Pettingill, with roots in Wayne, will be the topic of an Aug. 3 program.

WAYNE – The Wayne Historical Society is joining in several town-wide celebrations with two events this summer.

“A Celebration of Wayne’s Ornithology Year” will be held on Sunday, Aug. 3, in the Wayne Town Hall. The event serves as climax to the town’s year-long activities relating to the subject, and it marks the fifth in the society’s now traditional annual summer programs.

The second event is the day-long Great Wayne Fair on Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Ladd Recreation Center. For the Wayne Historical Society the occasion is the first-day sale and book signing for its latest publication, “A History of the North Wayne Tool Company.”

Written by Edward L. Kallop Jr., author of an earlier work on Wayne’s industrial life during the 19th century and published in 2000, the story of North Wayne’s famous tool company is told with its history revealed in detail.

The tool company, which ended its days at Oakland in the late 1960s, left as a legacy the edge tools it once produced – the scythes, axes, sickles and knives that have become collectors’ items.

Beginning at 2 p.m. Aug. 3 the society’s summer program will focus on distinguished ornithologist Dr. Olin Sewall Pettingill Jr., born of a family with a long history in Wayne. He and his wife, Eleanor Rice Pettingill, were world authorities on numerous bird species, especially on the penguins of the Falkland Islands.

Their books, photographs and films made the penguins famous, all based on the Pettingills’ several visits to the islands from the 1950s through the early 1970s. The result in book and film is under the titles “Penguin Summer” and “Another Penguin Summer.”

Pettingill wrote a number of pioneering bird-finding books along with several state guides such as “Enjoying Maine Birds,” published in 1960. Following retirement to Wayne, Pettingill kept in touch through his field of blue bird houses and found time for occasional lectures.

His daughter, Mary Pettingill Vondra, will share memories of growing up with famous parents during the program. Also sharing memories will be Dr. Miriam Bennett, now retired as chairwoman of the Biology Department at Colby College, who in earlier life studied under Pettingill and who retained a lifelong friendship. Pettingill family roots in Wayne will be noted by Patty K. Lincoln.

Many books, photos and other materials associated with the Pettingills will be on display. Available in copy will be a memorial written by their ornithologist grandson, Michael P. Losito, published in an ornithologists’ journal shortly after his grandfather’s death in 2001 at age 94. A selection from one of the “Penguin Summer” films will conclude the program.

Following its first-day sale, “A History of the North Wayne Tool Company” will be available for purchase at the Cary Memorial Library and Wayne General Store, as well as selected book stores in Winthrop, Augusta and elsewhere in Maine. Inquiries and mail orders may be addressed to Wayne Historical Society, P.0. Box 243, Wayne, ME 04284.