The folks down here at The Natchez Democrat have a few things in common.

We can’t spell, we can’t type and we are all from Alabama, right?

Well, even though you may think so, that’s not the commonality of which I’m thinking.

Instead, my mind flashes to silver sequins, plastic guns and 1-foot-by-1-foot paper dice.

What does our staff have in common? We know how to have fun. We have good senses of humor. And we like to work together. So Sunday, we did all three of those things.

For one afternoon, our Democrat team became five teams of secret agents working for Bond. James Bond.

It was our annual Profile kickoff party, and this year we gathered at Memorial Park for a James Bond-themed afternoon. Our “agents” had to use teamwork to kill the villains, break into ticking time bombs and defeat the dealer at our Casino Royale.

And ultimately, they had to crack the secret code and report back to their boss — Bond, also known as Kevin.

In the end, the code revealed the point to our insanity and the theme to this year’s Profile edition.

Those of you who have been in the Miss-Lou a few years know that each February our newspaper publishes a magazine that profiles the community in some form or fashion.

The special edition tells the stories of more than 100 local people, places, things and businesses.

It’s our biggest — and most fun — project of the year. We look forward to it, and we hope you do too.

This year we’ve chosen a theme that we hope will draw our community closer together, while pointing out exactly how close we already are.

The theme — “Common Bonds: Our essential elements” — will highlight the strong bonds that make the Miss-Lou what it is.

We want to point out that local residents are more alike than different, and that together we can create a better place to live.

We’ve just begun our work for a product you won’t see until February. Because we care so much about producing the best Profile edition possible, we start early.

Reporters and marketing representatives are already contacting sources and businesses to make sure the best stories are told.

We’ll continue that work until early February.

It wasn’t difficult to look around the Miss-Lou and find bonds — fried chicken, sports, cancer and religion to name a few.

And it wasn’t difficult to look around our own building and realize that it takes a common bond to bring this community the news and information you want and need each day.

Sunday we looked silly putting golf balls into cups and dodging water balloons in the city park. We share the bond of fun, yes, but we share a few more bonds as well.

Hard work, dedication and creativity will combine to bring Profile to your doorstep, and you won’t even have to fight any villains to get it.

Julie Cooper is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.