KINGFIELD, Maine — The rolling hills around Tufts Pond are nearly silent on a September afternoon. Several times this summer and last, that quiet was broken by the sound of hundreds of chanting men.
Members of Legendarios, an evangelical men’s group that was founded in Guatemala about a decade ago and has a Massachusetts chapter with a heavy Brazilian following, first showed up at Deer Farm, a shuttered campsite by the pond last year. They have named it “Patriots Valley,” hosting several retreats that neighbors say are disruptive and may violate local laws.
The clash is as novel as it is loud. The international movement has found an isolated pond in the Maine mountains. Kingfield, a western Maine town of less than 1,000 people with no noise ordinance, no event permitting system and no history of policing outside groups, is trying to figure out whether it has any legal tool to respond in the face of resident complaints.
Kingfield residents are used to outsiders passing through for skiing at nearby Sugarloaf or hiking along the Appalachian Trail. The sudden influx of worshippers is different. Locals say there have been tour buses full of them, clearing unauthorized paths in the woods, marching and chanting both day and night.
Lance Dutson, a longtime Maine Republican political operative who lives across the water from the campsite and has been organizing opponents of the gatherings, said the group chants and “barks” in unison, adding that “this pond acts kind of like an amphitheater.”
The Legendarios first turned up around Tufts Pond last summer. Kate Dutson, Lance’s wife, said she encountered a work truck with Massachusetts plates and roughly a dozen men with landscaping equipment. On four separate weekends, locals report seeing large groups marching through the woods, sometimes with torches, leaving the campground at night and cutting trails.
The Boston chapter, which puts on the Kingfield retreats, could not immediately be reached for comment. Photos posted by the group on social media show large marches, religious ecstasy and apparent baptisms in the pond. The group says on its website that it “exists to help men reconnect with God, strengthen their families, build brotherhood and walk with purpose.”
But those on the pond are not loving their neighbor.
“There’s been some comment about this group … of all the people to have gathering on the pond, having some church come up here is the most benign type of group, but they have been acting with just complete disregard to the neighborhood,” Lance Dutson said.
The men, more than 700 of them at an August event by the organizers’ count, arrive by the busload. They march through trails around Tufts Pond dressed in orange, with Brazilian and American flags on their sleeves, often at night, and allegedly through private property beyond Deer Farm.
“It’s a huge respect thing,” Kim Jordan, a member of the town’s Board of Selectmen, said at Tuesday’s meeting. “It took people waking up in the middle of the night and got [300-400] people walking through their yard.”
“It’s terrifying!” one woman said aloud.
Some attendees cited public health and safety concerns. Officials said Deer Farm lacked a state license required for campgrounds when the events were held and was only ever approved for about four dozen campsites. The owner of Deer Farm could not be reached for comment.
Other residents voiced concern about the local environment. Julie Puleio noted that the area is home to vulnerable species in need of protection, including loons.
“They are one of the most protected species that we have in the state and that is really sacred for us and our community,” Puleio said.
Rumor has spread in town that the Legendarios may be planning a return to Kingfield in October. It’s unclear whether the town will be able to regulate or shut down the event before buses start arriving.
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.