The St. Louis American goes bowling together

The newspaper that rolls together ... rolls together.

Once a year or so, the entire staff of The St. Louis American, newsroom and sales, is divided into teams of four and spends an afternoon at the bowling alley, where the publisher pays for lanes, shoes, drinks and food, and we have a good time.

This year, I kept a sketchbook. Top to bottom, we have sales rep Onye Ijei, senior writer Bill Beene, and bean counter Robin Britt, with each sketch signed by the subject. Britt added the sobriquet "Thriller," since she thinks I drew her in the likeness of Michael Jackson.

My drawing game was only slightly less ineffective than my bowling, which earned me the nickname of "Nine Pen" King, owing to my apparent inability to close out a frame.

Quite against the spirit of the staff outing, I did sneak in some work between frames, sorting through notes of voice messages and returning calls - including one to Shirley Harrold, mother of 16 (!), which staff reporter Jessica Bassett was able to parlay into a feel-good Thanksgiving story.