by Debbi | Apr 14, 2011 | Downtown, Events, Newsworthy
We LOVE events taking place in Downtown Lawrence, and we especially love events that take place in our block.
This year, the Kansas Relays is trying something new: they're bringing three track and field events to downtown Lawrence!
April 20:
The elite men's shot put will be on 8th Street between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The street will close at 6 a.m. to allow for set up of a shot put area. The competition starts at 6 p.m. and will end around 8 p.m. The street will reopen at 11 p.m.
We love that they chose our block for the shot put. We've already made all kinds of jokes about where we'll be putting our own shots that night.
Our friends from Richard's Music next door will also be playing a concert later that night, and beer will be available for sale also.
April 21:
The elite men's long jump will take place on the other side of 8th Street, between Massachusetts and Vermont.The street will close at 11 a.m., the competition starts at 6 p.m., and will end around 8 p.m. Again, the street should be open by 11 p.m.
Also that day, the Kansas Relays Street Mile will start in the 700 block of New Hampshire at 5:30 p.m. and finish in the 700 block of Vermont.
This event will impact several areas of Downtown Lawrence. The route wll go down New Hampshire, turn right onto 11th St., cross Massachusetts, and turn right on to Vermont. The intersections will temporarily be closed until all the runners pass through. The organizers anticipate the event should be completed by 5:45 p.m., and all streets will be reopened at 6:15 p.m.
We're super excited about these unique events being held downtown. The Kansas Relays take place every year, but many people in Lawrence never have a reason to be involved or even know it's going on. Bringing some of the events downtown is a great way to involve the whole community, and it gives us all something different to do for an evening!
We hope you'll all come out and help support these great events!
We got a nice mention in a KUSports.com column about the event by Tom Keegan today. Check it out!
by Debbi | Apr 1, 2011 | Downtown, Events
The Adult Swim block party made a big splash on our block last year, and we're excited that they're back this year with a Ragbag of Jollification! (Not really sure what that means, but it sounds like fun.)
This year's Adult Swim Carnival will feature Pusha-T and DJ Rick Geez. You won't find them on our jukebox, but you can find them in on a stage in front of our bar.
- When: Thursday, April 14
- Time: 6 p.m.-11 p.m.
- Where: 8th & New Hampshire
The event is free, and in addition to live music there will be prizes and games with names like Convict Escape, Flunko and Balloonicorn Blowout!
You can RSVP on Facebook, or visit www.adultswimpresents.com to find out more. The event is open to all ages, but Adult Swim says their content is not. Also, be aware that alcohol will not be allowed in the street.
Hope to see you there!
by Debbi | Mar 27, 2011 | Downtown, KU Basketball
The hometown Kansas Jayhawks played in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight today, and sadly lost a spot in next week's Final Four with a devastating loss to VCU.
Dave opened the bar early today; normally we don't open until 5 p.m. on Sundays, but this was a special occasion. Tip-off was at 1:20 p.m., and we were there at 12:30 to welcome friends and fans for the game.
The Sandbar isn't much of a sports bar; we don't serve food and our TV's aren't exactly of the ginormous variety, but we had a good crowd of staff, friends and regulars for the game.
Of course, we were counting on a Jayhawk win and a huge crowd of people descending on Mass Street, but that didn't happen. We were surprised, however, that after the game our business actually increased. Other businesses around town apparently reported a drop in business immediately following the game (see this article from the Kansan) but within an hour of the game's end, the Sandbar was full.
Our friend Caroline posted this on Twitter, and we think it represents the afternoon well:
It feels like a Saturday. @thesandbar is packed. Lots of KU fans nursing our sorrows.
Thanks to everyone who came by today, we appreciate your business!
by Debbi | Jan 17, 2011 | Downtown, Off the Wall
That might be the words to a song we all know and love, but it's also a claim we can make. Sort of.
Recently Dave was doing some routine maintenance around the bar (I don't really know what that means) and he pulled some stuff off the ceiling. One of the things he found, which we've never seen before, was this:
Way back in 1993, we got a check for a million dollars from Uncle Andy's Hambonery. Anyone remember this place? (It was before my time.)
by Debbi | Jan 9, 2011 | Cool Stuff, Downtown, Off the Wall
Twitter is not only a goldmine of information for us, it's also a great way for our friends and customers to quickly send us questions, comments and pictures.
We got this picture over the weekend:
This photo is on display at the Lawrence Arts Center. We haven't been to see it in person yet, so we don't know who the artist is, or if it's for sale or not, but we love it!
Thanks to @daviddjohnston for the tweet and picture.
by Debbi | Dec 12, 2010 | Christmas, Downtown, Events, Good Things
SantaCon Lawrence was yesterday in downtown Lawrence, and it was fun!
The Sandbar was excited to be one of the six participating bars for this event. The Santa party started off here at 1:30 p.m. with around 30 Santas, elves and Mrs. Claus characters. Many of the participants were Sandbar staff and friends, but one couple even drove in from Kansas City to participate in the fun.
A reporter and photographer from the Lawrence Journal-World stopped by, and they interviewed some of the Santas and took lots of pictures. In fact, they stayed with us for over an hour and even traveled to the second bar- Louise's Downtown- with us! Read the article here, and there are a couple of pictures and even a video featuring dancing Santas.
After about an hour at the Sandbar, the Santa parade went to Louise's, followed by the Replay Lounge- where Santa and Mrs. Claus danced on stage!- the Bottleneck, Red Lyon and finally ending up at the Barrel House. Santa made a few detours along the way, wandering through Sunflower Bike Shop (at their request), the Bourgeouis Pig and Free State. The group dwindled along the way, but the die-hard crew of 5-6 Santas ended up back at the Sandbar around 8:30 p.m.
All of the bars were very accommodating to the group of Santas, and the people on Mass Street really seemed to love it! Several Santas actually had bags full of trinkets and toys, and they handed them out to kids on the street. They also popped into some of the downtown businesses to spread a few "ho ho ho's."
SantaCon wasn't all just for fun, though- in the spirit of the season, Santas were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to donate to Just Food, a local food pantry here in town. We filled one giant box at the Sandbar, and there were a few more bags of food that didn't fit in the box. Way to go Santas!
You know how much we love costumes at the Sandbar, so we are definitely looking forward to doing this again next year! Our upcoming staff holiday party will also be a Santa costume party, and we've heard that some cities have started having "BunnyCon" and "PirateCon" events to tide them over until Christmas every year…
Check out our pictures on Flickr or Facebook here. If you were at SantaCon, we'd love to see your pictures! Email them to us at sandbar@thesandbar.com, upload them to our Facebook page or tag them on Flickr!
