On this Thanksgiving morning, I’ll forego the customarily long-winded “Things to be Thankful For” column, in the interest of sharing some outdoor tidbits I hope you find entertaining and interesting.

Before we start, though, a few words: We do live in a beautiful state with plenty of wooded areas and pristine lakes, ponds and streams.

Within a convenient drive of nearly any town in Maine, you can find convenient places to catch trout, hunt birds, hike, paddle, swim, climb a mountain or just kick back and enjoy the scenery.

On this day, those are just a few of the things we have to be thankful for.

Warden positions announced

On Tuesday the Maine Warden Service announced some personnel changes I’d like to share with you.

Not unexpectedly, Maj. Gregory Sanborn was officially named acting colonel, taking the place of former chief warden Tom Santaguida, who recently resigned.

According to state statute, the colonel of the Maine Warden Service must be selected from among the game wardens of the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, and an in-depth selection process for a permanent replacement as colonel is on-going.

Warden Capt. Joel Wilkinson of Windsor will perform many of Sanborn’s former duties, as well as continuing to oversee the wildlife crime investigative division, the personnel complaint investigative process, the training program for the bureau, whitewater boating enforcement and safety, and landowner relations.

Shon Theriault of Hartford was promoted to lieutenant of special services, and will supervise all special service units and oversee the Maine Warden Service’s technology initiative.

And (here’s my favorite part) former Game Warden Sgt. William “Adam” Gormely has been promoted.

He’s now Lt. Gormely, and will oversee 35 wardens in the southern third of the state.

That’s good news as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve known Gormely for more than 20, since he was a skinny kid from Orrington and I was a (believe it or not) a skinny kid from Brewer. Our time at Brewer High School overlapped a bit, and I was friends with one of his sisters, and became friends with him.

I’m no expert on law enforcement matters, but I can tell you this: Adam Gormely is a top-notch guy. Period.

If he was your stock broker, you’d look for excuses to visit him. If he was your trash collector, you’d stand by the curb on pick-up days just to hear a few jokes.

And he’s exactly the kind of guy we need serving in the warden service.

In his younger days, Gormely made no secret of his desire to become a game warden, and when he was chosen, I was pleased at the news.

He joined the warden service as a deputy game warden in 1990, and was hired full-time as a district warden in 1995. Gormely was promoted to sergeant in 2006.

And now, he’s a lieutenant.

That’s good news for all of us, as far as I’m concerned.

Deer season update

On Tuesday, I told you that my deer season hadn’t been going too well (save for the horde of woodpeckers, and the blood-thirsty pack of coyotes that invited me to dinner).

I’m happy to report that things are turning up.

Did I get my deer? Of course not.

But for the first time all season, I actually know, for sure, that deer walk past my tree stand … sometimes … when I’m not there.

That may not sound like much to you. But after the season I’ve had, it’s a big step in the right direction.

On Monday afternoon, I got the chance to hunt for a few hours … and saw nothing.

No deer. No fresh sign of deer. Nothing.

On Tuesday, however, things had changed quite a bit.

Just 10 yards from my stand, I spied the freshly pawed dirt of a buck’s scrape. Another 20 yards beyond that, another scrape had appeared overnight.

The bucks, it seems, are there.

Finally.

Too bad I’ve got to work.

Grimes downs big buck

As a perennially deer-less deer hunter (so far), I have trained myself to live vicariously through the hunting tales that readers share with me.

Or so I tell myself, after yet another day spent in the woods.

This morning, hearty congratulations go out to Matthew Grimes of Holden, who bagged his first deer recently.

Grimes, a 21-year-old from Holden, was hunting in Patten with his uncles, Scott and David Giffard, when he spied the 10-pointer.

His first career shot at a deer downed the burly buck, which weighed 230 pounds, field-dressed.

Air Guard supper planned

If you’re looking to get some good grub and tell share some hunting stories, you may want to head to the Maine Air National Guard’s 47th annual sportsmen’s supper.

The event will take place on Dec. 6 at the Horizon Inn – Building 417 – at the guard base.

The social hour begins at 6 p.m., while dinner will be served at 7.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased by calling Brian Fletcher at 990-7030, Joe Smith at 990-7253, Theresa Byers at 990-7797, Clark Cole at 990-7337, Colette Beaulieu at 990-7360 or Erika Wellman at 990-7244.

The menu includes sirloin steak and all the fixings, and a guest speaker, music and giveaways are on tap for the evening.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.