NORWAY – The Norway Summer Festival Friday, July 9, and Saturday, July 10, will celebrate a Norway artist, the late Vivian Milner Akers.

Two events at the Norway Memorial Library will precede the festival. First, an exhibit of Akers’ paintings, photos and carvings will open Wednesday, June 30, at the library, 258 Main St. The show will run through July 17.

Then, Marius Peladeau, a former curator at the Farnsworth Museum, will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 6, on “Vivian Akers: Bringing Impressionism to the Oxford Hills.”

The Norway library’s book sale will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, July 9, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 10, at the American Legion Hall on Main Street.

On Friday, there will be a pig roast from 4 to 7 p.m. put on by the Oxford County Fair Association at the Norway Fire Station on Danforth Street. The cost: $10 for adults, $5 for children.

There will also be a New Balance tent sale in Norway from 8 a.m to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 11.

The Art Moves Dance Company of Norway will be joined on stage by a well-known percussion group, Inanna, Sisters in Rhythm, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris. For ticket information, people may call Debi Irons at 743-5569 or visit www.artmovesdance.com. Art Moves will perform again from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 10.

The town of Norway will be in full swing from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Activities will begin with an art display along Main Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. of original works by nearly 80 local artists. This annual event has been organized by Norway artist Nikki Millonzi, an art teacher at the Hartford-Sumner Elementary School for the past 12 years.

Between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., a Maine Discoveries Warehouse sale will be held.

Between 9 a.m. and noon, a series of Maine singer-songwriters will perform. Nathan Towne of Norway will perform acoustic blues-rock guitar and vocals with Bridgton’s Bill Shimamura, also an accomplished guitarist, lyricist and harmonica player.

Heather Pierson of Fryeburg, a pianist, percussionist and composer with a mezzo-soprano voice, will also perform. She has been hosting Norway’s monthly Open Mic Coffeehouse.

Mary “Ukelady” Hargreaves, a songwriter from East Sumner, will sing upbeat original and traditional music for the young at heart on her new concert ukulele, made by Maine luthier Joel Eckhaus. (She is also scheduled to perform in the afternoon, from 3 to 4 o’clock.)

Hargreaves is a charter member of Norway’s Commons Music Collective and was selected for the Mount Blue Community TV Program “Musicians of Maine” last fall.

Also at 11 a.m. there will be a duck race at the Pennessewassee Dam; and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. a lobster roll luncheon will be served at the Second Congregation Church on Main Street.

From 12:30 to 2 p.m., Matt Newberg and Gregg Hoover, upbeat jazzy folk musicians from Brunswick, will entertain with original songs of life and hope. Newberg was named “Best Folk Singer Songwriter” in the Portland Phoenix’s music poll two years ago.

Fiddlers’ jam

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be a fiddlers’ jam and exhibit at the Weary Club on Main Street, hosted by musician/historian David Sanderson of Waterford. This annual event honors Norway’s legendary fiddler-citizen-snowshoe maker Mellie Dunham and fiddlers from throughout New England will be there.

Also from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., a children’s area at Witherell Park on Main Street will offer art activities by Georgina Grenier and friends of the Boxberry School from Oxford.

At noon, children will be able to hear the imaginative folk music of singer-songwriter Martin Swinger. Swinger is known for his children’s songwriting workshops and school residencies. He is president of Johnson Hall in Gardiner where he produces and hosts a monthly “Alive ” concert series featuring Maine musicians.

And from 12:30 to 2 p.m., festivalgoers will get to enjoy music played by the Matt Newberg Duo.

‘Poets on the Porch’

Poets on the Porch will be presented from 2 to 4 p.m. in front of the Norway library. This annual group reading, which is free and open to the public, will again be hosted by Harrison poet-artist Lisa Moore and will feature Brunswick poet Gary Lawless. Poets on the Porch will also include readings by local poets: Lisa Moore of Harrison, John Governale of Norway, Siiri Cressey of Farmington, George Twine of West Paris, Tom Foley of Oxford, Lisa Campobasso of Norway, Brigid Gallagher of Woodstock, Elise Caswell of Gilead, Maya Best of Bethel, Joanna Reese of Greenwood, Ken Hinkley of Dixfield, Liz Peavey of Portland, Wayne Foster of South Paris, Greg Zemlansky of Norway and Gaille Merrill of Bridgton.

Many local poets will read their work to the public, including writer-photographer Thomas Foley of Oxford. Many of these poets are active in the Mountain Poets Society, which meets monthly at the Fare Share Commons at 7 p.m. on the last Thursday of every month. Their next meeting is June 24.

Lawless is co-owner of Gulf of Maine Bookstore in Brunswick, the editor/publisher of Blackberry Books and an internationally acclaimed poet. He has published eleven collections of poetry in the United States and three in Italy. He has been an artist-in-residence for Isle Royale National Park and the Island Institute of Sitlka, Alaska. He has traveled to give poetry readings in Italy, Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania. In February of this year he spent a week in Cuba with poets in the city of Trinidad. In Maine, he has done extended writing residencies with the homeless, disabled and refugee communities. He taught creative writing and environmental literature at Bates College for two years and currently edits a web log dedicated to poetry from countries embargoed by the U.S. government.

Other activities

The annual Fare Share yard sale will be held behind the market. For information, people may call Lee Holman at 388-2510.

Oxford Plains Speedway will hold its weekly racing series – D.N.K. Select Used Cars Night, Iron Man and Pro Stock – at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 10. Admission: $10/$20/$25.

Food available at the festival will include Italian ices, Finnish pastries, salads, cookies, breads, hot dogs, hamburgers, slushies, fried dough and lemonade.

On Sunday, July 11, the Oxford Hills 8K Run to the Lake and a 1K fun run will be held in the morning. For times and a full list of festival events, people can go online to www.downtownnorway.com. For more information, call 739-2215.

All events are free unless a cost is indicated.

Copy the Story Link