NORWAY – Do you remember Frost Corner? Do you remember the red schoolhouse or the blacksmith shop or the Pennesseewassee Steamer? If these and other memories of the south end of Norway Lake are yours, visit the Norway Historical Society at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, to share them with others.

It is the kick-off event for the Norway Arts Festival heritage focus that will feature Lake Pennesseewassee and specifically the Norway Lake Village area known as Frost Corner.

This year for the first time the festival is co-sponsored by Norway Downtown and the Western Maine Art Group, but the mission to provide a quality art show with a variety of fun activities for a day in downtown Norway remains the same.

It has been a tradition for the past five years to make it an occasion to also celebrate one of Norway’s historic persons – starting in 2003 with Mellie Dunham, then Vivian Akers in 2004, George Howe in 2005, Lajos Matolcsy in 2006 and Minnie Libby in 2007.

This year for the first time the tradition will shift from an historic person to the art and history of a specific feature of the town of Norway – Lake Pennesseewassee.

In addition to the “Norway Lake Village Memory Night,” the Norway Historical Society will recreate the Marigold Tea Room, which was an active business establishment during the 1930s and 1940s at Frost Corner, in the society’s meeting room.

On Saturday, July 12, the day of the festival, there will be slices of homemade pies and hot and cold tea and lemonade for sale throughout the day. In addition to the hot tea, the historical society will be surrounded by actual working steamboats to commemorate Capt. Ames’ steamboat business on the lake. There will also be a “hands-on” miniature steam power display, and at the end of the day the boats will be launched on the lake from Pennesseewassee Park.

To further highlight the importance of the cultural heritage for the Norway Arts Festival, there will be a lecture titled “Art and Quality of Place” at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 10, at the Norway Memorial Library.

Christopher Glass, president of Maine Historic Preservation, former art history professor at Bowdoin College and author of the text for the book “At Home in Maine,” will talk about the importance of preserving a landscape such as Norway Lake as subject matter for art.

The focus on Lake Pennesseewassee will be highlighted by an exhibit of paintings and photographs of the lake at the library starting on Friday, June 27, and an exhibit of lake memorabilia in the glass display case. Contributions for the exhibits are being sought, and those interested should contact Ann at the library at 743-5309 before Wednesday, June 18.