Community News

The City Meadow Committee (which recently changed its name from “Friends of the Meadow Committee”) has set a goal of August 2027 as the time when the nature preserve in the center of town will achieve its optimal visual appeal.

The meadow sits next to the fire department property, and the firefighters will celebrate their 125th anniversary that month.

The committee has been working for years to restore the meadow, a wetland that became overgrown with invasive, as an attractive centerpiece for the town.

At its December meeting, the committee received a financial update from co-chairman Libby Borden. It has two financial accounts, one funded through donations and grants, and the other the town’s City Meadow account. Last spring, the selectmen included a $40,000 allocation in its 2025-26 budget to further the committee’s work. 

Borden reported that at the half-way point in the fiscal year, the committee’s account has a balance of more than $70,000 and the Meadow’s Town account has a balance of more than $25,000. The committee’s account is used for invasive eradication and new plantings, and the Town account is used exclusively for maintenance, such as replacing boards in the boardwalk.

In an effort to clarify Botelle School’s budget reduction, Superintendent Kevin Case is in discussion with officials from the state Department of Education about its Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR), he told the school board at its last meeting. The MBR prohibits local districts from budgeting less for education than the previous year. 

Because Botelle had one fewer special education outplacement in the current fiscal year, its budget was reduced by about $103,000 from the 2024-2025 numbers. The state is asking for additional information about the reduction.

There are exceptions to MBR requirements that allow districts to reduce their appropriations. These include such things as a decrease in enrollment, a decrease in Education Cost Sharing aid, closure of a school or increased efficiencies. These need to be approved by the Commissioner of Education. 

Alliance districts (Connecticut’s lowest-performing public-school districts) cannot decrease their appropriations, while, conversely, a district that ranks in the top 10 percent of all school districts is exempt from the MBR for that given year.

Numbers are currently being developed for the 2026-2027 budget proposal and will be presented to the school board in February. 

In other business, the school board elected officers at its December meeting, with John DeShazo being named chairman;Virginia Coleman Prisco, vice chairman, and Amy Bennett, secretary.

Now that winter is firmly entrenched, plans for this year’s Winter Weekend in Norfolk events are emerging. 

According to WIN’s steering committee, kids’ movies and popcorn, a fly-tying workshop, a pop-up bookstore and another mending cafe are already scheduled. Dates are Saturday and Sunday, February 21 and 22. The committee invites readers to send their ideas to win@earthlink.net.

First Selectman Henry Tirrell is not expecting the road maintenance problems his predecessor faced last year even though 2025 dealt up a real winter in its last two months with low temperatures and frequent little storms.

Despite the series of little storms and last week’s more significant ice and snow, there have been no serious problems and no shortage of road maintenance materials. 

“The town crew has been putting in the hours,” he said Wednesday. “They were out Friday night into Saturday and then they were back on Sunday, but considering how windy it was, there were no big problems.”

Last February when ice coated the entire state, the town ran out of salt because its supplier was serving larger communities first. 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 two orders and repeated calls, the town’s supply was not replenished for two weeks.

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.

Following the Presidents Day debacle, state legislators instructed the supplier to find solutions to the gridlock. “I think the supplier is on top of it this year,” Tirrell said. “That was a larger supply chain issue.”

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 could receive shipments of salt, and the New London salt supplier was forced out of business by the move. All salt deliveries were then routed through New Haven and contractors waited in long lines to pick up their deliveries.

Even though deliveries to towns are now more regular, Tirrell said the town crew will be conservative. “It snows, we plow it, then the sidewalks and roads melt and freeze again when the temperatures drop and we have to go out again,” he said. “We will be more conservative and mix our sand and salt. I’m hoping it will be milder in January.”

At its December 9 meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend
that the Selectmen take acceptance of Haystack Woods Road as a town
road to a future town meeting.

The short road leads to the new affordable housing complex off Old Colony Road that is being developed by the Foundation for Norfolk Living.

Kate Johnson, president of foundation and the architect who designed the energy-efficient dwellings, said the road into the 10-house complex was recently paved. She noted that the patio associated with one home encroaches on the road’s right of way and asked whether the commission would recommend leaving it as is or cutting off a portion of the patio. After discussion, the commission said the encroaching portion should be removed.

The favorable recommendation carried the condition that a $10,560 bond be imposed to ensure the encroachment is corrected and all other work is completed satisfactorily.

In other business, the commission postponed a public hearing on an application from George Auclair until its January 13 meeting. Auclair wants to build a 50-foot-by-80-foot storage shed on the parcel of land he owns across Route 44 from his service station. 

Zoning Enforcement Officer Stacey Sefcik advised that an approval is needed from the Torrington Area Health District because the septic system is being moved. She also said the Zoning Board of Appeals will have to give the project its imprimatur before Planning and Zoning can act.

Are you an aficionado of Christmas stories? Residents will get a chance to prove their knowledge of these tales during the second trivia night sponsored by the bookstore Les Renards & Co., which is in the Royal Arcanum Building adjacent to Robertson Plaza.

The event will be held at the Norfolk Curling Club, 70 Golf Drive, on Monday, December 22, at 6:00 p.m. 

The Trivia game begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.

There will be a cash bar and Mike Cobb & the Crevulators will provide Christmas music. There is no entry fee, but tips for the band are welcome.

Twelve teams of up to five persons each can be accommodated. Solo players can join a team upon arrival if space is available. Participants are advised to arrive on time to secure a table.

Freezing temperatures did little to dissuade the crowd that gathered at St. Mary’s Cemetery last Saturday to honor the memory of deceased residents who served in the six branches of Armed Forces. It was Wreaths Across America day and this year, for the first time, the Norfolk Lions Club participated, placing 250 wreaths on the graves of veterans buried in the town’s cemeteries.

In a short, moving ceremony ceremony, a good-size crowd listened to a rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” ably sung by Liz Allen, Debbie Storrs, Kristin Mudge, Karen Wilson, Dahlia Alexander, John DeShazo, Jim Ackerly and Grant Mudge.

The Reverend Eric Olsen offered the invocation and benediction, while Mudge served a master of ceremonies, representing the Lions Club.

“Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate the mission to remember the fallen, honor those that serve and their families, and teach the next generation the value of freedom,” Mudge said. “Today, millions of Americans are gathering safely as one nation to remember, honor and teach.”

He said, “We can be proud to be Americans living in a free society made up of many ethnicities. … We enjoy freedom of religion and worship and can raise our children to believe as we do. … Today, more than ever, we reflect on our nation’s veterans and active-duty service members who have answered the call and served our country well. For this, we say, ‘Thank you.’”

Although the majority of the wreaths had been placed the day before, a number had been reserved for the ceremony and viewers were invited to place them on the graves that were still undecorated.

Edited 12/20/25: Officially the U.S. armed forces are the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and the Coast Guard. Sometimes the Army and Air National Guards are counted, but they come under their respective services.

The Norfolk Pub Run is a quarter century old now and the much-anticipated annual race will take place Saturday, December 20, starting at 10:30 a.m. from Town Hall.

The festive holiday race traverses 10 miles and features a challenging course along country roads around Doolittle Lake. The “early wave”—those runners who expect to run 100 minutes or more—begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by competitive runners at 11:00 a.m. The finish line, also at Town Hall, closes by 1:15 p.m.

There will be post-race celebrations at the Norfolk Pub. 

Sponsor Greystone Racing will provide digital timing and a $100 reward for a new course record. The Masters division winner can earn a $50 prize for a new course record. To date, runner Chris Zablocke holds the course record for men, coming in at 53:09 in 2011. Claudia Camargo set the women’s record at 1:00:33, in 2006. 

Registration is available online via sites like Find a Race, Fleet Feet, and RunSignup.

Norfolk residents can display pride of place this winter by stamping their envelopes with special “Icebox” stamps designed by Norfolk artist and graphic designer Hilary VanWright.

Postmaster Michelle Veronesi said the idea was inspired by the stamps used in Bethlehem, Conn., where staff member Jenna Brown previously worked. 

Brown had first-hand experience with the popularity of Bethlehem’s 85 postal cachets. Postal cachets are decorative designs or inscriptions printed, stamped or drawn on an envelope, and are distinct from official postage. In 2013, for instance, 169,985 postmarks and cancellations were applied to Christmas cards and letters mailed in Bethlehem—the self-proclaimed “Christmas Town”—between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Veronesi reached out to VanWright with a request that she design a stamp for Norfolk. VanWright said she digitally designed a few options and shared a print-out with Veronesi, who opted to have all three custom stamps produced.

The stamps, which come in two sizes, are available for free at the retail counter for customers to use as they mail their letters. “We don’t recommend them for packages,” said Veronesi, “but they can stamp their envelopes.”

Following an incident in which a resident fell on the slippery walk outside the Hub, First Selectman Henry Tirrell is reviewing policies for treating snowy and icy sidewalks in the village.

Tirrell said he has spoken with the Public Works Department about treating the sidewalks after storms and that the department pre-treated walks in anticipation of Thursday’s wintery mix. 

The town has a sand/salt machine that it uses to clear the sidewalks from the Catholic Church through to the businesses on Station Place, and down to the asphalt walkway leading to Meadowbrook. It also clears Maple Avenue but does not plow around the Green and or the library’s walk, which are slate and could be damaged by the plow. 

Tirrell said a section of walkway along Route 44 from the southern corner of the Station Place entrance up to the intersection of routes 272 and 44 will be closed for the winter. “A wall has bulged there which makes regular travel difficult and snow clearing practically impossible,” he explained.

He said sidewalk improvements will be on the selectmen’s radar next summer.

“I will work on creating a one-page informative sheet to let people know how the town crew handles regular snow occurrences,” Tirrell said, adding that he encourages people to let his office know if there are icy spots.

“Unfortunately, cold, sunny days can lead to melt that then freezes as the sun goes down,” he said. “If anyone ever becomes aware of poor conditions, they can let us know and we will get it taken care of ASAP.”

He noted that there are wooden boxes filled with sand under the Town Crier sign near the Hub and near the package store. “Two more will be put out shortly so in a pinch nearby business owners can put down some sand on icy spots,” he said.

Last year the selectmen took an ordinance that would have required property owners to clear their sidewalks after snowfalls, but nobody would even make a motion to discuss it. Former first selectman Matt Riiska proposed the ordinance after the town was sued when a pedestrian slipped and fell on a slippery walk.