Finally, bowling has come to downtown Knoxville. Maple Hall is open in the J.C. Penney Building on Gay Street and boy is it fun! We at Moxley Carmichael were looking for a team-building activity and this week we decided to take the whole staff bowling. It was great. You might want to consider it for your own team.
The Moxley Carmichael team in front of Maple Hall, 414 S. Gay St. Front row, from left, graphic designer Erica Beck, intern Jordan Shipowitz, account executive Savanna Howie, senior account executive Amanda Jennings, CFO Shaun Fulco, writer/editor Maria Cornelius and Amy Barger, our manager of first impressions. Back row, from left, graphic designer Katrina Roberts, senior web developer John McCulley, president Alan Carmichael, writer Michelle Henry, director of client services Lauren Miller, me, Pam Rhoades, who will be joining us shortly as our digital storyteller, creative director Charley Sexton and intern Jake Bruce. Only one missing was our vice president, Scott Bird, who was out of town on business.
Amanda.
We closed early on Wednesday and were at Maple Hall when it opened at 4 p.m. Of course, since we have an excellent creative department, we wore T-shirts designed especially for the occasion. After three games, we walked a few yards down Gay Street to Five, where we had reserved the entire upstairs and where everyone’s significant other joined us.
A few things to know about Maple Hall, whether you go as a team or just for fun on your own. Maple Hall rents its 11 bowling lanes by the hour — not by the game. Each lane costs $20 per hour, except for Friday and Saturday nights when they are $30 per hour. After 9 p.m., only those aged 21 or older are allowed.
We had four people per lane and were able to play three games in two hours. Also, Maple Hall is more like a nightclub than a regular bowling alley. With a full bar, giant TV screens and a professional kitchen, it offers a pretty extensive menu of appetizers, sandwiches and stacks of French fries. The setting is so nice that some folks come to hang out, rather than to bowl. Read on to see how our team building went.
Savanna shoes up.
Checking out the situation.
Shaun is our ace bowler. Her father owned a bowling alley as she was growing up and, today, she bowls two nights a week with leagues. We all wanted to be on her team. To be fair, we drew names to place people on teams.
Jordan sampled the food offerings.
Charley sampled a Miller Lite.
Nobody seemed eager to sample the water. Hydrate, people!
Here’s the back of our T-shirts. Ha.
Lauren documenting the shirt using John as a model.
Michelle.
Jake putting a dent in the buffet.
Erica.
This was hilarious. Maria is our editor, and she was so upset by this unneeded apostrophe that she was having a hard time concentrating on her game!
Amy.
Jake and Alan chilling. (Photo by Pam Rhoades)
John.
Alan and Pam.
Katrina.
Shaun and Charley. (Photo by Pam Rhoades)
Lauren.
From left, Lauren, Savanna, John and Jordan. (Photo by Pam Rhoades)
The final scores. Of course, the team on lane 8, which included Shaun, Alan, Pam and Jake, was the winner. I was on lane 6 — last place! (Photo by Pam Rhoades)
Then it was on to dinner and to meet up with everyone’s significant others.
John had a trick whereby a fork and knife magnetically attached to each other. Ha.
Pam and her husband Brian Rhoades.
Michelle and David Henry with Maria, right.
Linnie and Charley Sexton.
Amanda and Mark Jennings.
Crystal and John McCulley.
John and Lauren Miller.
Savanna and her boyfriend, Camp Arnett.
Brandon and Amy Barger with Jordan, at right.
Jake with his girlfriend, Abbey Smyth, center, and Erica.
Amanda, left, and Shaun.
We are doing this again!
This was so much fun. I want to go back and bowl again!
I’m dying to go bowling. Great team building for your great staff.
It was an absolute blast! It truly was a great team building exercise. Can’t wait to go again. I count my blessings every single day that I walk through the doors to come to work for, and with, the best of the best!
Maria: We are going back!
Monique: Let’s do it!
Shaun: We are so lucky to have you for our CFO! Best numbers person I’ve ever met!
So much fun! Thanks for all the great times we’ve had and are going to continue to have!
What a fun night we had! I’ll be looking at this post again and again for years to come!!
A great time was had by all! It was so much fun. Can’t wait to go back again!
I agree! It was so much fun! Thanks, Cynthia and Alan, for all that you do to make Moxley Carmichael such a great place to work!
I’ve got to practice before we go back!
It was a ton of fun. The camaraderie was great, and the folks at Maple Hall made it very enjoyable. The food at Five was delicious as well. As a member of Shaun’s bowling team, I would like to thank her for her leadership at work AND on the lanes. I don’t know why the four guys who stationed themselves alongside our lane decided to leave when I started bowling.
Alan: Maybe we BOTH need to practice!
Cynthia….I must have one of those shirts !!!!
The slogan on the back of those shirts is the best!
Deborah: Thanks! I loved it, too! And still smile every time I see it or hear it.
What a fun team-building event! Love the shots you have of this venue — old brick, great rugs, all contribute to a tasteful (if there is such a thing) bowling alley right downtown in Knoxville!!! Tell Maria that I do the same thing when I see a misplaced apostrophe or one that shouldn’t even be there. It’s a curse, I guess. You just can’t let it go! (She can carry red markers with her, if it would make her feel better.)
Love the event. Love the venue. Love the blog.
Jeff: I take that as the ultimate compliment, coming from a clothes horse like you!!
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