The religious men’s group that drew the ire of a small western Maine town says it’s now trying to reach out to the local community before returning.
Residents of Kingfield are trying to prevent the Boston-area chapter of the Legendarios, an evangelical movement that set up camp in town three times this summer, from coming back. Locals said the group was disruptively loud, and that some members were trespassing and illegally cutting trails.
The Legendarios movement was founded a decade ago in Guatemala and has drawn a large following in Brazil. Its Boston chapter has been growing, with increasing numbers of New England’s Portuguese-speaking community drawn to the group’s retreats at Deer Farm Campground, which the group has branded “Patriots Valley.” The latest retreat hosted more than 700 men, according to the group’s social media.
The back-and-forth has become one of Maine’s odder local standoffs this year, pitting an out-of-state group against many in a rural town of fewer than 1,000 people that has no ordinance on the books to regulate the disruptive behavior that the group is accused of.
Days after residents packed a select board meeting to discuss concerns about the chanting men, a Legendarios representative told the Bangor Daily News the group did not trespass and that he had personally spoken with area landowners.
He added that he also spoke with members of the town’s Shiloh Pond Committee, which governs some of the area around Deer Farm Campground. One member of the committee confirmed he had been in contact with a Legendarios member, though he declined to comment further. Other committee members could not be reached.
Former Mayor Kendrys Vasquez of Lawrence, Massachusetts, a local leader of Legendarios, said the group does not intend to cut any new trails. He said the weed whackers and chainsaws seen on video the group posted in 2025 showed work meant to improve existing trails.
“There were opportunities to make the space a bit better,” he said. “The idea behind it was to provide safety for everyone participating, keeping in mind the beauty that the area has to offer.”
Legendarios’ retreats, Vasquez said, aim to bring men closer to nature and to God.
“Normally we look for a location that will allow members or participants to be able to be secluded, in an area that will be quiet, very close and connected to nature to be able to connect with the Lord,” he said. “While we’re there, we’re looking for a place that will provide that peace, and we wish to expand that peace among members of the community as well.”
With some neighbors saying the Legendarios have disrupted the peace and quiet, Kingfield is rushing to block them from coming back. Kingfield lacks a noise ordinance, an events ordinance or a parade ordinance that might be able to shut the retreats down. The town’s select board voted last week to refer the issue to a lawyer.
Town Manager Leanna Targett declined interview requests, saying the town was awaiting a legal opinion. The select board is slated to discuss the Legendarios further at its next meeting on Monday. Members could not be reached for comment.
Vasquez said he’s not aware of any scheduled plans to return to Patriots Valley, but said the group plans to do so eventually “with the hope that everyone is on board with us.”
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.