City of Norwich DPW Pool and Parks Technician Phil Francisco standing with the Nativity scene he spent three months restoring. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH — Another year of events, progress, and community togetherness has come to an end in the City of Norwich.

The city started their year with a bang by implementing a new beacon of local pride: the first ever City of Norwich flag. A Flag Initiative Committee was formed to oversee the project, and city residents were invited to submit their own designs for consideration.

Many cities across the country have their own official flag, but City of Norwich Mayor Brian Doliver said Norwich has never had one. The idea to develop one came from City Historian Agnes Eaton, as a way to make local history and celebrate Founders’ Day on April 17.

“This is a nice way to physically show some support for our community," said Eaton. "It’s much nicer than a committee just saying, okay, this is our design, and that’s it. Because there’s so many creative people out there, they might think of something that’s out of the box or that we haven’t thought of. So why not get the ideas flowing with everybody?"

The committee narrowed down the 88 total submissions to a final eight, and tasked city residents with voting on their favorite design. The winning design features a blue sky, green hills, and a yellow sun with a blue river running beneath it.

According to the designer, the flag "describes the geography and the beauty of the Norwich area. Nestled in the Chenango River Valley, one can see the rolling hills of the valley tops alongside the flowing river. The sun rising behind the valley represents the City of Norwich’s ever improving state, along with a bright future that beholds the city. The rays represent the wide-reaching influence over many other local towns and serve to occupy any unused space that would bore the overall design."

Area residents also enjoyed a litany of community events this year, including the NBT Bank Free Summer Concert Series, the 31st annual Chenango Blues Fest, the Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival, several shows produced by the Norwich Theater Company, Museums and More Day, the second annual Upstate Renaissance Faire, Saturdays in the Park with Chobani, and many more.

Local organizations also spent the year making great strides to better serve the community. Guernsey Memorial Library celebrated the completion of their new Teen Mezzanine in what was formerly the upper level of the nonfiction stacks.

The section's built-in shelving was removed; new flooring was installed; safety improvements were added to the stairs, railings, and elevator; and the elevator was converted to an on-demand system, rather than needing a key to access it.

To create a welcoming space for young adults, Dalrymple said they brought in a large table where students can study together, a space with gaming consoles and comfortable seating was set up for teens to hang out, and the young adult book collection was moved into the Mezzanine.


"The problem that most libraries have is that young adults don’t use libraries as much as other age groups. Teens are busy and focused on school, sports, and other after-school activities. To complicate matters, Guernsey never really had a space intended specifically for the young adult age group," explained Guernsey Library Director Connie Dalrymple. "They were sort of tucked in between the children’s and adult area, without an area to call their own. We hope that the Teen Mezzanine solves that problem, making the library a more attractive part of their lives during a critical formative stage that will continue on into adulthood."


Achieve, a nonprofit organization that provides skill advancement, inclusion, independence, and socialization to individuals with developmental and other disabilities in Broome, Chenango, and Tioga Counties unveiled their brand new Envisions facility in Norwich this spring.

Their original facility was located outside of city limits on Country Club Road, and was in need of several costly repairs and accessibility features. The Achieve Board of Directors decided a change was in order, and repurposed an unused building at 96-100 East Main Street in Norwich.

The new facility includes multiple activity rooms, a culinary services space, an activity center, a nurses' station, a culinary arts facility for employment training skills, Hoyer lifts, rail systems, access to public transportation, and a community center, which will be open to the public as part of Achieve's goal to integrate the organization with the community.


"That property on Country Club Road had offered a lot of opportunities and it was a thriving program for many, many years," said Achieve CEO Amy Howard. "But what we really liked about the idea of moving that facility [and] those people served down to this community is that there would be greater opportunities for participation within the community for activities like volunteering, working, recreational, and social opportunities."

The Place, a nonprofit focused on childcare, resources, and programming for Chenango County youth had another great year as well. The organization continued to provide childcare services to local families, as well as their EPIC Teen Program, which offers a variety of programs and events for local teens, such as the Chenango County Youth Advisory Council, Youth Resiliency Classes, Friendsgiving, a Float-In Movie Night at Kurt Beyer Pool, and many more.

The Place also started a new program for Chenango County women and girls: Strong Women Self Defense classes.

The free classes are held on the third Friday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Norwich High School Cafeteria, and taught by Oneonta Jiu Jitsu Academy Instructors Christine Gould and Heather Knapp. Owner Wyatt Green said the classes are a great way for local women and girls to learn valuable self defense strategies, by utilizing the grappling techniques of jiu jitsu.

"Jiu jitsu, it’s a grappling martial art, so these are things you can do in close range when somebody is grabbing you," Green explained. "If somebody grabs you from behind, if somebody puts you in a bear hug from the front ... If somebody tries to punch you or kick you, how to protect yourself, and in this case you stay close to them, because like I said, jiu jitsu is about grappling."

The Place Executive Director Sharon Vesely said the monthly classes will be offered for free until August 2025, thanks to funding from the Women's Fund of the Community Foundation of South Central New York.

Closing out the year, the City of Norwich got into the holiday spirit with community togetherness. Nina's Pizzeria and the Colonia Theater teamed up to host their annual Dinner and a Movie fundraiser to benefit Toys for Tots. Toys for Tots was also supported by the Leatherstocking Corvette Club, the Chenango County Association of Highway Superintendents, and several other local organizations and individuals.

Downtown Norwich was decorated for the season by the City of Norwich Department of Public Works (DPW), and DPW Pool and Parks Technician Phil Francisco restored the Nativity scene that has been a staple of the downtown decorations for decades.

"It means a lot of a lot of people, so I wanted to respect it and bring it back to what it was," said Francisco, who spent months repairing, rebuilding, and repainting the figures.

"We’re in a society of replacing everything. I always like to restore things and keep what we have," Francisco said. "This is craftsmanship that we can’t replace anymore, so if I can make it last a couple more years, that makes me happy."

The Norwich Business Improvement District (BID) also rang in the holiday season with their many annual community events. This year they began the holidays with Small Business Saturday and the Parade of Lights, which had its biggest year yet with more than 125 businesses, organizations, churches, nonprofits, clubs, and more participating.

During the parade, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived at Santa's Igloo in downtown Norwich, and took pictures with local children and pets leading up to Christmas.

It's been a busy year for the City of Norwich, full of excitement and opportunity, with more to come in 2025.