by Debbi | Sep 12, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Downtown, Events
Today was the annual Fall Arts & Crafts Festival in South Park in downtown Lawrence. This year, we found something we weren't expecting- the Sandbar!
One of the first booths Dave & I stopped to visit was full of gorgeous artwork depicting local images- downtown, KU and other scenes around town. A giant canvas of the Sandbar caught our attention right away.
After further investigating this booth, we discovered that the artist also happened to be our wedding photographer- Robbin Loomas of Sterling Image. We loved her then, and we really love what she's doing now: a style of digital art that blends photography, painting and technology.
According to her website, the work begins as a photograph and then she uses a combination of digital tools to transform it into something new, leading people to wonder if it's a photograph or a painting. It's a little bit of both.
We bought several cards- one with the Sandbar, of course, and a few others with images of KU, Sunflower Bike Shop and a cool scene of a bicyclist pedaling down Massachusetts. She had lots of different sizes of the images available, and one day we hope to own the Sandbar canvas!
Pretty cool artwork, huh? Visit her website to see some of the other images available- you'll recognize a lot of them!
by Debbi | Sep 7, 2010 | Downtown, Events, Good Things
The United Way of Douglas County is getting ready to kick off their annual fundraising campaign, and this year they're hosting a carnival to get the party started!
Our fearless leader Peach is the Campaign Kickoff Committee co-chair along with our friend Katy. They like to call themselves the ring leaders. And they've cooked up some great entertainment!
- When: Thursday, September 9
- Time: 5:30 p.m.
- Where: South Park (in case of rain, event will be at Abe & Jake's Landing)
There will be all kinds of fun stuff to do at this family-friendly event! Enjoy live music, clowns and cotton candy; take a picture with Baby Jay, and jump around in the bounce house. We're bringing our cornhole boards (custom-made by Dave!) for a bag toss tournament.
The best part? There's a pie-throwing contest. And Dave is a target. Who do you think will be first in line!
The first 500 guests will get a free Live United t-shirt, and Lawrence artist Stan Herd will be directing a huge group photo shoot at the party. Hy-Vee is providing free hot dogs and chips.
Don't miss this great community event! We're thrilled to be involved in such an important cause for Lawrence and Douglas County.
RSVP on Facebook for the event and be sure to invite your friends.
You can find the United Way of Douglas County on Facebook and on Twitter. If you tweet about the event, please use the hashtag #uwdgcokickoff.
by Debbi | Aug 23, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Downtown, Events
Yesterday we talked about Saturday's Unlock Lawrence scavenger hunt, and we mentioned a fun addition we had for the day. Today, we'll tell you what it was: a photobooth!
The owner of the SayCheez photobooth franchise in Lawrence contacted us before our block party to see if we wanted a free photobooth for the night. Well of course we did! We had a photobooth at last year's block party and it was a huge hit. However, the scorching heat of block party day wasn't optimal for printing photo strips, and we didn't have room to set it up inside, so we decided to do it during the scavenger hunt instead. The Lawrence Busker Fest was also happening, so downtown was a busy place on Saturday.
The photobooth was up and ready by 11 a.m., and Dave hid the treasure box of keys inside the booth. Every team who stopped by looking for their next key and riddle had to step inside the photobooth and pose for funny pictures before they could get their key.
The booth comes with a box of silly props, like hats and glasses. The operator counts down so you know when to "say cheez," and then he prints out a photo strip with three color pictures on it.
We're thinking of bringing back the photobooth for another night soon. It would have be upstairs on a weekend night, since it took up most of the space in the front of the bar. What do you think?
If you have a party or event coming up that you'd like to rent the photobooth for, be sure to check out their website and give them a call!
by Debbi | Aug 22, 2010 | Downtown, Events, Social Media
The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce put together a fun and fantastic event for downtown Lawrence: a scavenger hunt!
The Unlock Lawrence scavenger hunt took place yesterday at 11:30 a.m. Teams of two people signed up at Intrust Bank and had two hours to solve riddles that led them to various downtown locations, where a treasure box of keys and new clues waited.
The scavenger hunt's goal was to emphasize the power and importance of using social media to discover more about our community. The Chamber's Facebook page explains all the details.
The ten locations that were part of the scavenger hunt:
- Chamber of Commerce
- Liberty Hall
- Granada
- Antique Mall
- The Eldridge
- Free State Brewery
- Lawrence Art Center
- LJW News Center
- The Sandbar
- And the most baffling spot: a rock on the other side of the Kansas River
The teams ran around downtown Lawrence for two hours collecting keys, solving riddles and dashing to the next location. Each team had to collect all ten numbered keys, one from each spot, and go back to Intrust Bank. The first six teams to finish won prizes including a TV, Wii, phones, and an inflatable Jayhawk.
The best spot? The Antique Mall. The folks there hid the box of keys in the basement of the mall. If you've ever been in the Antique Mall, you know there's a lot of stuff in there. The wooden box blended in well with the wares of the shop. Great job, Antique Mall staff!
The worst spot? The aforementioned rock. The Twitter picture clue for this spot made it seem like the box was hidden somewhere near the power plant, near the wooden stairs that lead down from the Kansas River bridge. It would have made more sense to use another Chamber member business instead!
We were excited to be part of the scavenger hunt. Kudos to the Chamber staff for putting together such a fun, interactive event. Check back tomorrow for the fun addition we had in the bar for participants!
by Debbi | Aug 3, 2010 | Birthday Party, Downtown, Events
Less than two weeks until our big bash! We hope you're as excited as we are.
Like the artwork? The theme of our party is "Finally Legal," since the bar's turning 21 and that's the birthday almost everyone looks forward to. Joe the now-former bartender was drafted to create some fancy artwork for us, and the picture above is what he came up with. It's been modified into a fantastic t-shirt design, which we'll unveil soon.
On to the updates.
The street in front of the bar will close at 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 14. We need time to get everything ready! The bar will still be open, of course, but you'll have to excuse us while we run around like crazy people.
The beer garden will open at 5 p.m. There will be a cover charge and you have to be 21 to enter the beer garden. You'll have to go through the beer garden to get inside the bar. We'll have beer service outside in the garden- with more staff than last year so hopefully the wait for a drink won't be quite so long.
Live music! We'll have three bands this year. Stomper, made up of our neighbors next door at Richard's Music Company, will be back this year to kick things off around 5 p.m.
At around 6:30, Katlyn Conroy and the Wild and Wooly will take the stage. For those of you who don't know, Katlyn is Peach's niece- the daughter of Peach's brother Patrick, who she bought the Sandbar from many years ago. Katlyn is also a very highly acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician. We're excited to have her play at our party- our way of keeping it in the family!
At 8 p.m., the Sandbar float dancers will entertain the crowd for a few minutes. Finally, our headline act Mark Valentine and the Ones will play all our favorite cover songs until midnight.
This event is free and family-friendly. Kids are welcome to come dance in the street! No alcohol is allowed outside the beer garden. There will also be water, soda and food available for purchase.
All of our neighbors have graciously given their support for this party. Please support their businesses, too!
It wouldn't be a Sandbar party without some extravagant surprises, so we won't reveal everything here. You'll just have to come out to our party and experience it all yourself!
by Debbi | Jul 7, 2010 | Birthday Party, Downtown, Events
We had so much fun with our block party last year, we're having another one! And really, how could we *not* celebrate our 21st birthday?
We don't have a lot of details yet, but here's what you need to know:
- When: Saturday, August 14
- Where: 8th Street, between Massachusetts and New Hampshire Streets
- Live music by Valentine and the Ones, the same band we had last year
- Beer garden
- Family friendly event
We'll have more surprises to announce over the next month, but mark your calendar. This is an event you won't want to miss!
Be sure to use the hashtag #sb21 when tweeting about the party, for my fellow geeks on Twitter.
