Earlier this week, representatives of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust announced yet another key event in the ongoing Penobscot River Restoration Project.

The group has met its first private campaign milestone by raising $10 million toward the purchase price of three hydropower dams on the river.

The total purchase price is estimated at $25 million.

In addition, $10 million in federal funding has been supported by Maine’s congressional delegation, and the influx of that money would move the trust much closer to successfully completing phase one of its plan.

The Penobscot River Restoration Trust is working with a variety of public and private partners, and wants to remove the two dams that are closest to the ocean – the Veazie and Great Works dams – and bypass the Howland Dam.

Here’s where you come in: The Penobscot River Restoration Trust is working to prepare regulatory permit applications that are required in order to implement the project. And the trust wants your help.

Three public scoping sessions are scheduled, during which people will have the chance to comment on issues they think the trust should consider when filing federal and state regulatory applications.

Two of the scoping sessions will be held in Brewer, and one will be staged in Howland.

The scoping sessions on tap:

. At Brewer, Dec. 5 from 1-4 p.m. at the Penobscot County Conservation Association.

. At Brewer, Dec. 5 from 7-9 p.m. at the Penobscot County Conservation Association.

. At Howland, Dec. 6 from 7-9 p.m. at the Howland Town Office.

A scoping document is available on the Penobscot River Restoration Trust Web site, at www.penobscotriver.org.

Ureneck wins book award

In an earlier column, I told you about the literary effort of former Portland newspaperman Lou Ureneck.

Ureneck’s book, “Backcast: Fatherhood, Fly-fishing and a River Journey Through the Heart of Alaska,” is a touching tale of a trip he made to Alaska in hopes of re-establishing the relationship with his son. The pair fly-fish their way down a remote river, and Ureneck not only tells fishing stories, but spends time reflecting on his life and many of the decisions he made along the way.

Praise for Ureneck’s book has been widespread, and earlier this week I received word that “Backcast” has been named the winner of the 2007 National Outdoor Book Award for literature.

“Backcast” shared top honors with Beth Leonard’s “Blue Horizons.”

Ureneck is a former editor at the Portland Press Herald and the Philadelphia Inquirer, and is currently a professor of journalism at Boston University.

DIF&W names acting I&E head

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Commissioner Roland “Dan” Martin announced on Wednesday that he had hired an acting director of the department’s Division of Information and Education.

Hired was Deborah Turcotte of Bangor, a former business writer at the Bangor Daily News.

“Deborah comes to the department with strong experience in reporting, graphic design and editing,” Martin said in a news release. “Her journalism background will be an asset to the department.”

The DIF&W’s Division of Information and Information includes the agency’s Information Center, the Maine Wildlife Park, recreational safety education, youth activities, natural science education, public relations and marketing, according to the release. It is charged with increasing the public’s understanding of Maine’s inland fisheries and wildlife resources and the state’s management of those resources.

Turcotte succeeds Marc Michaud, whose retirement became effective last week.

Turkeys, turkeys, turkeys

Thanksgiving festivities for the Holyoke clan come in two forms, thanks to years of practice and some plenty of flexibility and planning.

Over the years, we’ve succeeded in arranging for nearly everyone to fulfill “in-law” duties during even-numbered years.

Those are what we’ve come to call “little” years, with fewer guests for the feast.

Odd-numbered years, like this one, are the “big” years, and seating arrangements become a bit more complicated.

Thursday’s Thanksgiving gathering was attended by 27 family members or guests, and somehow, we stuffed all of them into my mom and dad’s house … where they proceeded to stuff themselves.

One of this year’s highlights: The welcoming committee that greeted me when I drove up the long driveway.

There, milling around underneath my mom’s bird feeder, was a sizeable flock of wild turkeys, just in time for their own Thanksgiving brunch.

The flock of 14 dispersed for a bit, then reconvened for more snacking, just feet from the front picture windows.

I politely invited a few inside to take part in the traditional Thanksgiving feast, but the little gobblers declined, and eventually the entire flock headed across the lawn and into the woods.

Turkeys are a relatively new addition to the neighborhood, and were more fun to watch than the Thanksgiving football offerings on TV.

One quick final note: In past years, I’ve told you about the Holyoke-Knowles-Urquhart family tradition of Calvinball, which involves middle-aged men waddling around on a basketball court just minutes after gorging on turkey and the trimmings.

This year’s event was different, in that we added two more players to the rough-and-tumble event.

In the interest of not hurting anyone’s feelings, I won’t tell you exactly who won this year’s game. All I’ll say is this: Cousin Vaughn Knowles made the recruiting coup of the decade when he lured George Matoes out of retirement in Alaska and got him to lace up his vintage black Chuck Taylor high-tops one more time.

The Alaskan Assassin, who has served as a top-notch fishing guide for several family members over the years, proved impossible to stop.

Unfortunately, his teammates fell victim to the always-debilitating Pumpkin Pie Fatigue late in the game, and the Assassin’s heroics were for naught.

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