Page 61 - WCM Summer 2022

Jeffrey Packard
Heather Pierson belts out a jazz tune on a sultry summer night at The Hayloft at Dragonfly Barn.
winter break it was so cold in Boston, so Richard
and I went to visit my folks in California.” Richard ultimately got a law degree at Southwestern, and the couple remained in California. “We came back every summer, though,” Richard says. “For over 30 years. We had wonderful summers in Bridgton, and all our kids have moved east since. Now we spend half the year in Maine. Twelve years ago we bought an old dairy farm. It included a barn that had been built in the 1960s, a milking shed, and sugar shack. They’d torn down the original barn and stored it inside the new barn. We had no idea what we were going to do. I’d been in the building business most of my life. I left real estate law to go into building and developing. I can’t stand nice old buildings falling down, so it became a project. I climbed up in the hayloft, and
the views and light were spectacular. We revived the wide pine floors, put in skylights and lots of windows, and built stairways, both in and out. A friend of ours, Christine, is a musician. She was looking for rehearsal space, and discovered that the acoustics were perfect for unplugged music.”
Lauren grew up in a musical family, listening to concertos and symphonies. She plays piano and guitar.
“I never thought of myself as a fine musician, but my passion has always been music. I helped start the La- guna Beach Music Festival, and we’d go into schools with our artists. I enjoy exposing people to music.”
Restoring their old barn at 95 Sanborns Grove Road as a music venue seemed the obvious route. Richard located a refurbished Steinway piano, and soon folks were coming to The Hayloft to listen to music. The space was dubbed the “listening room,” which Rich- ard describes as an intimate space in which musicians may converse and interact with their audiences.
The Packards are now in their fourth season. The Hayloft has been utilized for weddings and cham- ber of commerce dinners, in addition to its vibrant music scene. “We love this community. We listen to its needs and focus on creating sustainable places to live, work and play.”
Mainers possess a pioneering spirit, and with great courage and vision, march forward in their entrepre- neurial exploits. We are deeply appreciative of these visionaries who bring us together to enjoy preeminent entertainment, and expose us to new experiences. ❧
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