• 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

This property is on Mountain Road, known as Robin Hill, recently sold at a record price for Norfolk, boosting hopes for an upswing in the housing market.

Housing Market On The Mend

Record price for Robin Hill spurs hope for turnaround By Lloyd Garrison With the warm winter and early spring, Norfolk home listings, long frozen in place have suddenly begun to thaw, and one of them, the estate on Mountain Road known as Robin Hill, has just sold for a record $3,950,000. The price, brokered by […]

Old Perceptions, Enhanced Recollections

Robin Yuran’s poems come alive at Norfolk Library By Joel Howard Poet Robin Yuran does not simply live on forested land in north Norfolk, rather she and her family live “in a nut-brown house at the edge of the woods.” It is through such vivid selection and placement of words that her poems seem infused […]

Curling Club Shaping A Comeback Strategy

Members refining plans for fund raising and design of a new facility By Lloyd Garrison There are no easy answers to two key questions in the wake of the vandalism and fire that destroyed the Norfolk Curling Club in December. The first question is how and when the club will be restored. The second is […]

Church Rejects A Tempting Offer

Members decline lucrative bid to build wireless antenna in steeple By Joel Howard Church steeples are prime real estate for companies like Message Center Management (MCM), a firm that leases antenna space to cellular service providers like ATT and Verizon. Eyeing such expanded coverage, MCM approached Congregational Church of Christ trustees 18 months ago in […]

Joel Howard Joins Norfolk Now as Editor

Wrote ad copy for the likes of Verizon and American Express By Lloyd Garrison Joel Howard almost perfectly personifies the old adage that in the heart of every ad agency copy writer there is a frustrated novelist just waiting to be unleashed. Retired from advertising and now living in Norfolk, Howard already has several plastic […]

Norfolk’s Board of Ed Debates Merger and Expansion Issues

Absorbing Colebrook students still under consideration By  Josh DeCerbo Norfolk’s Board of Education is weighing several issues affecting the future of Botelle School, including merger options with Colebrook. Several years ago, the leadership of both towns supported a study of the costs and benefits of a merger. The matter was dropped once the regional school […]

Foundation for Norfolk Living Switching Gears

Group is now eyeing existing properties for affordable housing By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo The Foundation for Norfolk Living’s mission “to create opportunities for housing in Norfolk that are affordable to a diverse community including people and families of modest means” may be realized sooner than expected. The Foundation’s Old Colony Road project,  a low-maintenance, environmentally […]

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 […]