by Debbi | Sep 23, 2011 | Events, Good Things
Did you know Lawrence is in competition with Manhattan for $100,000? Lawrence is participating in the Take Charge Challenge, a community-wide project challenge, and the prize is $100,000 for energy-efficient projects. Oh, and bragging rights.
Here's what you need to know, straight from the city of Lawrence (note: copy provided by the city, not written by me):
What is Change5? It’s about saving money! Did you know that if you change the 5 most used bulbs in your house that you’ll save $75 a year? That’s $75 you save on bills and $75 you can spend on other things. Why not Change 5?
Have you changed 5? With only 9 days left in the Take Charge Challenge, Lawrence is lagging behind Manhattan and we have just a few days left to change the outcome to beat Manhattan (and KSU!) and bring home bragging rights to Lawrence that we won the 2011 University challenge!
How can YOU help? We’re asking everyone in Lawrence to log on to the Take Charge Kansas website and register ANY bulb switches (from incandescent to CFL) that you’ve made in 2011. If you’ve already registered your bulbs, then tell a friend! We are canvassing Lawrence via email and social media to get the message out that we’re in this to WIN it and we need the community to get behind us to win! If everyone in Lawrence registers 5 bulbs, then Lawrence can win and bring home the $100,000 grand prize for LOCAL Lawrence projects.
Why should YOU care? The projects selected would not happen in our local community without the funding from the Take Charge Challenge. What will Lawrence do if (when) we win:
1. Fire Station #5 – Take Charge Challenge funds would be used to install solar photovoltaic panels at Fire Station #5 at 19th and Stewart Ave. The project would cost approximately $66,000. Fire Station #5 is the largest user of energy amongst the five Lawrence stations. The panels would reduce energy usage by 16,500 kWh or 2% annually.
2. Prairie Park Nature Center – Take Charge Challenge funds would be used to install solar thermal panels at Prairie Park Nature Center in southeast Lawrence. The panels would cost approximately $8,000 and would reduce energy uses by 2,500 kWh annually.
3. East Lawrence Recreation Center – Take Charge Challenge funds would be used to install large fans at East Lawrence Recreation Center. The fans would reduce HVAC energy costs by 15% annually and save approximately $1,400 per year.
4. Energy Audits for city buildings – The remaining funds will be used to help improve efficiency in city buildings – fewer dollars for energy costs means more dollars available for services and programs.
What NOW? Log on to the Take Charge Kansas website and register your bulbs immediately. And, ask your friends, co-workers and neighbors in Lawrence and encourage them to do the same. But, don’t wait — time is running out — only 9 days left!
Don’t have any more bulbs to change? Tell a friend or neighbor! We need EVERYONE to get involved – KU students, landlords, homeowners, neighborhood organizations – anyone who wants Lawrence to win and be able to complete these great projects for our community.
Thanks for helping out! The Take Charge Challenge ends on September 30, 2011. Energy efficiency matters to Lawrence and not losing to Manhattan matters to our community. Go Lawrence, beat Manhattan!
Friends, this is a small, simple thing you can do that not only helps you save money and energy, but it also helps your community. These projects will benefit us all!
by Debbi | Sep 22, 2011 | Downtown, Events, People
Last weekend's Halfway to St. Patrick's Day street festival had an unexpected guest: former Sandbartender Josh!
Josh worked at the bar back in the 90's. He was also Dave's roommate for a couple years. And, Josh is the one who initially set up the Sandbar's website and webcam, long before many businesses in town were using the internet for anything. We may have had one of the first webcams in town, according to this 2002 LJworld.com article.
Josh was a groomsman in Dave's wedding, and now he's living in Wisconsin. We haven't seen him much since he moved away, but he was back in Kansas for a wedding and stopped by to say hi on Saturday.
Remember Josh? Got any good stories? Share them in the comments!
by Debbi | Sep 21, 2011 | Downtown, Events, St. Patrick's Day
Last weekend was the first-ever Halfway to St. Patrick's Day street festival, brought to you by the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee.
If you're not familiar with Lawrence's St. Patrick's Day Parade, you might not know that the big parade on March 17 is only one event that surrounds this holiday. The committee starts meeting every year in the fall to plan a whole bunch of different events that raise funds for children's charities.
Currently, the committee is accepting applications for the 2012 beneficiaries. If you know of a non-profit agency in the Lawrence or Douglas County area that works with young people, please encourage them to apply! Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Oct. 3. More information, including the application, is available here.
Now, back to the party last weekend.
We were happy to help out with the street festival by securing the necessary permits from the city as well as providing the drinks. We set up a bar outside, our block was closed to traffic and a stage was set up at 8th and New Hampshire. Three bands performed: Radio Flyers, Ashley Davis and Imminent Domain. The committee requested a $5 donation for a wristband in order to drink outside.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative. Saturday was gray and rainy and cool, and it certainly kept some people away. For those of us who sweated buckets during our own block party last month, though, the cool weather was a welcome relief!
Lots of loyal Sandbar friends and St. Patrick's Day fans came out for the party, and bagpipers from Kansas City even stopped by to entertain us. We also loved the bands; we'll keep them on our list for potential bands for our next birthday block party.
Tomorrow, we'll tell you about a surprise guest who made an appearance at the party!
by Debbi | Sep 20, 2011 | Sandbar Stuff
Our customer-designed pint glasses have been extremely popular this past year, and we're ready to crowdsource another one. Next up, one of our favorite holidays: Halloween!
Check out last year's Thanksgiving, winter, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and graduation pint glasses for examples.
Here's what we're looking for:
- The design has to be a black and white line art drawing. We only print single-color designs, so a design with multiple colors won't work. Shadows and other shading won't work either.
- Keep it simple. Remember, pint glasses aren't huge and the design will only be a few inches in size. The design should be fairly basic and not have a lot of tiny detail, and it should also translate well to a small size.
- You don't need to include the Sandbar name or logo. Our logo will be on the other side of the glass.
Our panel of judges will choose their favorite design that also meets the above requirements. It's also possible that we'll choose more than one. And it's also possible that we might combine elements from more than one design into a new design.
And if you can't draw or use design programs on a computer, don't worry! We've received crude hand-drawn submissions before from people with great ideas, and that's fine. Dave can take the idea and create a graphic for our printers. Anyone is welcome to submit an idea!
What do you get if your design is chosen? Well, our undying gratitude and fifteen minutes of fame on our blog, for one. We'll also give you a pack of pint glasses and a T-shirt of your choice.
So, get busy designing! Submissions can be emailed to sandbar@thesandbar.com. And our next customer-designed glass will be for our popular Bahama Mama drink, so start thinking about that one.
Disclaimer stuff: submitting your design to us gives us full rights to use it on our websites, social networking sites and merchandise. We'll give you credit everywhere we can, of course.
by Debbi | Sep 19, 2011 | Events, Good Things
Bartender Danny's Bike MS team, the Fun Police, stopped by the Sandbar on Saturday after biking 70 miles! They started in Olathe and made their way to Lawrence for an afternoon at the Gears & Grooves for MS Festival, followed by camping overnight at South Park.
The Sandbar helped sponsor the Fun Police this year, so our logo was on their fancy new jerseys.
After posing outside for a few pictures, the Fun Police came inside for drinks and shotskis.
Thanks, Fun Police, for everything you do. I checked out their Bike MS fundraising page, and I was amazed. The Fun Police's fundraising goal this year was $15,000- and they not only reached that goal, they went way over it with $17,333.79. That is fantastic! And it looks like (at least at this point), our boy Danny raised the most money with $3,105. Way to go!
