courtney Maum’s Comedic Take on Capitalism

    On June 2nd, Norfolk author Courtney Maum launches her new novel, “ALAN OPTS OUT” (Little Brown) at the Norfolk Library in conversation with WAMC radio’s Sarah LaDuke. The book is a comedy about an ad exec who bombs the biggest pitch of his career and decides to move into a backyard playhouse, opt out of […]

  • “You Shall Not Pass!”

    Gandalf and the state Department of Transportation have spoken. Mountain Road at Westside Road is now closed through November for the Spaulding Brook bridge replacement project. Traffic is being detoured off Route 44 via Westside Road. Cars can still reach the ball fields along the short stretch of Mountain Road.

Articles

Norfolk Land Trust Pursues Elite Status with Land Trust Alliance

Decision taken to seek national accreditation By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo The Norfolk Land Trust (NLT) is seeking hard-to-win accreditation from the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission, a program of the Land Trust Alliance. According to a recent press release, NLT welcomes the accreditation process as an opportunity to review and fine tune its practices and […]

Norfolk Vintage Vehicles to Vie for Top Honors

By Colleen Gundlach On July 14, a first-time ever event will be held in Norfolk that will have residents reminiscing and harking back to the days of their youth. The First Annual Classic Community Classic Car Show will be sponsored by the ArtsWave Committee of the Norfolk Economic Development Commission (EDC), and promises nostalgic moments […]

Norfolk Now Introduces Interactive Web site

Readers may comment on articles and access the site on Smart Phones and iPads By Matt Papanek Whether or not you have used Norfolk Now’s Web site, or even realized there was one, it is now in the process of a major makeover that will match the printed paper aesthetically while offering easy access to […]

More Than a Librarian

Chris Keyes Embraces Life, One Chapter At a Time By Rosanna Trestman Over the past four years, patrons of the Norfolk Library have come to know Chris Keyes, at least in his visible role as head of circulation. But behind the fellow checking out books is a man of many hats, including a chef’s toque, […]

Salisbury VNA To Offer Community Service Help Line

Answering the tough questions By Colleen Gundlach According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 1 million people have knee or hip replacements each year, and untold numbers of Americans will contract influenza. In addition, there are almost 80 million members of the baby boomer generation contributing to the aging of this country’s population. […]

Once China, Now Salisbury

Lisa Carter Appointed Principal of Salisbury Central School By Sally Quale Each morning about 6 a.m., Lisa Carter drives west out of Norfolk on Route 44 to Lakeville to begin her day as the new principal of the Salisbury Central School. Despite her initial anxiety, when the Board of Education offered her the opportunity to […]

Two Child Care Centers Serve Norfolk

From Famine to Feast By Colleen Gundlach After surviving several months with no organized day care programs in town, Norfolk parents will now have the choice of two licensed options operated by Norfolk natives. One is a home-based early childhood care option in South Norfolk, and the other, a center-based model on Laurel Way. Donna […]

Trying For Another Award Winning Robot

The “Gearheads” from Regional #7 Gear Up For Competition By Joshua DeCerbo Emboldened by their success in last year’s Connecticut Regional Robotics Competition, a team of over 30 students from Northwest Regional School #7 have designed and built a totally new frisbee-throwing robot for this year’s event that opens at the Hartford Convention Center on March […]

Coming Soon: Low-cost Loans for Local Businesses

Coalition for Sound Growth launches new venture with National Iron Bank By Lloyd Garrison The non-profit Coalition for Sound Growth is poised to provide modest capital infusions to aspiring entrepreneurs in Norfolk who lack the credit to get a loan that they could afford to repay. “What makes Norfolk viable,” says coalition President Vint Lawrence, […]

Arrest Imminent in Norfolk Copper Theft

Police say the perpetrators have been identified By Bob Bumcrot On the night of January 29, two men were recorded on videotape stealing copper gutters and downspouts in Norfolk. The metal was removed from the Church of Christ and other nearby sites, and loaded into a small truck. The short videotape of the theft can […]

Nemo Dumped a Pile of Snow But Never Matched the Hype

Norfolk’s roads cleared within 38 hours By Lloyd Garrison Like Hurricane Sandy, the winter storm named Nemo was tracked several days in advance and prompted some forecasters to predict a “storm of the century.” Unlike Sandy, its full impact was limited to coastal areas and eastern Connecticut. A record 40 inches of snow fell in […]

Supporting Young Artists’ Passions

The Battell Arts Foundation accepting scholarship application By Tom Hodgkin Amelia Benedict loved art from the beginning.  In her first years, it was finger painting and play dough.  Then, after art classes in grade school, her interest turned to oil painting, sculpture, and ceramic hand building.  But when she first tried throwing clay on the […]