I had the pleasure of meeting with Sharon and Trav Fournier, of the recently purchased Mountain Star Estate, well before the rush of what is expected to be another busy wedding season in Rangeley.

At the time of our interview Sharon was happily in the midst of attending wedding expos, acquiring the appropriate licenses, a fire inspection, and giving barn tours to prospective renters. “It’s been a blast, though. Inquiries are coming in for these weddings… We have some booked for ’24 but I had one come in this week for 2025 even. Yea, it’s great. Everyday I’m working on inquiries and contracts, and you know getting marketing out there.”

Besides events, they also have vacation renters. Sharon- “We have the farmhouse which is completely full with winter rentals through April and then we officially kick off the wedding season. Our first wedding is in June. It’s just been go, go, go.”

Trav and Sharon are both lifelong Mainers, and after having met at the University of Maine, Orono, they have been frequenters of the area as college students since even back then.

Sharon- “I grew up in Madawaska, Trav grew up in Auburn. Every weekend, every other weekend we would go camping in Rangeley.”

Trav- “Yea, we’d go to Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve or the state park. So that was about 25 years ago when we started coming. There’s Cupsuptic (Campground) too.” He added, “We’ve brought our kids to all those campgrounds as well.”

Now that the children, daughter Soleil and son Quinn, are getting older, the idea of taking on the new venture seemed like a natural one.

Sharon- “We’re always looking at real estate and new different things to do together and Trav found this wonderful piece of real estate and he showed me it and said ‘Is this something we should get into?’ and our kids are 17 and 20 and it’s kind of this thing, this project that he and I could work at together as we become empty nesters eventually-ish, you know. We’ve always loved the area and the people. I mean we started there camping when we were dating, and we knew some day at some point we wanted to have a place in Rangeley and be a part of that community.”

Whereas some destinations are less appealing upon closer observation, Rangeley’s welcoming reputation did not disappoint.

Sharon- “I grew up in northern Maine and it really reminds me of home and how the people are just so friendly and so willing to help all the time. You know, it’s just the welcomeness of this community. So, we’re like, ‘You know what? Let’s do this.’” She gave an example, “I’ve had people stop by the barn and be like ‘Oh, we see lights on, you’re the new owner, congratulations!’”

TRAV- “I think a big part of our culture to make this move too is kind of the team of people in Rangeley that have helped us. We worked with Margie Jamison at Morton & Furbish (Real Estate), and you know without her there’s no way we would have even contemplated this. But she just instilled a lot of confidence in the community and how there’s just so many great people that can assist us. And then Adrian Heatley- she’s the estate manager.”

SHARON chimed in, “Because before we pursued this, we wanted to meet Adrian and the bartender Jacqueline (Marie Vogeley) to discuss like ‘Hey are you going to continue doing this and work with us?’ And so, they were a huge part of us purchasing this property knowing that we had their support and expertise.”

While Sharon has a business marketing degree, as well as years of experience in education, both in administrative support and teaching, she emphasized the support of the staff was key.

“Before us finalizing the purchase, they really gave us a lot of confidence that we could do this as a team, and them being part of our team.”

As far as Sharon and Trav are concerned, the team also includes collaborating with other businesses in the community. A recent example of this was the recent Bliss wedding expo in Portland where they joined Saddleback and Loon Lodge. Sharon emphasized the spirit of the trio, “To work together and not against each other.”

Trav added, “It’s very refreshing to be in collaboration with all businesses in Rangeley. You know, it’s very unique coming from a larger area where that’s not necessarily part of the culture. It’s something we love, we believe in, so it’s exciting.”

While Sharon will be leading the business and marketing efforts, Trav will be more of a silent partner. As owner of Maine Street Capital, he keeps busy enough as a commercial lending advisor, consulting real estate developers with their financing. Which leaves the third part of the piece to dealing with party planning to Heatley.

Sharon- “The creative piece, that’s all Adrian. I mean, she has the eye for it and the passion and that’s the creative aspect of this whole business venture that we are very fortunate that she is going to continue with that. For us, Trav and I, you know it’s the social piece and it’s being a part of a community and bringing people to the community and supporting the community and providing a just… what more magical day than their wedding day with their loved ones. So, if we can give this top-notch experience in this amazing community and to get people to get back to the community, that’s where our passion lies with this business.”

Sharon offered an example of the response of renters regarding new ownership who asked. “’You’re not going to change anything are you?’ Because she rents one of the suites for two months just to be able to snowshoe and ski. And we have a group of snowmobilers and so you know, it’s nice that even when it’s not wedding season there’s people that can enjoy the property and enjoy the community.”

Speaking of enjoyment, when they are not working, they plan to take advantage of all there is to offer in the area. Trav snowboards and together they enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, fly-fishing, and most of all ATVing.

Sharon- “I mean everything Rangeley has to offer. That’s why it’s one of those communities that I mean the only time it’s hard to do something is mud season, but we still find a way to get out there and play.”