I had a brainstorm the other day, actually during the Martin Luther King Day festivities, and I think our readers will love it.

If you’ve been to The Sandbar, which most of you probably have, then you know we have an abundance of stuff on our walls. In fact, one can barely see the actual wall of the place through the accumulation of dollars, pictures, paintings, and other assorted trinkets that have accumulated over the last eighteen years. Wow, has it really been that long?

I’m going to start featuring a profile of some of the more colorful and interesting items. Lots of these things were donated by current and former customers to pay homage to, as well as leave a little bit of themselves behind in, their favorite bar . Our fans should know the stories behind all of this stuff. Plus, we still dream of someday writing and printing a Sandbar book and the more history we have documented, the easier that project will be.

So, if there’s a particular item on the wall in either Lawrence or Ottawa (because a lot of our items were shipped down south when our second location opened, so their walls wouldn’t have to start out as bare as ours did), leave a note in the comments. And if you know the story behind something on the wall, let me know that too, because there are definitely things hanging around whose origins are unknown even to those who have been around since the beginning of time.