by Debbi | Sep 14, 2009 | Events, Good Things, Pub Crawl
Last Saturday afternoon, The Sandbar welcomed the Lawrence Pub Crawl participants to our little watering hole.
The Lawrence Pub Crawl is a benefit event for the H2 Foundation, which supports local charities through its grant process. The H2 Foundation has supported charities in the Kansas City area for awhile now and recently expanded to the Lawrence/Douglas County area.
A lot of our neighboring bars along Massachusetts Street participated in the crawl. The event was held during the day, which was perfect for us- we aren't normally very busy on a Saturday afternoon, but we're so small that if the event were held at night, we wouldn't be able to accommodate the teams.
Lots of our friends formed teams of anywhere from 5-12 members, paid their entry fee, and got their route of bars to visit. It sounded like a lot of fun! Maybe next year we'll sign up a Sandbar team.
I have a Polaroid picture of Blair and Joe from one of their stops….but I decided it would probably embarrass Blair if I posted it online. I decided to be nice.
Did any of you join the pub crawl? Any favorite stories or pictures to share?
by Debbi | Sep 5, 2009 | Bar Band, KU Football
At long last, Kansas University football is upon us!
Tonight's season opener is against Northern Colorado and starts at 6 p.m. And apparently the game is sold out! Those crazy fans are already tailgating up on campus.
The start of football season also means the start of one of our favorite traditions….the Lawrence Bar Band! We are especially proud of this over-a-decade-long tradition, because it got it's start at The Sandbar, by one of our staff members who was a Marching Jayhawk. Every year since then, the torch has been passed down, and we try to always have at least one Marching Jayhawk on staff to carry on the Bar Band.
Dave printed this year's Bar Band shirts yesterday- their blue shirts were donated by adidas, thanks to doorboy Andrew. The front has the Sandbar logo with "Bar Band" on it, and the back has "Fand Buckers." I'll leave that to your imagination…but let me just say, they requested it.
The Bar Band made their rounds for the first time this season last night, and we've got pictures.
The picture to the left was contributed by Friday bartender Phil. He labeled this picture as "Heather's best night at the bar and Sharky's revenge."
It was a great night of music and fans and game day spirit. If you missed it, remember that the Bar Band plays on Friday night before every home game, usually around 10 pm.
We try to get them to The Sandbar as early as possible and as their first stop, since we're so tiny, and then they wander around town. I think they usually hit up the Wheel, and this year they're going to our new neighbor the Barrel House too. Where else have you seen the Bar Band?
by Debbi | Aug 31, 2009 | Birthday Party, Events, Ottawa
Last Friday night, our second Sandbar location down the road in Ottawa celebrated it's fifth year of business. Several people at the party commented that it didn't seem like five years had passed already. To me, it seems like it's been open a lot longer.
Five years ago, shortly after it opened, our Ottawa location played host to part of the Sandbar's fifteen year anniversary celebration. We rented a bus, took reservations, and road-tripped to Baldwin City for dinner at The Lodge (another one of Peach and Ted's ventures, or should I say ad-ventures!), and then on to Ottawa so everyone could check out the brand-new Sandbar. That night seems like ages ago.
Friday's party gave us another opportunity to use the fabulous stage that Dave & company built for our downtown Lawrence block party. It was parked out by the sand volleyball courts, and the night was perfect (again!) for an outdoor party. Our friend Frankie Diamond took the stage at 7 pm, followed by the Ottawa band Big Deal at 9 pm. Frankie plays at the Ottawa Sandbar on a regular basis, so make sure to check him out another time if you missed this party. If you're really nice, he might even dedicate a song to you!
There might not have been as big of a crowd for this party as there was in Lawrence, but it was still a lot of fun. Several friends from Lawrence made the trip, and there were lots of Ottawa Sandbar regulars there.
Peach, Coleen, and Dave took advantage of one of the band's breaks to hop up on the ship's back balcony and perform our favorite Sandbar dancing tunes.
I tried a new experiment with this party- my new friend Jenn introduced me to a website called Whrrl, which is basically a site where anyone with an account can create or join "stories." The stories can be updated on-the-go with pictures and notes, and they can also be integrated into Facebook and Twitter.
Check out the Whrrl story from the Sandbar party here.
by Debbi | Aug 29, 2009 | Events, Good Things
On Sunday, August 30th, our friends down the block at the Barrel House are hosting a charity event for public safety officers.
All cover charges and additional proceeds/donations will be donated to SAFE, the Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment Fund. This organization provides financial support to families of police and firefighter personnel who are killed in the line of duty in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri.
The doors open at 7 pm tomorrow night, and the dueling pianos start at 8 pm.
The fourth annual Spurling Scramble golf tournament was held last Thursday, also to benefit this organization. The Sandbar partnered with the Kansas Licensed Beverage Association (KLBA) to sponsor a hole at the tournament.
Dave spent the day hanging out at the Sandbar's hole, passing out special shots to the golfers. Unfortunately, he forgot to charge the camera batteries the night before, so I don't have any pictures to share. I can tell you, though, that doorboy Andrew's adidas-sponsored golf team won the tournament! We've given him some crap for defecting from the Sandbar's team, which came in second.
If you don't have plans tomorrow night, please join us at the Barrel House for this fun event, and help raise some money for SAFE.
by Debbi | Aug 25, 2009 | Birthday Party, Events
We had so much fun at our birthday party earlier this month, we’re doing it again!
A fact that got lost in the excitement of The Sandbar turning 20: our second location in Ottawa turns 5 this year! It seems like yesterday we were cleaning and painting the old Taco Tico and turning into a beach-themed oasis south of Lawrence.
We’re getting a second use out of the fantastic pirate ship stage that we used in Lawrence- the kind folks at Zarco66 let us keep the trailer for an extra month and haul it to Ottawa to host a second band.
Join us this Friday, August 28, at The Sandbar in Ottawa to help them celebrate five years in business! The show starts at 7 pm and features the band “Big Deal,” along with a special guest, Frankie Diamond.
If you’re on Facebook, RSVP to the party and share it with your friends.
If you had fun at our block party, you won’t want to miss this. And if you haven’t checked out our Ottawa location yet, this is a perfect opportunity!
For those of you in Lawrence who are interested in car-pooling, meet us at the Lawrence Sandbar by 5:30 p.m. on Friday and follow us down.
Get party updates this week and during the event: if you’re on Twitter, be sure to follow us (@thesandbar) and use the #sbar hashtag so your tweets show up here!
