It’s that time of year when most of us are dreaming about daffodils, robins, crocus, gardening and getting the first ice cream treat of the season — in other words, spring.

That makes it a perfect time to stretch our imaginations to the summers of “Yesterdays” when families would spend the entire summer “at camp.”

In many cases, the moms and kids would come to family camps and stay for the entire summer, while dads would commute on weekends, as their work permitted.

Many of the cottages, camps and boat houses on Lake Pennesseewassee (also referred to as Norway Lake) were kept in the same family for generations.

Is the cottage pictured above one of those family cottages? And how about the boathouses shown in the other photo?

We like to ask our readers to do a little work — digging deep into their memories to provide information about these older local buildings.

If you are looking for a clue, we can tell you that all those shown were on the shores of Lake Pennesseewassee.

Lean back in your favorite chair and enjoy these pictures — and dream a bit about the summer that is just around the corner and the pleasures it will bring.
 
These photos (and many of the ones we share with our readers) came to us from Jim Gates’ extensive collection of local postcards and photographs.

Sincere thanks to Jim for allowing us to feature this postcard.  Jim lives in Waterville, but has close ties with the Norway area and also summers on Norway Lake. We are very thankful for Jim’s generosity and we’re sure our readers are, as well.

If you have an older photograph or postcard you’d like to share, we‘d love to hear from you. We are bit hard to reach by phone at times, so you might try an email or dropping your info off at the Advertiser and we’ll pick it up.

Please email photos or information to knittingarena@gmail.com, snail mail to Susan Arena, Yesterdays, Advertiser Democrat, 1 Pikes Hill, Norway, ME 04268, call me at 743-0363 or drop off your information at the Advertiser office (1 Pikes Hill, Advertiser Square, Norway) between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. If it is more convenient, there is a drop box, located outside the front door in which you can leave photos or information when the office is closed; please include your name, phone number and any information you have about the photo.

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