Author: kathrynwboughton@gmail.com

It’s official: the Norfolk Farmers Market, a once-popular weekly venue where townspeople could shop for fresh produce, artisan foods and crafts, is no more.

The Farmers Market Committee voted at its March 4 meeting to end the market’s long run and to focus its attention instead on the community garden at Botelle School. Earlier, the committee had discussed the possibility of having a pop-up market at Norbrook Brewery this summer but decided against that because of the amount of work involved.

“It just felt like it was time to hang it up,” said committee chairman Lisa Auclair. “With new farms in town and CSAs available, we don’t think the town will want for fresh foods.”

The community garden behind Botelle School operates under the umbrella of the market committee. In the spring, students from Northwestern Regional School #7 come to Botelle and work with the younger children on planting seedlings. The Botelle kids then tend the seedlings and the market committee and guest gardeners take over the plots all summer long. 

Some of the food is used for personal consumption and some is donated to the Food Pantry.

“We have a master composter working with us and it is a great community builder,” said Auclair. “We have some very talented gardeners, and it is fun to work together.”

The Farmers Market Committee has $4,700 left in its account and wants permission from the town to transfer it to the garden project to pay for needed capital improvements. 

People interested in working in the community garden can reach out to Auclair at 860-806-3679 or email lisaauclair@sbcglobal.net.

—Newsletter Editor

At their February meeting, the Botelle Board of Education members learned that the proposed education budget for 2025-26 stands at $2,703,690, up 4.29 percent from current spending of $2,649,086. 

In presenting the budget to the board, John DeShazo said the main drivers of the budget increase are contractual salary increases, special education and health care benefits. “There’s not much you can do about those,” he said.

He said the more than $37,000 figure for health benefits is not yet firm but is based on the maximum increase of nine percent.

The board delayed action on its budget proposal until its March meeting as several members were absent.

On the municipal side, First Selectman Matt Riiska is buoyed by a reduction in the town’s portion of the Northwest Regional School budget this year. “It’s a huge help,” he said. “Last year, it was $2,146,683 and this year it’s down $155,555 to $1,991,128.”

The reason for the reduction? Norfolk is sending 10 fewer students to the school, shifting its proportional share of the regional school’s budget.

In addition, several large-ticket items are all or partly completed. The new boilers for the elementary school have been ordered and paid for; the new fuel tanks at the school have been installed, and the roof has been replaced.

The cost of a new firehouse remains on the horizon as Riiska expects to pay no more than interest on the cost of the project in the 2025-26 budget. The full budgetary effect of the new construction will be reflected in 2026-27.

Riiska will present his proposed budget to his board next week during their March 5 meeting.

—Newsletter Editor

A lack of salt to treat icy roads forced the closure of Botelle School on February 18, leaving many residents disgruntled, but town officials hope there will be no repeat of that experience this year.

“It wasn’t a matter of money,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. “The salt had been ordered for two weeks, and they just didn’t deliver.” 

Normally, salt is delivered within 10 days of when Public Works foreman Troy Lamere puts in an order to Morton Salt of New Haven. But despite a second order and repeated calls, the town’s supply was not replenished until February 18.

Problems with salt deliveries started in 2021 when the Connecticut Port Authority prepared to use the State Pier in New London for wind turbine development. New London and New Haven were the only ports in the state that received shipments of salt. DRVN, a New London salt supplier, was forced out of business by the move and all salt deliveries were routed through New Haven. DRVN’s closure put pressure on deliveries as contractors waited in long lines.

Riiska said that three consecutive weeks of storms aggravated delivery problems and that even the state was short on materials. Norfolk, known as the Icebox of Connecticut, was more affected than most because it is colder than other towns.

When the Presidents Day storm struck, the town had very little salt left. So, the Norfolk town crew mixed the salt on hand with sand and road grit swept up from roads that were milled in the summer. 

Norfolk can store only 500 tons of salt and, since it uses between 100 and 160 tons per storm, each delivery prepares the town for only four or five storms.

“Now, they [the salt companies] have been told by a power higher than me, that they have to deliver,” Riiska reported. “People were upset because the school was closed, but Troy was on the phone with the Region 7 and Botelle superintendents at 3:00 in the morning, and he had to tell them the roads weren’t safe. That’s his job. Safety is the main concern.”

—Newsletter Editor

Botelle students “knocked it out of the park” during February’s Kids Heart Challenge, Principal Lauren Valentino said. They raised almost $1,390 for the American Heart Association, far surpassing the school’s $1,000 goal.

During the month-long initiative, children learned about healthy living and eating, engaged in heart healthy activities and gathered pledges from family and friends. The event culminated with students taking part in a rope jumping challenge. 

The PTO provided grapes, clementines and water to refresh and hydrate the children during the excercise.

Valentino said the children were paired with their “learning buddies” during the challenge. Under the learning buddy system, children from upper grades are paired with younger children. 

“The older kids coach the younger ones,” she explained. “It brings out their best effort and creates a positive environment.”

The rope-jumping session was organized by Winter Thorne-Kaunelis, a Botelle graduate and now its physical education teacher.

—Newsletter Editor

Residents of Norfolk and Colebrook offered a mix of thoughtful opinions about the possible consolidation of elementary school services during a public forum at Botelle School Thursday night.

There have been two previous failed attempts to merge the schools, which have both experienced declining enrollments over the past two decades. Norfolk has 62 students in kindergarten through grade six, while Colebrook has 64 in six grades. In the last attempt, in 2015, Norfolk voted for merger and Colebrook against.

That balance appears to continue until today. “Colebrook has told us repeatedly that they do not want to send their children to Norfolk,” Norfolk School Superintendent Mary Beth Iacobelli said before the meeting, but municipal leaders in both towns have resumed discussions.

Norfolk First Selectman Matt Riiska said the potential partnership is about expanding social and educational opportunities for “our children and generations to come,” but many members of the audience rejected the idea of closing one or other of the schools. One young girl made an impassioned speech about how much she loves Botelle School. “I don’t want them to close the school because it is very special to us students,” she said. 

Parents echoed her sentiments, offering testimony recounting their happy years at Botelle and the experiences their own children are enjoying there. They decried statements that Botelle does not provide a good education, saying these comments are detrimental to both town and school.

Colebrook residents had similar feelings about their school. One woman who described herself as an educator and coach, said, “The last thing we want to do is close a school. That should be the last priority. Having two schools is beneficial because two second-grade teachers can bounce ideas off each other, but if you have one second grade there is no one to talk to. We all want the best for our kids. What ways can we work to save money?”

Andy Bakulski, educator, parent and Colebrook resident, advocated for consolidation. “If we combined resources, working in one space and not supporting two buildings, we could greatly improve the education and opportunities for our children,” he said. “We’re talking about 120 or so students, so class sizes would still be very manageable. The possibilities are fantastic, but we do need to involve everyone.”

Feelings have run deep each time consolidation or collaboration has been discussed but this time several people suggested gradual steps to combine district tasks. Norfolk school board member Walter Godlewski noted that the two towns are now paying for duplicate services. 

“Our superintendent is resigning, perhaps we could have a joint superintendent,” he suggested. “Perhaps we could have the lower [grades] in one town and the upper grades in the other—maybe we could do that for four or five years. We could get used to having our children go to another town and maybe then we talk about it and decide it’s in our best interest to close one of these schools. I would like to see us think big and long-term, in slow and progressive steps.”

Riiska said the committee would meet sometime in the coming weeks to continue the discussion. A recording of the meeting is online; for a link and the password, click here.

—Newsletter Editor

Mary Beth Iacobelli has submitted her resignation as superintendent of the Norfolk School District, effective June 30. Iacobelli has served the district for 11 years, since 2014.

State statues required each school district to have a superintendent, and the Board of Education will launch a search for a replacement.

It will be the second retirement for the 48-year education veteran, who stepped down as superintendent of the East Haddam public school system in 2014 after 24 years as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent in that town and New Britain.

Iacobelli said after her first retirement she soon found she was not ready for full-time leisure. A resident of Haddam, she applied for part-time superintendent positions in southern Connecticut and, on a whim, in Norfolk. “I never even looked at a map,” she said. “I had no idea where Norfolk was.”

Called to interview, she persuaded her husband to ride along, promising a nice dinner in Litchfield County. “We drove, and drove and drove,” she said. 

The long drive did not dissuade her, however, and she ultimately accepted the job. “The people who interviewed me were a lovely group of people,” she said. “I thought I would take the job for a year or two, but I fell in love with the school and the town.”

Iacobelli looks with satisfaction on the changes that have taken place at Botelle under her leadership. “The whole digital landscape has changed now,” she said. “We have state-of-the-art technology and incredible online resources in the school. We even have 3-D digital headsets that the kids can put on and maybe take a walk through a virtual rainforest.”

She said that over the years the school has economized to keep costs under control despite decreasing student enrollments. She noted that in 2008 there were 158 students in the school and 12.8 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). Now there are 62 students and only 7.8 FTEs. 

The school countered the decline by establishing multi-age classrooms that allow students to either revisit lessons from a previous year that they did not fully grasp, or to move forward to an older age group if they are precocious. “The multi-age model gives us options,” she said. “We don’t put the kids in little boxes. It evens things out nicely.” 

Looking ahead, she does not envision drastic changes in her own life. A devotee of pickleball and hiking, she anticipates time for her hobbies as well as helping to care for her elderly parents. 

—Newsletter Editor

There will be a special treat for children Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Norfolk Hub when Andy Styles invites everyone to join in a sing-along. 

The program, part of the two-day Winter Weekend in Norfolk celebration, will also include 10 animated short films from the Best of the Fest Animation Showcase, a colorful collection that introduces young viewers to furry friends and takes them on adventures appropriate for the whole family. 

Click here [] for information about the films, which are all from the Seattle Children’s Film Festival.

Styles promises a feel-good performance with songs not only for children, but for adults as well. “The goal is to get people involved and just have fun,” he said. “I have songs for the kids to sing along with but also a couple for the adults to join in like ‘This Land is Your Land,’ and ‘Down in the Valley.’”

Styles is a familiar figure on the local music scene, having performed at the Farmers Market and Infinity Hall. He has played guitar, bass and harmonica in various bands over the years in the genres of rock, southern rock, bluegrass, country and folk.

The program at the Hub is just one of the many and varied activities planned for the weekend, a town-wide mixture of music, dance, art, outdoor and indoor sports, history and food for all to enjoy. For a full schedule of events, click here.

—Newsletter Editor

Great Mountain Forest (GMF) has been chosen by the New England Forestry Foundation as a core Connecticut partner to host one-day workshops on practices that promote forest health and resilience.

The workshops, planned for May and September, are designed for landowners managing at least 25 acres of forest as well as land trusts and their forest managers.  As part of the NEFF collaboration, GMF will also demonstrate climate smart practices in the forest and work to have them embraced broadly through outreach programs. During the workshops, eligible landowner participants will learn how to receive incentive funds to implement climate smart practices. 

Mike Zarfos, executive director of GMF, said the broader goal of the collaboration is to help New England forests combat climate change, protect biodiversity and build ecosystem resilience. 

For further details interested attendees are welcome to email info@greatmountainforest.org. Application and registration forms will be available on the Great Mountain Forest website later this month: greatmountainforest.org.

—Newsletter Editor

February serves up several holidays—Groundhog Day for the winter weary, Valentine’s Day for lovers, President’s Day for the patriotic—but Norfolk goes one better by throwing a weekend-long party. Weekend in Norfolk, February 22-23, brings a town-wide mixture of music, dance, art, outdoor and indoor sports, history and food for all to enjoy.

This year’s schedule brings back many old favorites such as the fly-tying workshop, stained glass tours and a maple syrup operation at Great Mountain Forest’s sugarhouse, but there are also new events for the amusement and amazement of visitors.

Like to cook with mushrooms? Take in the mushroom inoculation workshop at Husky Meadows Farm on Saturday and learn to grow your own. A pickleball fan? There’s a tournament at Botelle School. Interested in the environment? There is a conservation talk on “Beaverland, How One Weird Rodent Made America” at the Norfolk Library and a nature hike to a beaver pond on the North Brook Trail.

Another special treat can be found in the return of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival with a concert Saturday morning, also at the library. Michael Cobb and Seth Hagymasi will provide live music at the Hub in the afternoon the same day. For kids, there will be movies and music at the Hub on Sunday afternoon. Also on Sunday afternoon, Garet&Co. returns to Battell Chapel for a dance performance.

A full schedule of events, with times and locations, can be found here. The WIN information center will be open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Hub, 2 Station Place.

The winter Weekend in Norfolk celebration brightens a dark, cold February, but it is not the end of the fun this year. The 10th anniversary summer Weekend in Norfolk (weekendinnorfolk.org) is scheduled for August 1, 2 and 3. 

—Newsletter Editor

For more than two hours Tuesday night, Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Christopher Schaut read letters into the record during the continued public hearing on the Manor House Inn application.

Zoning enforcement officer Stacey Sefcik’s records show 37 letters clearly favored the application and 26 were in opposition, including a package of information from “Neighbors of the Manor House.” Two petition sheets with a total of 11 signatures supported Manor House. 

Two letters neither favored nor supported the application, but rather posed questions or offered suggestions. 

Three Stewards Real Estate, LLC, owner of the Manor House, which is operating as a country inn, has applied for a modification of an existing special permit and an associated site plan modification. The application has attracted strong public interest and the first part of the hearing, held in January, packed the Hall of Flags at Botelle School with people who wished to offer testimony or simply to learn more about the application.

No oral testimony was taken Tuesday. 

The application calls for an addition to the amenities offered by the inn. Before Tuesday’s session, the applicant granted a 21-day continuance via email so the commission could keep the public hearing open until the P&Z’s March 11 meeting.

To view all official documents associated with the application click here.

—Newsletter Editor