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Portraits of Acadia: Irene Schlaefer

Woman wearing blue work gloves holds rags and a spray bottle
Irene Schlaefer, maintenance worker, gets ready to clean park headquarters on July 10, 2018.

Yehyun Kim, Friends of Acadia

I was very excited when I got this job because since I was a kid, I always loved this park. You come here on field trips when you're a kid and you're in just awe.

Everyone that comes into the park eventually will use the bathroom. They're going to stop there. I would like to make sure that it's clean and that it has toilet paper. I clean the bathrooms as if my grandchildren are going to go in there, or my relative was going to go in there, or somebody I knew. I clean the bathrooms like what I would want them to experience it.


– Irene Schlaefer, maintenance worker

A pile of gathered trash and debris on a patch of green grass
This pile of debris was collected from along park trails in just one week.

Yehyun Kim, Friends of Acadia

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Acadia National Park

Last updated: June 15, 2020