• 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

Rising From the Ashes

Rising from the ashes of December 2011, the Norfolk Curling Club is well on its way in erecting a new building where the previous facilities stood. The Golf Drive project is the result of a major fund-raising effort spearheaded by Mary Fanette, president of the group. The old building was razed after a late night […]

Forest Lyceum at Norfolk Library

By Lloyd Garrison Norfolk Library last month served as host for the first of several free lectures produced by Great Mountain Forest. The lectures, which continue through early June, are collectively known as The Forest Lyceum.  While some of the events are slated for libraries in neighboring towns, Norfolk Library will host the majority of […]

Curling Club Arsonists Imprisoned for 10 Years

State’s Attorney Unveils  Story of Nocturnal Rampage By Wiley Wood The two young men arrested on Mountain Road in the small hours of December 18, 2011, while a fire smoldered on Wheeler Road and another roared at the Norfolk Curling Club on Golf Drive, were sentenced to 10  years in prison for arson and other […]

Local Band Plays Infinity Hall

Matt Papanek of the band Ibis is shown on stage at Infinity Hall during the group’s concert last month. Not shown are the band’s other members, Brock Wehry – vocals, rhythm guitar; Rob Sanzone – lead guitar; Van Daalhuyzen – bass; Alex Hotchkiss – drums. Ibis has a return engagement scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 7, […]

State Trooper Naylor Honored for Investigative Skills

Medal cites his exceptionally high rate of crimes solved By Sally Quale Norfolk’s Resident State Trooper Greg Naylor is not only a first responder but also a crime solver, and such a good one that late last year the Connecticut State Police awarded him the Medal for Outstanding Service. The medal is given to a […]

Walk on the Wild Side

Land Trust buys 311 acre Girl Scouts Camp By Janet Gokay The Norfolk Land Trust is looking forward to June, when they expect to finalize their acquisition of 311 acres of pristine wilderness, formerly part of the Girl Scouts’ Camp Iwakta. The purchase will significantly enlarge the corridor of conservation lands stretching from Aton Forest […]

Referendums in Norfolk and Colebrook Approve Regional School Study

Local Members of Study Committee Named Byline: By Wiley Wood In separate but identical referendums on December 18, residents of Norfolk and Colebrook voted overwhelmingly in favor of studying regionalization, the first step towards bringing their primary schools under one roof. The yes vote to establish a regional study committee was 76 percent in Norfolk […]

Local Home Sales Still Depressed

Historic number of listings but few sales in 2012 By Kurt Steele Despite historic low interest rates and a glut of homes on the market in Norfolk, there are few buyers.  Those shopping definitely want bargains. Last year saw only 13 mutiple-listed homes sold here, 12 of which were at or below $365,000. With the […]

Memory Impaired Unit Opens

Geer Offering Assistance in Newly Formed Facility Geer Village, the Canaan retirement complex that is home to many Norfolk seniors, has opened a new unit providing assisted living for the memory impaired. It is only the second such unit in Connecticut especially devoted to residents with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The secure third-floor unit opened […]

How Times Have Changed

Becoming an EMT ain’t what it used to be By Joel Howard When Bill Brodnitzki started his first stint as an ambulance volunteer, he once answered a call when his neighbor yelled out, “Hey, Bill. You free to make a run?” Otherwise, like other volunteers, he answered his calls on a rotary dial phone. That […]

Local Business Mostly Flat in 2012

No sign of major changes ahead By Kurt Steele A review of area businesses found them mostly cautious about the future following a year in which the economy mainly held steady with a few notable bright spots. With continuing depressed house values and a large inventory of houses for sale in Norfolk, it is not surprising […]

Meadowbrook Receives Grant

The Norfolk Senior Housing Corporation (aka Meadowbrook) is very pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut. The amount of $500.00 has been received from the Local Area Fund and will be used in support of general operations. On behalf of all the residents and directors at Meadowbrook, […]