The Stephanie Larouche Pavilion - Hirundo's Newest Feature!
On Sept 19, trustees, staff, and hirundo friends gathered to celebrate the completion of the Stephanie Larouche Pavilion. This pavilion, a 3-season screened outdoor gathering space, was dedicated in honor of Stephanie Larouche, Hirundo's board chair of 19 years.
Stephanie's daughter, Rebecca Sgouros, reflects on Stephanie's legacy, and the legacy of the Larouche family as a whole Hirundo below:
Stephanie Larouche's Legacy
The story of how it was built - and why it’s named for Stephanie, who was Hirundo’s board chair for nearly two decades, starts nearly 100 years ago.
The Larouche family built a camp that could host their large family of sons and grandchildren in the summer months. They called it Twins Nest after their two twin sons, Ollie and Charles. Twins nest had a couple of small houses on it, including one named the Hoot Owl where Stephanie, her parents, and her siblings Roxane (also a trustee), and Jeff stayed. Ollie's own family including his daughter Veronica (another trustee) stayed next door. It was these summers all spent together, canoeing, fishing, exploring, and making memories that inspired Ollie to create something for future generations, and fueled Stephanie in the years to come.
In 1965 Ollie Larouche founded Hirundo as a “haven for wildlife in which to grow and be protected.” Ollie amassed land until the property grew to nearly its current 2,400 acre size. In 1983, Ollie and his wife June deeded the land to the University of Maine, stipulating that the refuge be run by the Hirundo organization, and must always remain an open and wild place to serve wildlife. He outlined that should the University of Maine ever take actions that would be counter to Hirundo’s mission, the land would revert immediately back to Hirundo’s ownership.
What followed was a collaborative relationship of ongoing research and learning for UMaine students and faculty. Among these research opportunities were the archaeological excavation of the 5,000 year old Hirundo Site along Pushaw Stream, and the experimental study of wild caribou as part of reintroduction efforts in Maine. Ollie was passionate about the swallows he saw at the refuge - hence our name Hirundo. In addition to building nesting boxes and planting fruit-bearing vegetation, he welcomed a wildlife rehabilitator to Hirundo, who rescued and nursed little wild creatures back to health before releasing them back to the land. Ollie built the Parker Reed Shelter and dug Lac D’or (which he even stocked with fish for some years!), creating a place for people to gather and enjoy. During these decades, Hirundo had a relatively small impact on the greater community, offering passive recreation opportunities, university students to learn, and a place for animals to frolic.
In 2006, Stephanie was approached by her cousin, board chair Jim Larouche, with an invitation to join the Hirundo board. She agreed, and at her very first annual board meeting was, as she put it, strong-armed into the board chair position. Jim was aware of Stephanie’s leadership position overseeing a team in her pharmaceutical career, and knew that she would take the helm of Hirundo with the same prowess and gusto. I recall those early days of my mom’s Hirundo career. I was just starting college and Hirundo was a frequent topic of conversation at home. She was often on Hirundo calls or sending Hirundo emails in her after-work and weekend hours. She caught the bug early and quickly, and from then on, Hirundo was a key component of our life.
Stephanie envisioned a version of Hirundo where programs and recreational opportunities for the community were a key component of the operation. She had strong partners in other trustees, and in Hirundo’s exceptionally small but dedicated staff. None of the accomplishments mentioned ahead can be claimed to Stephanie alone, and I think that community is part of what made Hirundo so fulfilling for her - and now, for me as board chair.
In 2016, Stephanie and team managed, through a lot of grit and hard work, and with the legal support of UMaine, to purchase a 62 acre parcel of land that was surrounded by Hirundo property and being actively clear cut. This same year, the Natural Resource Council of Maine honored the Larouche legacy and Hirundo with their People’s Choice award. I recall how touched, and humbled, Stephanie was to receive that award.
In 2017, Hirundo built the Trail of the Senses - a series of universal access trails around the pond and meadow at Gate 1. This allowed people with mobility or sensory disabilities to access the refuge and enjoy the beauty of nature. This project was no small feat, as many trustees and volunteers will surely recall. Later, Stephanie managed to ensnare the MBA program at Umaine into her web, and one of their classes worked closely with board and staff to develop our very first strategic plan including mission statement, and goals for the future. During those years, Hirundo’s staff and board developed and offered some truly exceptional programming, including the mussel-mercury project with local 4th graders to test middens along Pushaw Stream for heavy metals. Hirundo continued to offer various other citizen-science research and learning opportunities to the public, something Stephanie felt sets Hirundo apart from other land conservation organizations in our area.
As always, with Stephanie, when she had a will, she found a way. She worked tirelessly to recruit people into the organization who could help Hirundo to grow and flourish. Stephanie was never content to let Hirundo be in homeostasis. There was always another goal on the horizon that she hoped to fulfill. The Construction Engineering Technology program at UMaine was and still is an invaluable resource in helping Hirundo accomplish those goals. So many features have been built by them over the years - boat launches, equipment storage sheds, outhouses, observation decks, trails, and more. We cannot express our gratitude towards them enough. In 2022, we converted the equipment shed at Gate 3 into a Visitor Center, and built a kids trail with play features and interpretive signage geared towards kids along the Trappers Trail at Gate 2.
After that, Stephanie began to steer Hirundo towards a new, great, goal: becoming an education center within the region. Renewed strategic planning discussions was the first step in this direction; then, came our new pavilion. This pavilion has been in the works for more than a year, from securing funding, to picking a location, and then finally embarking on construction once again, courtesy of the CET team. This spring, as Stephanie entered hospice, when trustee and treasurer Rad Mayfield told her how the framework and road were nearly finished, she was so excited. When Stephanie decided to retire from the board after 19 years as chair, we decided it was time to honor her legacy. She was embarrassed, of course, but she was so touched.
I’m so glad to finally be able to dedicate this pavilion to my mom, who worked so tirelessly for Hirundo. This is a great first step towards becoming the educational center that she envisioned, with a new space that holds larger groups for when the local school systems send 90 children our way at a time. Hirundo continues to need allies who are willing to get their hands dirty to further the mission. Yes, this is a brief call for recruitment. If there’s one thing I learned from Stephanie, it’s that you should always take advantage of a captive audience on behalf of Hirundo! If you feel called to join our board, please email us: info@hirundomaine.org
Stephanie was one of the founding members of our Silver Maple Society, leaving a legacy gift for Hirundo to help ensure our long-term sustainability. After her passing in June, her friends and family also honored her incredible legacy through donations to the refuge; for that, we are exceptionally grateful.
In the spring of 2011, when I graduated with my bachelors in Archaeology, Stephanie encouraged me to come and investigate Hirundo for other sites besides the one that had been excavated and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I wonder if she knew that anyone who spends time on the refuge gets bewitched by the magic, and that this was her ploy to get me sucked in alongside her. My husband Matt and I spent 3 weeks camped out in the attic of the Parker Reed Shelter in peak blackfly and mosquito season, walking the woods and fields, surveying for archaeology during the day, and deafened through night by the bullfrogs and frogs symphonizing in the pond below. I won’t mention the wildlife we encountered inside the outhouse, besides to say that if those spiders could not drive me away, then I guess nothing could.
I really had no idea then that four or five years later I would join the board and hitch my wagon to Hirundo in a pretty significant way. I cannot wait to help Hirundo achieve all its goals - so long as I don’t have to spend another night camped in the attic of the shelter. The Stephanie Larouche Pavilion is a major step in that direction. Thank you to all of you who made it possible.
With great appreciation to everyone involved, Cheers!
Rebecca Sgouros
Board Chair
Made possible by the dedication, hard work, and financial support of our community!
This project came together through the University of Maine Construction Engineering Technology class, whose students built the majority of the pavilion. We’re especially grateful to Will Manion for facilitating their involvement. The project was also supported by a microgrant from Bangor Greendrinks, picnic table materials funded by the Old Town Rotary and picnic table construction by Central High School’s CTE program, and countless volunteer hours clearing brush and opening the road into the site. We’re grateful as well to Mike Thornton for the road work and to American Concrete for donating the tank for the soon-to-be-installed outhouse.
Available for you to Enjoy
The new Stephanie Larouche Pavilion is now available for rentals, with capacity for up to 50 people and with rental rates starting at $250 for three hours. It's a three season facility, open from when it's warm enough to be outside until the snow flies. In the coming weeks, it'll be outfitted with a brand-new barbecue grill donated by friends of our beloved trustee and treasurer, Rad Mayfield, without whose hard work and dedication this pavilion would not have been built.
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