• Norfolk Crowds Return to New Farmers Market

    By Andra Moss The crowd was large, loud and loving it at July’s Northwest Farm to Fork farmers market, held under the pavilion at Norbrook Farm Brewery. “We were very pleased with the turnout, with approximately 230 customers coming through and 16 food and farm vendors,” says Lisa Auclair, a co-founder, with Devin Grosso and […]

  • Friday Night on the Green Celebrates America’s 250th

    July 3 was a picture-perfect night for the community-wide event cel-ebrating America’s Independence. Following a quick parade, picnickers enjoyed burgers and ice cream while judges dug into the entries in the pie baking contest. First Selectman Hen-ry Tirrell moved seamlessly from his welcome speech to the dunk tank, and a few folks, like Pete Sanders […]

  • NORFOLK REMEMBERS Laurene Mary Wallace

    Laurene Mary Wallace, 77, of Colebrook passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Friday, July 10, 2026. Laurene was born on April 28, 1949, in Bridgeport, the last of four children born to the late Lawrence and Irene (Misencik) Firmender of Stratford. A retired registered nurse, Laurene’s career in nursing and cardiac rehabilitation […]

  • Norfolk Remembers Sally Sterling Ellis Quale

    Sally Sterling Ellis Quale, of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Bronxville, N.Y., died unexpectedly of heart failure on July 7 at the age of 87. Sally will be remembered for her deep commitment to her family and communities and for her warmth, kindness, intelligence, creativity … and, of course, for her beautiful smile […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This charming house, still standing on the west side of Litchfield Rd., was built in 1905 for Richmond Paine, the newly appointed conductor of the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU). Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel engaged the architect Ehrick Rossiter to design the house for Paine as well as the Music Shed for performances by […]

  • Norfolk’s Newest Neighborhood Puts Down Roots

    Haystack Woods lauded as a “model for the state” By Joe Kelly Norfolk’s newest neighborhood, the Haystack Woods affordable housing development, has officially come to life. A year ago, the 39-acre location—a former gravel pit off Old Colony Road—was little more than a muddy building site. Now construction of the 10, two- and three-bedroom homes […]

  • Winsted Church Auctions Tiffany Window for $1.25 Million

    Sale highlights women’s role in Tiffany designs By Joe Kelly When medieval architects found ways to build taller cathedrals, the techniques they developed also made possible the enormous stained-glass windows that we so enjoy today, such as at Chartres and Sainte-Chapelle in France and Canterbury Cathedral in England. American-made stained glass is more recent, dating […]

  • A Revolutionary Year

    1776 Norfolk explored in summer exhibition By Andra Moss Communities across the country are looking back with wonder at 1776, the year that 13 British colonies initiated a revolution that, against astonishing odds, led to the birth of an independent republic. In Norfolk, two curators have combed the Norfolk Historical Society’s (NHS) collection for colonial-era […]

  • SUMMER MUSIC: Familiar Quartets, New Composers at Yale Chamber Festival

    By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, running from July 3 until Aug. 22, will present an exciting season of classical, innovative and international music. This summer, the Brentano Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, Ying Quartet and the Horszowski Trio are among those who will perform during weekend concerts and serve as artist-in-residence mentors to the […]

  • Botelle Students Move Up

    By Avice Meehan Four sixth graders bid farewell to Botelle Elementary School at a laughter-filled, but occasionally serious, ceremony on June 16 that was attended by family, friends and town officials. First Selectmen Henry Tirrell, a Botelle graduate whose mother and aunt taught at the school for many years, reminded the students that they would […]

  • Norfolk Rail-Trail Project Pedals Forward

    By Jude Mead After more than a decade of planning, permiting and redesign work, Norfolk’s long-await-ed Rails-to-Trails initiative has reached a major milestone, bringing the community closer to the creation of a new multi-use recreational trail along a historic railroad corridor. The project is the North Brook Trail, a planned three-quarter-mile ADA-accessi-ble pathway that will […]

  • LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Budgets, Beetles, Nips and More

    By Avice Meehan State Rep. Maria Horn came prepared to share details about the Connecticut budget (she is co-chair of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee) and the progress that has been made toward paying down the state’s unfunded pension liability, increasing the rainy day fund (now up to $18 billion) and allocating more state funds […]

Articles

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 […]

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 […]