NORWAY — “The Sweetest Spot in Norway” will reopen its doors when the 39th annual Christmas Parade steps off Saturday, Nov. 29.
The Norway Historical Society is recreating the spirit of Fletcher’s Candy Store, once known as the “sweetest spot” in Norway, by offering the same variety of old- time sweets sold at Fletcher’s. They include homemade peanut brittle, fudge, needhams, truffles and caramel popcorn, as well as penny candy for children.
The store will be set up at the Norway Historical Society headquarters at 471 Main St. and will open at 9 a.m.
Re-creating Fletcher’s Candy Store began several years ago and has been a popular stop for parade-goers.
The 2014 Christmas Parade will begin at 11 a.m. at Main Street and Pikes Hill Road in Norway and end at Market Square in Paris. It includes dozens of floats and bands, and the Silver Dolphins, a color guard and precision rifle drill team from the Naval Submarine School in Groton, Conn. The parade stretches out for three miles with Santa and Mrs. Claus on the last float.
John H. Fletcher opened Fletcher’s Candy Store on Main Street on Nov. 7, 1903. It was well-known for its handmade candy, especially candy canes and ribbon candy at Christmastime, as well as a variety of penny candy.
“Last year’s candy store was very successful and the homemade candy was amazing,” Anita Hamilton, president of the Norway Historical Society, said. “We are looking forward to another very successful event and lots of really great homemade candy.”
Fletcher learned the candy-making trade at Morton Candy Co. in Portland, where he lived before opening the Norway store in the old Hathaway Block. The store was housed in three buildings over the years; the last spot was at the corner of Danforth and Main streets. That’s where his son operated the business in the 1950s.
Mellie Dunham, the famous fiddler from Norway, used to go to Fletcher’s to buy licorice sticks or candy to fill his pockets and hand out to the children in his family, according to an interview with his granddaughter, Rose Barnes, who lived in the Sebago Lake area at the time the Lewiston Evening Journal interviewed her in 1984.
All funds generated from the sale of the homemade candy will go to support the operations of the society.
For more information, contact the society at norwaymehistory@gmail.com or by phone at 743-7377.
ldixon@sunjournal.com
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- An old newspaper advertisement for Fletcher’s Candy Store in Norway says it was “the sweetest spot in Norway.”
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- Alyssia Adams, daughter of Timothy and Denise Adams of Norway, checks out the candy at the re-created Fletcher’s Candy Store in the Norway Historical Society building in Norway in 2012.
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- Ribbon candy and other treats are displayed at the re-created Fletcher’s Candy Store in the Norway Historical Society building on Main Street. The store will be open again this year during the annual Christmas Paris on Saturday, Nov. 29.
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