ELLSWORTH – Telephone pioneers will be remembered this weekend during the seventh annual Telephone Fair.

The festivities, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, will be at the Telephone Museum, 166 Winkumpaugh Road.

On the program will be Angus MacDonald, as portrayed by Sheldon Foster of Sangerville. MacDonald was a telephone lineman who came to personify the spirit of service when a painting of him braving the Blizzard of 1888 was popularized by the Bell telephone system.

The new long-distance line between Boston and New York was then a fragile link in the emerging telephone network. MacDonald was sent to check the line to be sure it held throughout the storm. His image was used to instill pride in a job well done.

Also on the program is inventor Almon B. Strowger, as portrayed by Douglas Arntzen of Ellsworth.

Strowger, an undertaker by profession, invented a mechanism that made the automatic, or dial, telephone possible.

Admission to the museum is free Saturday. For information, call 667-9491, or e-mail: switchboard@downeast.net.