by Debbi | Dec 26, 2006 | Birthday Party, Events, People
Our friend Pat was born on Christmas Eve. (So was our friend Ashley, but this story is about Pat). Everyone knows that Christmas babies get gypped a little bit at the holidays- their birthdays get a little lost in the commotion of Christmas and New Year’s and traveling, and everyone else is getting presents too, so people aren’t necessarily paying attention to the presents the birthday boy/girl opens.
Last Friday some of us thought an impromptu birthday party at The Sandbar would be fun for Pat, a night all his own that wasn’t shared with Santa and church and millions of other kids. Unfortunately, Pat apparently didn’t think it was such a great idea, as he stayed home and didn’t partake in the festivities.
But noooooo, that didn’t stop us….
A few years ago, our very artistic friend Michelle created "Pat Heads" for another of Pat’s birthdays. She took a picture of his face, blew it up, copied it about a hundred times (okay I’m exaggerating, but there were a lot of them), pasted it to a cardboard backer, and glued the face to a stick. When Pat showed up to the party, there were all these "Pat Heads" on sticks bobbing around the bar. Over the years, they’ve slowly disappeared. Someone, and we’ve never figured out who it was, stole one from the bar and took it on their travels with them. The Sandbar received pictures a few times of a "Pat Head" on a beach, in the city, etc.
Anyway, there happens to be one Pat Head left at The Sandbar, but it’s missing the face. It’s just a cardboard shape of his head, which made the night somehow funnier.
Pat experienced lots of adventures on Friday night. He was a mermaid…he drank lots of beers, he fell off his chair. He played foosball upstairs, and he was buried in the sand.
All in all, it was a fun birthday celebration. But it would have been even more fun if the birthday boy would have been there for real.
by Debbi | Nov 16, 2006 | People
Marlin is the official Sandbar entertainment.
Marlin and his guitar frequently play at The Sandbar in Ottawa, out on the deck where there’s plenty of room for people to crowd around and listen to the music while they drink their cares away.
It’s not as easy to have live music in Lawrence, simply because the bar isn’t big enough for very many people, and most nights it’s just too busy. But every once in awhile we’re lucky enough to have Marlin play on a Sunday night, when the pace is more relaxed and the patrons can appreciate acoustic music.
This Sunday, November 19, is Marlin’s next gig in Lawrence. He’ll start around 8 p.m. If you’ve never listened to him, come on down. He plays a great variety of sing-along type songs, from Kenny Chesney to Simon & Garfunkel to Jimmy Buffett. There’s no cover charge, and we’ll even have snacks.
Marlin and his wife Julie joined the Sandbar crew on our retreat last month, and we had a lot of fun telling stories and jokes while Marlin strummed his guitar and sang for us. A very enjoyable evening under the stars, next to the fire. We can’t give you a campfire on Sunday, but we promise you’ll still enjoy the show!
by Debbi | Nov 9, 2006 | People
As you know, our former employees Jake and John took off for Australia in September.
They’ve set up a blog to keep us in the loop on all their adventures. Check it out at www.getjealous.com/australialive. You can live vicariously through these two clowns in Surfer’s Paradise.
by Debbi | Oct 16, 2006 | People
Our friends from Delaware, Les and Cathy, sent us this picture of their Jimmy Buffett-style snowwoman. If you look closely, you can see that she is wearing a Jayhawk coconut bra from The Sandbar!
by Debbi | Oct 10, 2006 | People
The Sandbar crew is a unique group of people. Of course if you’ve ever been to the bar, you know this.
Peach started the Sandbar back in 1989. One of these days we’ll post some stories from back in the day. Dave has been the manager for long time- maybe 12 years? I can’t even count the years anymore. He loves his job. And he manages to put together a diverse, fun loving group of employees. People come in all the time and ask for jobs. He actually gets quite a lot of resumes from people as well- all about their past bartending experience, which bartending school they graduated from, on and on. A lot of the people he hires, however, have no experience whatsoever behind a bar.
Dave has an incredible knack for reading people. He watches the customers. He gets to know the regulars. And the wheels are always turning, looking for that next great employee. Usually he only hires someone who has become a regular customer. Someone who has fun when they come to the bar– dancing and laughing and drinking. (It’s a big plus if they dance on the bar and get excited about the hurricane.) Someone who brings a crowd with them. And someone who never causes trouble, even if they get drunk. Most staff members "worked" at The Sandbar before they were actually hired- watching the door when the doorguy has to pick up glasses; hanging around at closing time and helping to stock the cooler; stuff like that.
This blog will start spotlighting Sandbar staff- current employees as well as some of our notable- or not-so-notable- former staff members. Is there anything you want to know about these folks? Email your questions. You may find out more than you ever wanted to know about the fun crazy world of The Sandbar!
Here’s another pic from the Get Downtown! party that we received:
by Debbi | Sep 23, 2006 | People
Jake and John arrived safely in Australia.
They’ve been there a week and in John’s words, have been going at it non-stop. They celebrated a Canadian girl’s birthday in Bondi Beach and met people from all over the world. They even had kangaroo for dinner one night.
The boys are now in Surfer’s Paradise along the Gold Coast, which not surprisingly has some of the best surfing beaches in the world. They found jobs almost immediately after arriving, waiting tables and bartending. The bars are open until 5 a.m.! Jake says it was easy to dive right into the job because of The Sandbar and that the drinks aren’t all that different from the States.
Once they get settled into an apartment they plan to start their own blog to keep us entertained with their Australian adventures. We’ll have a link to it once it’s ready.
