We can't believe it's already April, and that means Commencement isn't far behind. Which might be music to the ears of those of you graduating! Or maybe not, if you're not quite ready to leave college.
Anyway, it's time for a new pint glass design to commemorate the occasion!
Graduation pint glasses are a huge thing for us every year. They make great gifts, and they're the perfect inexpensive souvenir for students leaving Lawrence.
And this year, we've got another option for you: we have boxes to pack them in, so we'll be selling four-packs. More info on those to come later.
For now, though, we need a design. And that's where you come in!
If you've got a great idea for a graduation glass, we'd love to see it. A few rules:
No licensed marks, like a Jayhawk
Must be a single-color design
Simple line art without complicated shading
Otherwise, we're pretty open to ideas! Draw it up, use clip art, whatever you need to do, and email it to us at sandbar@thesandbar.com. If your design is chosen, we'll give you a pack of glasses and a T-shirt, and you'll get the satisfaction of knowing hundreds of 2013 graduates are drinking out of your glass.
Also, we'll feature you on our blog so you can get another five minutes of fame.
We also realized that we never featured the designer of this year's Valentine's Day glass, so look for her profile coming soon!
Check out the 2011 graduation glass here, and last year we went back to a simple design here.
One of our very favorite downtown events is coming back this year for the third time- the Kansas Relays shot put! It's also one of the most unique events to take place in Lawrence.
We hope you'll join us next Wednesday, April 17, at 6 p.m. in front of the bar. The street will be closed all day so the crews can set up the giant sand pit, bleachers and everything else needed for a downtown shot put contest.
We'll be selling drinks outside, and the inside bar will be open. Be sure to get down here early so you get a good seat! This event draws thousands of people downtown, especially if the weather's nice. Several of the world's top throwers will be competing.
Wednesday's event will also include prize giveaways and inflatables for the kids.
And the next night (Thursday, April 18) features the elite women's long jump event, also on 8th Street just across Mass Street.
Click here to get more info about the events. See you there!
Click here to read our post about the very first downtown shot put.
Wondering where Patrick, Peach's brother and a fixture at the Sandbar, has been lately?
He's on a boat.
He recently took a new job, so he's off on a boat in the ocean most of the time. Here's the first update we got from him about his new nautical lifestyle.
There is a rumor we will be docking in Port Everglades at Ft.
Lauderdale this evening and staying maybe for a while. We have been
taking sand out of the channel and filling the south side beaches here.
There is so much pleasure boat, shipping and cruise ship traffic in the
channel we are constantly moving out of the channel and out to sea to
give everyone room. I don’t think Ft. Lauderdale wants the cruise ship
vacationers to see The Terrapin Island. I don’t know why, because when
people do see our ship they take a million pictures. The ship is a
really cool thing to see.
When we first started, the beach on the southern side of Ft.
Lauderdale was almost non-existent due to Hurricane Sandy. Now it’s
looking really nice. We may hear from the Army Corp of Engineers today
and they might ask us to keep going a little longer.
I understand that this job was originally to be dredging the channel
and not replenishing the beach. That would have taken a very short time
to complete. Generally, I’m told, we dredge and then dump what we put in
the hopper out in the ocean. In Ft. Lauderdale, I’m told, there is a law
that says any sand removed from the area has to be put back on the
beach. After we collected the sand and removed the water, we take the
ship down a channel, added water back to the sand, and pumped the sand
and water across an island area to the beach. There are bulldozers and
other heavy equipment that spread the new sand along the beach. This
work was going on mostly 24 hours a day.
I have been on the ship about 2 weeks now. I have spent this time
mostly on my own reading work logs, identifying electrical circuits, and
getting generally acquainted with the ships layout and systems.. The
ship is huge and has a million circuits. I am getting pretty familiar
with the operation of the ship but have done very little repairs.
I am having a great time and love this work. I love being on the
ocean, smelling the fresh sea air and learning nautical terms and life
style. I spend most of my free time on deck or on the bridge watching
the beaches, the ocean, other ships and pleasure crafts. I eat well, go
to bed early, wake up at 5 a.m. and sleep better than I ever have. This is
very healthy for me.
It's a cocktail of social, web and tech advice, combined with fun people and customer service. Oh, and actual cocktails.
Our friends at Philsquare, a Lawrence-based web development company, are hosting their second Webtini event at the Sandbar on Wednesday, Mar. 20 from 6-8 p.m. It's a casual and relaxed event, so feel free to drop by (as long as you're 21, of course).
The Philsquare team will be there to answer your questions about social, web development, blogging and other related topics. And, they're fun to hang out with, so even if you don't have questions come by and say hi.
You can check out Philsquare online at www.philsquare.com or their newest site, www.websiteworkbench.net, which is a go-to place for web education, tutorials and resources.
St. Patrick's Day is our favorite holiday of the year, and we spend a lot of time, money and effort making it fun not only for us, but for the community. We're proud sponsors of the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade, and our staff and friends participate in many of the fundraising events and on the committee.
It all culminates on March 17 each year with the annual parade.
This year, we built a float around a theme we've considered for many years: Gilligan's Island. We've talked about this one for a long time now, but we've never been able to put together a building plan. It all came together this year.
Our building crew created half a boat called the S.S. Minnow, a giant boulder that it "crashed" into and a beach. We had the full cast of characters and a boat load of Gilligans. We even had the golf cart, native islanders and the golf cart!
Here's a couple pictures:
There's more pictures on our Facebook page, you can check them out here. (You have to be logged into Facebook to see our page.) And we'll have more to add in a few days.
Also, here's a short video made with Vine from Twitter user @uh_burton:
He tended bar at the Sandbar for many, many years, and he still does occasionally when we need help.
Danny graduated from nursing school, moved to Kansas City and now works at Children's Mercy Hospital in the oncology unit. That means he works with children who have cancer. Can you imagine how incredibly sad, yet rewarding his job must be?
Danny is also a rockstar fundraiser. For the last I don't even know how many years, Danny has participated in Bike MS, a major fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He raised thousands of dollars for the organization.
This year, Danny has turned his efforts to a cause very close to his own patients- the CureSearch Walk.
Here's what Danny says:
I started working on the Hem/Onc unit at Children's Mercy in November, and I am excited to be getting involved with a charity that directly supports the kiddos I get to work with on a daily basis.
Often I feel like donating to "research" feels like a very vague gesture towards a cause. With this charity, I get to see firsthand where the money is going. It is going to directly fund enrolling my patients in these research studies to find new and better treatments for childhood cancer. I sincerely hope you'll consider making a donation to help these amazing and brave kids overcome their diseases!
Danny's fundraising goal is $1,500, and so far he's raised $1,375. He'll likely meet this goal, but there's no reason he has to stop there!
Help Danny kick cancer in the pants. Click here to donate.
Peach is opening a Sandbar Sub Shop in downtown Lawrence, right across the street from the Sandbar!
While we're sad that our neighbor and frequent breakfast and lunch spot the Mirth Cafe had to move down the street, we're happy that it opened up a great spot for us to use.
Currently, there are two Sandbar Sub Shops in town- both inside Zarco 66 gas stations. Now, downtown folks can get their fix, too!
Manager needed
First, though, Peach needs a manager for the new restaurant. She's looking for someone who loves the Sandbar, loves food and wants to help people eat healthier.
The ideal candidate will have a great attitude, food service experience, management experience and retail experience is a plus- the new shop will have a gift shop in addition to the deli.
It's a full-time position, and the salary is based on experience.
Are you looking for a fun new job? Do you know someone who is? Contact Peach at peach@thesandbar.com to find out more!
Awhile ago, we wrote about bartender Tyler and his wife Kristen's wedding last October.
Of course the newlyweds took Sandbar shirts along on their honeymoon! We would have had to fire Tyler if he'd forgotten a shirt picture for us. Luckily, he has his wife to take care of those things for him.
Here they are, on their honeymoon at El Dorado Royale in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
Why does everyone ELSE get to go to all the fun, warm, tropical places?! Take us along next time, people!
Sunday night was the 11th annual Pub Quiz trivia event to benefit the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade, which benefits local children's charities.
Eleven years already- wow. The Sandbar has had a team in this event for at least most of those years. Our former bartender, Scottie Mack, puts the event together. We actually won last year, believe it or not.
This year we had nine smart people on our team who could cover topics ranging from military history to celebrity baby names (that's my area of expertise and I'm not ashamed to admit it).
We're sad to say, however, that we missed this question:
"John Hampton claims to be the first male to portray this downtown Lawrence character."
Got an answer? We didn't. It wasn't our question, but the team who got that one couldn't answer it, so everyone had a chance.
We didn't win the trivia game, but we finished in the top half so we're proud of that.
Yesterday the Sandbar was the site of an event new to us: hosting an author to talk about his book.
We opened up early around 3 p.m. for the Lawrence Public Library's event with Tim Dorsey, a Florida author who writes humorous crime stories with main character named Serge Storms. Yes, really.
How did this come about?
Well, the Raven Bookstore wanted to bring Tim in but they didn't have the space to set up an event. So they called the library, who said "sure!" Except that the library is currently located at the old Borders building (we like to call it "Free Borders") while renovations are taking place at the library building.
Turns out, the library had a storytime conflict with the time that Tim was booked…but those creative folks at the library figured out the perfect solution and called us.
We love the library and thought it would be fun to host a different kind of event. So we opened early for a crowd of around fifty people, some who even drove in from Topeka, many of whom are devoted fans of Tim and some who weren't familiar with his books but thought they sounded interesting.
Instead of just reading an excerpt from his book, Tim took questions from the crowd and performed more of a stand-up comedy routine. Afterward, he signed books and took pictures. We gave him a couple T-shirts. Tim, if you're reading this, take a Sandbar shirt with you next time you go someplace cool and take a picture with it for our wall of fame.
The event was a huge success, and we'd love to do something like this again! The library is a great partner and a wonderful resource for Lawrence, and the Raven is a fabulous local bookstore.
