Let​ ​me​ ​be​ ​up​ ​front.​ ​Even​ ​a​ ​low-budget​ ​elk​ ​hunt​ ​involves​ ​expense,​ ​but​ ​if​ ​you​ ​are​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​many​ ​deer hunters​ ​who​ ​have​ ​dreamed​ ​about​ ​an​ ​elk​ ​hunt​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Western​ ​U.S.,​ ​it​ ​may​ ​be​ ​within​ ​your​ ​reach, financially​ ​and​ ​otherwise.​ ​Although​ ​Western​ ​outfitters​ ​and​ ​private​ ​ranches​ ​charge​ ​anywhere​ ​from $3,000​ ​to​ ​$10,000,​ ​my​ ​scenario​ ​involves​ ​significantly​ ​less​ ​money.

Many different organizations and individuals have been involved in efforts over the last few years designed to improve the health of residents across the region. Many of these partners in the Feel Good Piscataquis! initiative were recognized during a breakfast on Nov. 16 at the Three Rivers Kiwanis building.

Officials with SAD 4 continue to work with their colleagues from the Dexter-based SAD 46 on the application process for an Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 Educational Facility pilot project. Both school boards have formally authorized the superintendents to submit the Part II application due at the end of the year.

The SAD 41 school board approved Honeywell -- which has worked at the Penquis Valley School for several decades -- to carry out work to make the complex more energy efficient. Honeywell was chosen during a Nov. 15 meeting, and the firm is scheduled to bring forward a scope of services for the directors to vote on when they meet next on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

It started with a nomination in June and ended with a win during Thanksgiving week. Word came on Nov. 20 that Foxcroft Academy teacher and coach Luis Ayala was named the 2017 US Cellular Most Valuable Coach (MVC) after a three-plus month online contest.

The executive committee of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) has named Sue Mackey Andrews of Dover-Foxcroft as the 15th recipient of the Warren “Pete” Myrick Award.

During a Nov. 13 select meeting the board approved another 180-day extension for a corridor moratorium ordinance, starting Monday, Nov. 27 and ending on May 25, 2018.

Grafton was spending the night at Camp Marlene, but Marlene herself had to be up at 4:30 the next morning. To ensure she had a good night's rest, Marlene slept upstairs, and Grafton and Poppa Fish slept downstairs in the guest room where there's a full size bed, and the blue metal cot Grafton likes to use when his father sleeps over.

Over the years, in pursuit of elk, my sons and I have made a number of backpacking hunts into the Routt National Forest in Western Colorado. There is a lot of careful preparation for trips of this sort. The central challenge, as you might guess, is to keep the pack weights manageable without leaving behind critical gear.

The grand opening of the new-look pool and a vision for the future after some changes in management were both key components of the Nov. 8 Piscataquis Regional YMCA annual meeting.

A storage garage to consolidate the vehicles and equipment for the Piscataquis County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) in one location is being planned by county EMA Director Tom Capraro and the next step in the project was taken during a Nov. 7 commissioners meeting. The commissioners voted to accept a $16,500 proposal from Dirigo Engineering of Fairfield for planning work on the structure to be built on the county campus.

"Why is it that every time someone writes a story about us, they always have to include the worst mistake we've made in our lives?" asked Brandon, a Hospice Volunteer and prisoner at Maine State Prison (MSP).

Not until I took some lessons in riding and horse handling from Nichole Rackcliff at M & N Ranch in Dedham did I dare undertake a horse rental for my Colorado elk hunt. A patient horse lady, who taught me much in a short period of time, her horse knowledge proved invaluable during an incident that I will relate in a minute.

In recognition of Veterans Day school officials invited American Legion Post 29 of Dover-Foxcroft to conduct a formal exchange of the old flag for a new flag during the mid-morning of Nov. 9 -- the last day of school before the holiday.

Maine Drug Enforcement Agents (MDEA) have arrested a Massachusetts man and seized 250 grams of heroin and cocaine destined to be sold in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. The several month investigation, which involved the undercover purchase of heroin, centered on 38-year-old Don Twiggs of Hyde Park, Mass. who agents suspected of making regular trips to Massachusetts and then transporting significant amounts of heroin back to Maine

The next step was taken in the application process for an Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 Educational Facility pilot project as the SAD 46 school board authorized Superintendent Kevin Jordan to submit the Part II application due at the end of the year, during a Nov. 1 meeting at the Ridge View Community School.

On Sunday morning a group of seven Penquis Valley Middle School girls and four coaches, together comprising what they believe is the only “Heart and Sole” team in Piscataquis County, will be traveling to the Pineland YMCA in New Gloucester to join their peers from across the state in taking part in the Girls on the Run--Maine 5K.

The Piscataquis Observer’s Stuart Hedstrom picked up top honors in the sports news writing category among the state’s smaller weekly publications from the Maine Press Association in the 2017 MPA Better Newspaper Contest on Oct. 21