Norfolk Daze

December 31, 2023

The town of Norfolk is situate, as lawyers say,
Interjacent to Canaan and Winsted on Rt. 44
In the high valley of the Blackberry River, tightly
Bedded in the Litchfield Hills — a lateral appendage
Of the lower Berkshires; Massachusetts lies
Four miles north. Norfolk is called
“The Ice-Box of Connecticut in Winter. If it possessed no other
Distinction, Norfolk would be the world’s creditor
Each June for its rhododendron and mountain Laurel.
It’s post office houses by far the best postal staff anywhere.

- Adapted from “The Norfolk Poems of Hayden Carruth”

We shied away from Norfolk when we first visited on a drizzly, gloomy day in Summer 1983. But when, at the insistence of our recently-minted real estate agent Joan Walker, we turned onto Ashpohtag Road and then were chauffeured to Toby Pond by Joan, we were hopelessly enamoured. Joan made her first sale. And here we are - still.

Simon and Garfunkel notwithstanding, there’s a whole lot more than the dead of night goin’ on in our Little Town. Here’s just a sampling:

The Hawks Nest Pub (and its subsequent iterations) was a fave from the start where,  unbeknownst to Ross and Joyce Burke (whom we’ve never met), we vied with them In friendly fashion for the wonderful round corner table.

Each summer, we have been treated to The Chamber Music Festival, thanks to Yale and to Carl and Ellen Battelle Stoeckel - with performances by the likes of Rachmaninoff, Sibelius (before our time), The Tokyo String Quarter, the Emerson String Quartet,  Dave Brubeck, a host of other marquis musicians, and hundreds of incredibly talented students - with Philip Roth often in the audience.

Infinity Hall was first a venue for minstrel shows - in blackface - and then evolved into the Applehouse Grocery Store before again becoming a music destination where we heard Judy Collins sing on her 70th birthday - her soprano as ethereal as it was 40 years before at Wittenberg University.

Artists and artisans abound:  John and Eve Thew head the list, with John’s 12,000 hand-crafted weathervanes and Eve’s endearing dolls and whimsical aprons; the magnificent harpsichords crafted and marvelously decorated by Carl and Marilee Dudash;  Madeline Falk paints our pets’ portraits and John Riedeman is on the Sculpture Trail; Karen Rossi’s pieces are endlessly creative and whimsical; Kingsland and the Burke’s continue to craft exquisite furniture; and Nina Ritson has captured our scenes and architecture in her evocative etchings. And so much more - on display at The Artisans’ Guild, the Hub and the Library.

And then there’s Alfredo Taylor - an “Architect of Place” - in our beautiful Village as Ann Havemeyer describes him. His  more than 30 works in Town and over 20 gas stations throughout CT (since dismantled except in Canaan) are joined by the Fountain on the Green designed by Stanford White and Augustus Saint-Gaudins; the stunning  windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Maitland Armstrong adorning Battell Chapel; and The Manor House, now a classy B&B, designed by Ehrick Rossiter as a Victorian Tudor estate.

Norfolk was the home of New Directions Publishing Corp. and its founder James Laughlin - and his good buddy Brendan Gill. JL was visited over the years by luminous ND authors - Tennessee Williams, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, and countless others. Richard Childs was the founder and publisher of Modern Age Books here in the 1930s and 40s - one of the first publishers of quality paperback books.

Our Library, The Historical Society, and the annual Haystack Book Festival have continued our Town’s literary tradition, with a number of wonderful tomes authored by Anne Havemeyer, Robert Dance, and Barry Webber. And a raft of others have called Norfolk home too: Ann Garrels, her caricaturist spouse Vint Lawrence, Starling Lawrence, Lloyd Garrison,  poet, translator, and editor Jonathon Galassi, and Susan Galassi, Curator of The Frick Museum in NYC. And NorfolkNow has been reporting on all of this and more for 20 years!

We are blessed to have Husky Meadows Farm, Lost Ruby Farm, and Norbrook Farm Brewery nearby and, just next door, Ford  Farm with its sweetest-corn ever, and Freund Farm with its spectacular nursery (after the snow melts) and its country store - always fully-stocked with fresh produce, dairy products, and Teresa’s delicious baked goods and home-made fare - and Cowpots too!

Barack “Barry” Obama visited Norfolk with his girlfriend in 1984 at 22, reported in NorfolkNow 6/7/2012.  If Obama had stayed , he might have challenged Matt Risska for First Selectman.  Instead, Obama opted for the Presidency.

James Mars was the last slave bought or sold in Norfolk - in 1798. His autobiography is recorded in a pamphlet compiled by Cay Fields for our Historical Society. The Norfolk Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1844. And the Underground RR’s tracks ran through our Town.

A while back, the Norfolk “Haves” took on the outsider “Haves” over the location of a golf course at the end of Bald Mountain Road, as reported in The New Yorker, 8/11/2003. The Norfolk “Haves” prevailed. To again echo Hayden Carruth: “ There are a number/ Of millionaires in Norfolk, which adds a good deal/ To the scenery, but also a number of people who are/ Content not to be millionaires, which adds even more.”

Which brings us to the folks and services which assure that our Town coheres every day and which make Norfolk such a wonderful and welcoming place to be: Our Volunteer Fire Department and Lions Club EMS - the very best anywhere - which showed up at our home in the dead of night - all smiles and encouragement - when our CO alarm started blaring - for real; Pastor Erick and the Church’s Food Pantry and Clothes Closet  and community services; our Highway Department which clears even our dead-end road by 6 am on snow days; George’s Norfolk Garage which keeps our vehicles oiled, tuned, gassed-up, and on the road; the Curling Club, which hosts bonspiels in Winter and converts to pickle ball courts in Summer; the Norfolk Foundation, the Hub, and our Town Offices which are always accessible and responsive. And so much more. Check out our Town’s wonderful and easily navigable website  - norfolkct.org - with links to personnel, services, resources, and businesses.

May the New Year bring you peace, hope, and prosperity - in your Little Town, in The Big City, in the Suburbs, in the Countryside, or wherever your home may be.

John and Carol