Oxford Hills outdoor festivities on track for weekend

Smokey's Greatest Show Workers pull equipment through the muddy fields at Crystal Lake just hours before the scheduled opening of Old Home Days in Harrison Wednesday evening. In the background Larissa McAllister, 13, of Waterford, right, and Sierra McDaniels, 13, of Waterford, wait patientely for the fair to open on a seasaw.

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- Leslie H. Dixon/Sun Journal

NORWAY — The Oxford Hills will be busy this week with a number of fairs and events.

July 8-11: Old Home Days, Harrison. The 80-plus, year-old event began Wednesday night with the opening of the midway and food booth and continues Thursday night with Cruise Night, a car display in the parking lot between the Village Library and the Harrison Town Office and ending with the fireworks display. The event continues Friday with a junior parade, music and Saturday with a breakfast buffet, grand parade, chicken and lobster bake and other events.

July 9-11: Arts Festival and Show, Norway. The event features 130 artists who will display their work on Main Street and events throughout downtown including music, dance, giant puppetry, drumming, poetry and much more. The festival kicks off Thursday night in the Norway Memorial Library at 7 p.m. with a presentation of "An Architects View: Inspirations and Opportunities," by Craig Whitaker and a concert at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School at the same time. On Friday, there will be a book sale, auction and a play at the Celebration Barn Theater followed by Saturday's triathlon, the 42nd annual sidewalk art show and a day filled with activities.

July 11: Triathlon, Lake Pennesseewassee off Route 118. Organizers say that spectators are welcome to provide encouragement to the 170 solo competitors and teams along the route (maps are available at www.norwaytri.com). The swim leg of the triathlon will kick off the event at 8:30 from the beach. The 18K bike race heads out and back along the Greenwood Road, turning at the Richardson Hollow Road. The foot race will leave Pennesseewassee Park and proceed up Ashton, Sodom, and Country Club Roads before returning to finish in the park. The park, which will be closed for the morning, will be cleaned and reopened by noon.

 

NORWAY — The rain this week prompted Harrison Old Home Days to reschedule its fireworks display to dusk Thursday.

It was originally scheduled Wednesday evening, but due to the rain and the four hours needed to set up the show, it was postponed, Old Home Days President Chris Searles said.

"We go tonight (Wednesday) and run through Saturday," he said of the events while standing on the muddy grounds by Crystal Lake just hours before the event was set to open at 6 p.m.

The Old Homes Days is one of several Oxford Hills events scheduled for this weekend. Norway's largest outdoor events, the 42nd Annual Sidewalk Art Show and the Norway Triathlon get underway Saturday. Thousands are expected to crowd the downtown.

"We run it," said Lee Dassler, one of the triathlon organizers, when asked what happens if the rain comes.

The triathlon, which will have 170 competitors, starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday from Lake Pennesseewassee. The swim leg of the triathlon will kick off the event at the beach beside Route 118. The 18 kilometer bike leg is next, heading out and back along the Greenwood Road, turning at Richardson Hollow Road. The running leg will leave Pennesseewassee Park on Route 118 and proceed up Ashton, Sodom, and Country Club roads before returning to finish in the park. Lunch and the awards ceremony will be wrapped up by 11:30 a.m. The park will be cleaned and reopened by noon.

While the streets will remain open to traffic, Pennesseewassee Park, including the park, launch area and Red School House  parking lot, will be closed Saturday morning until noon to nontriathlon competitors. Boaters wishing to launch their boats in Pennesseewassee before noon may do so at the nearby Norway Lake Marina.

The annual arts festival and show, which is scheduled for Saturday on Main Street, will also be dependent on the weather.

Aranka Matolcsy said the arts events will be canceled and rescheduled to Sunday if heavy rains occur. If it rains Sunday also, the show will not be held.

Matolcsy said rain has been a problem in past years, but generally, artists have been able to wait out the rain. "The artists assume responsibility of setting up. They make their own judgment," she said.

This year, 134 artists will be showing in 121 booths, making it the largest exhibition of artists since the mid-1970s, when about 100 artists lined Main Street.

The Norway Arts Festival begins Thursday evening with a talk about Norway's rooftop architecture at the Norway Memorial Library and a concert at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. Both begin at 7 p.m. A book sale is set for 4-7 p.m. Friday at Norway Grange Hall on Whitman Street; Rotary and Kiwanis clubs' auction from 5 to 9 p.m. at the high school; and "Clown at Work" at Celebration Barn Theater in Paris at 7 p.m.

While the weather may play a big factor in the weekend events, traffic is not expected to be a problem, Norway police Chief Robert Federico said.

"The organizers will have volunteers at the intersections and we'll have cruisers in that area," he said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com