We are the Capital Journal | Local News Stories

1. What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

2. If you got to spend 10 minutes questioning any living person, who would it be and what is one question you would ask?

3. Which of these best describes your idea of a vacation? A-Going to a theme park, such as Disneyland; B-Going “off-the-grid” in the mountains, countryside or forest; C- Going to the ocean/beach; D-Going to a giant city, such as New York; E-Staying at home and doing virtually nothing for as long as possible.

4. What hobbies do you have?

5. What is your favorite Thanksgiving and/or Black Friday memory?

Below are the answers for each employee.

1. My wife Kathy’s homemade dressing (stuffing).

2. Tom Cruise. I would ask him what drives him to do his own death-defying stunts in his movies.

3. Going to the ocean/beach-every year, we go to an isolated peninsula on the Florida coast where all of our kids and grandkids meet up. It is the best week all year.

4. Really any activity as long as it involves my family.

5. Any holiday where my wife, kids, and grandkids are all in one place would be my favorite memory. Another would be where my wife and I stood in line all night (in freezing temps) to get a gift for our daughter and grandson. It sounds like it wouldn’t be, but it was just the two of us and was a lot of fun.

Elise Wines, Marketing Director:

2. Jimmy Carter – What one thing gave you such a heart for service, not politically speaking, but humanitarianism wise?

3. Going off-the-grid, as long as my family is there with me.

4. Shooting, fishing, long road trips to nowhere.

5. Several years ago, we went to Dallas to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. I always cook dinner for us all. Their stove quit working and I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal for 13 people in our hotel room. We had 3 different kinds of pie, green bean casserole, yams, mashed potatoes, rolls, giblet gravy, deviled eggs, a Turkey and a Ham. Best Thanksgiving in years, all crammed into the hotel room stuffing our faces! But it was all 3 of my children, my parents and significant others.

1. All of them (and is dessert considered a side….?).

2. No one in particular, but many people I would just ask “Why?”!

3. Going “off-the-grid” in the mountains, countryside or forest, as long as I have my camera along.

4. I enjoy birding, photography, painting, miscellaneous crafts and baking.

5. Just hanging out and relaxing after overeating with family. (Leftovers and wine may be involved).

2. Bob Dylan, no specific question, just want to hang out.

4. Geology is fascinating! I rockhound during the warmer months, and rock carve during the winter.

5. Smoking a delicious Cuban cigar in the outdoor hot tub, under the canopy of an ancient live oak, after playing 36 holes of golf with my buddies on a perfect day on Jekyll Island, Georgia.

1. Tie between mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

2. I would probably ask Michael Jordan if he pushed off against Bryon Russell during the winning shot in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals.

3. Although I can’t go as long as I could in my teens and 20s, I would probably still pick an amusement park with lots of roller coasters. I’ve been to Cedar Point near Cleveland, Ohio like 17 times.

4. I have collected baseball, football and basketball cards since I was about age 9. Some of my best cards currently include rookie cards of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson, John Elway, Dan Marino, Lawrence Taylor, Rickey Henderson, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr.

5. For Thanksgiving, it is helping my Mom make dinner when I was a kid. Then, splitting the wishbone with my Dad. Black Friday would be running into so many of my old high school friends who had come back to spend the holiday with their family. That, plus dressing up like goofball while shopping at the mall.

1. Definitely Mashed Potatoes

2. Jon BonJovi. How have you and your high school sweetheart maintained one of the most successful marriages in the music industry?

3. Going “off-the-grid” in the mountains, countryside or forest.

4. Fishing, Listening to Music, Working in my Yard, Taking drives in the Country, Being with Family and Friends.

5. Any Thanksgiving that I have been with my family is a favorite memory. My favorite Black Friday memory is to say I have never done it.

3. Going “off-the-grid” in the mountains, countryside or forest – Badlands of North Dakota; or Daniel Boone forest in Kentucky.

4. Reading, guitar, grandchildren.

5. Starting a food fight with my kids.

1. My favorite Thanksgiving side dish is green-bean casserole with bacon pieces.

2. A living person whom I would want to interview is the author Stephen King, not for his horror stories but for his reader-catching-and-holding style. I would ask him how a new author could get published other than by self-publishing.

3. My ideal vacation would be the wilderness or a major theme park, always physically on the go, so when I get back from my vacation I then need a vacation.

4. My hobbies include anything physical and with other people, especially outdoors such as sports and camping and hunting, but I also enjoy card games and chess.

5. Years ago, my Thanksgivings would be lots of relatives crammed into my parents’ tiny house, conversations all day, the big meal itself followed by snacking the rest of the day.

2. Michael Jordan; Did you actually want to play baseball in 1993-94?

3. Vacations? What are those? Staying at home and doing as little as possible.

4. Watching movies, wrestling and sports, reading, and listening to music/podcasts.

5. Probably when someone in the family made my Grandma laugh so hard she spit out her teeth.

1. Mashed potatoes and gravy.

2. Dick Cheney. I would ask him if he would change anything about the way he handled 9/11.

3. I am from Maryland and my family has a beach house in Delaware, so the beach has always represented the quintessential vacation to me.

4. I write creatively in addition to journalism. When I’m not writing, I listen to music and podcasts, read, watercolor paint, and walk or hike.

5. In college my best friend would always join my family for Thanksgiving because she couldn’t go home for the holiday, and I loved getting to spend time with both family and friends. This year since I can’t go home we’re continuing the tradition and she’s coming to visit me for Thanksgiving!

1. Green Fluff salad. It’s an amazing concoction of lime Jello (straight from the box), Cool Whip, crushed pineapple and cottage cheese.

2. Justice Amy Coney Barrett. I would ask her how she maintained such exquisite composure and grace-under-pressure during her senate confirmation hearings.

3. Going to an ocean/beach near a big city.

4. I don’t really have any hobbies, but in my leisure time, I love to spend time with my family traveling, hiking, fly fishing, and exploring the world. Recently, my husband and I started visiting the SD historical markers, which are fascinating.

5. Every Thanksgiving when I was growing up, my family would travel to Kansas City to spend the holiday weekend at my aunt and uncle’s house. After our Thanksgiving feast, we would drive to view the iconic and very festive Country Club Plaza holiday lights.

 1. Mashed potatoes and gravy.

2. Alex Kava: What is your inspiration when you come up with a new novel about Ryder/Maggie?

3. Going to a giant city, such as New York.

4. Bowling, reading, puzzles.

1. Stuffing. It can’t be beat.

2. I would ask Donald Trump what is the best deal he’s ever made.

3. Going “off-the-grid” in the mountains, countryside or forest.

4. Playing video games on my PC.

5. I remember last year, my younger cousin ( about 8 years old) was acting like a brat at the table. So when he went to grab another drink, I stole his plate and hid it on my lap under the table. When we came back, he was convinced my brother hid his plate.