Sandbar Resolutions

Happy 2011! We're excited about the new year and all the things we want to do. Here's just a few things on our radar. We'll call them resolutions, but they're really just some things on our list that we want to accomplish.

1. Rebuild the hurricane machine

  • The hurricane has been running since 2002, can you believe it? And it's time to upgrade our setup. In fact, we have to- we have a new video to add, but our current system can't quite handle it.
  • Of course, Dave also wants to add more- more wind, more lightning, more everything.

2. A new hurricane video

  • We have one new video to add, but it's really not totally new. It's recycled footage from some older videos, which means it will be new to most of you.
  • You might remember last August when we had a hurricane video contest. Our winner, Kim, has been patiently waiting for months for her video clip to debut, and we want to make her a star as soon as possible. Don't worry, we'll get a brand new video done soon.

3. The biggest, most over-the-top St. Patrick's Day float ever

  • You all know we try to outdo ourselves every year on St. Patrick's Day. This year will be no exception. It will be hard to top last year's castle, but not impossible. 

4. Find something fun to do with our upstairs space

  • We have a beach upstairs, but it doesn't get much use. We don't have many options; the upstairs space doesn't increase our capacity and we're still limited to 49 people according to fire code. But surely there's something we can do up there that would be fun. Suggestions welcome!

There's a few of our goals for 2011. I'm sure we'll have many, many more.

What goals or resolutions do you have for the new year? We'd love to hear them! Leave us a comment, and in a few days we'll put together a list for the blog.

Happy 2011!

Welcome to 2011, everybody! All of us at the Sandbar hope you had a great celebration last night, whether you stayed home, went out or partied with us.

Our wig party was a smashing success! What started out as an idea Dave borrowed from the band Lucero (he saw a reference to a wig party on one of their videos) turned into a fun party with lots of participation.

The bar's been busy all week (and we thank you for that!) and last night was no exception. By 9 p.m. the bar was full of New Year's revelers, and the local Channel 6 video reporter showed up too. There were also some Channel 6 staffers at the party…with wigs…but they successfully avoided my camera. We later watched ourselves on the Channel 6 newscast (I haven't been able to find a link to the video online to share.)

Here's a few pictures:

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We had an early hurricane featuring the 21st birthday girl, Allie (or it might have been Hallie, sorry!).

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You can see a few wigs in the crowd…

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A lot of our staff members who weren't on the clock still came to the party last night, and surprisingly many of them were NOT wearing wigs. But our customers made up for their lack of costume- thanks to everyone who joined our fun and sported a wig!

We didn't take very many pictures last night, but you can see them on our Facebook page or Flickr page. If you have any to share we'd love to see them!

New Year’s Eve: Wig Party

You might long for the day when a holiday comes and the Sandbar doesn't require a costume of some sort, but it's probably not going to happen anytime soon. Dave adores any reason to dress up in some kind of crazy attire, and New Year's Eve is no different.

This year, we're having a Wig Party. You'll have to ask Dave where he came up with that idea.

That's right, the only requirement is that you wear a wig. Dress fancy in your black-tie best, or go casual in jeans and a sweater, but find a wig- any wig- and put it on.

Here are the party details:

  • Friday, December 31
  • We'll be open in the afternoon but the party starts at 7 p.m.
  • Cover: to be determined, but there will be one
  • Admission includes party favors, snacks and midnight champagne toast

We hope you can join us! We're looking forward to all the crazy wigs!

RSVP on Facebook.

New Year’s Eve at the Lodge in Baldwin City

We know, it's not even Christmas yet, but this month is flying by and we wanted to let you know about a New Year's Eve event.

Peach and Ted also own the Lodge in Baldwin City, a fantastic motel and banquet facility. You can ring in the New Year with Frankie Diamond, a singer specializing in Neil Diamond hits and other fun songs from a variety of decades.

You can enjoy the party for just $5. They'll have appetizers and party favors while you dance around the fireplace to all your favorite tunes!

The Lodge is also offering $75 room rates, including breakfast, and special suite rates.

If you haven't been to the Lodge, you really should check it out. It's a warm, inviting place to celebrate any event! Contact the Lodge at 785.594.3900 with any questions or to make room reservations.

RSVP on Facebook.

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve in Review

Did you make it to our New Year's Eve party? Don't worry, we'll tell you all about it!

Usually, we're pretty busy on New Year's Eve, and it's always hard to predict whether there'll be a line or not. This year was a little different- probably due in part to the crazy cold weather and also the fact that people have been scaling back their spending. We weren't super busy all night, and didn't get busy at all until around 10 pm, but it was still a fun night.

As you know, we love theme parties and costumes! We're always trying to come up with a new one, and putting together the costume is sometimes as much fun as the party itself. Dave came up with the "White Trash" theme for this year's New Year's Eve. Not a lot of participation from the crowd, but the ones who dressed up did it right.

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Dave rigged up a plastic trashcan with a spout and created his own version of "Trashcan Punch." We reminisced about purple passion and other old-school drinks; Ron even shared a story about ruining his mom's brand new cooler when it left stains from the drink.

Forget the classy plastic two-piece champagne glasses we normally use for the midnight toast. This year, we went all out with Spongebob Squarepants dixie cups.

We had extra white wifebeater tanks on hand, and Dave managed to coerce several guys into putting them on. There were cowboy hats, leopard print leggings, lots of denim, and blue sparkly eyecolors.

Of course there was food. And cheese dip. We served hot dogs with generic bread, cheese curls, and crackers with spray cheese. Have you seen the movie "Four Christmases?" Remember when they visit Brad's dad, and the sister-in-law offers "hor doo-vers?" That's what we had.

One funny anecdote- the jacket Dave wore to the bar was an old denim jacket emblazoned with the Sidewinders logo across the back. You don't remember Sidewinders? It was a country bar located where the Barrel House is now, and Dave worked there once upon a time- sometime in the early 90's.

That's our New Year's Eve in a nutshell. Check out our pictures on our Facebook page or Flickr, and upload your own.

Looking forward to the next big costume lovin' holiday…. St. Patrick's Day!

Welcome 2010.

A new year and decade is here, and so is more snow.

What did everyone do for New Year's Eve? Our White Trash party was fun, we'll have some stories and pictures tomorrow.

For those of you who like to collect our pint glasses, we have a special New Year glass in stock right now.

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The design was created by our friends at Grandstand. The Santa gnome was provided by our friend Tierney, it's not a new drink toy- sorry! Pint glasses are $3 each, and you can bring yours in every Thursday for $2 tropical drink refills. 

And good news for the Shark Attack fans- the original sharks are back in stock!