Pin Girl

Tonight, I was a pin girl. I manually set the pins for the Glenmore Bowl’s last games. What does a pin setter wear? Why, a tight sweater, shiny skirt, funky leggings, and 3 inch heels, of course. (And hair in a sensible ponytail.)


Sweater, Charlotte Russe. Skirt (actually a dress), American Apparel. Leggings, Allen B. Boots, Style & Co (thrifted). Earrings, Nine West.

Actually, this outfit wasn’t bad for an intensely physical night. All the stretch moved with me. The leggings kept the short skirt modest. The shoes are surprisingly comfortable and rubber soled. (I brought moccasins as back up, but never needed to slip them on.) The only thing I would have changed about the outfit was my knee covering. The thin leggings didn’t save my knees from rug burn. (I spent hours crawling around in the carpeted ball catchers.)


Before The Drama Workshop bought the bowling alley this past fall, the pin setting machines were removed and sold. In order to host one last bowl (and a fund raiser), our group built ball catchers at the end of six lanes and staffed them with volunteers. After each roll, the pin girls would crawl into the ball catcher, reset the pins (as necessary), and send the ball back down the ball return. We used red and green paddles to communicate to the bowlers whether it was safe to hurl the next ball.



We finished the night safely. No one was hit with any balls (although it certainly was terrifying behind the ball catchers!) I made some pin-setting mistakes and more than one ball got stuck in the ball return, but our guests had a great time and we raised money and awareness for The Drama Workshop.