Something you probably don’t see every day: thirty kids, in a bar, without their parents.
That was our day yesterday at the Sandbar.
Our friends at the Lawrence Public Library are hosting Read Across Lawrence, an annual community reading event, and this year’s selection for kids is “Turtle in Paradise.” The book is about a turtle who heads for Key West, and the hurricane of 1935 is featured in the book.
Read Across Lawrence includes educational events to go along with the book, so, naturally, it made sense to hold an event at the Sandbar. Where else in Lawrence can you find a little bit of Key West, and a lot of hurricanes?
So yesterday, about thirty kids got their first taste of the Sandbar as they moved between three educational stations and learned about the science behind hurricanes from UKanTeach students.
After about 45 minutes of learning, the kids got to experience the famous indoor hurricane, complete with the cheesy video and napkins flying through the air.
This might be the cutest thing ever:
Once it was over, the kids got a souvenir strand of beads to take home with them.
A funny thing that happened: as he got his beads, one kid asked Dave “can I have a mustache?”
Dave and I looked at each other in a bit of shock. “How does he know about mustaches?” we wondered.
But we just got the box of mustaches and started handing those out, too.
Thanks, Lawrence Public Library and parents, for letting us be part of Read Across Lawrence!
If you’re like some of us– and I’m talking about some of us who have been around the Sandbar longer than, say, some of our more recently-hired staff members– you have fond memories of drive-in movie theaters from when you were a kid.
Did you know that they’re in danger of disappearing? Since the film industry has gone digital, many theaters can’t afford the $80,000 price tag that the digital upgrade costs.
Honda, the car company, has stepped in to help– they’re going to donate five projectors and the public vote decides which drive in gets them.
Our local Jack Ellena Honda dealership is hosting an event next Friday, Sept. 13, that celebrates this event with fun for the whole family: a pop-up drive-in movie theater.
They’ll host a free screening of “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” at 7 p.m. out at their dealership.
What does this have to do with us, and why are we talking about it? Well, we like movies…after all, our founder Peach does own a movie theater down the road in Ottawa.
And, Sandbar Subs is stepping up to help save the drive-ins. They’ll be serving Sandbar Subs beach dogs, chips and cookies at the event. Dogs and cookies are $2; chips are $1. Proceeds will benefit the cause!
If you’d like to help save the Midway Drive-in in Osawatomie, you can text VOTE86 to 444999, click here to make a donation or show up at next Friday’s event.
Help us spread the word, will you? Drive-in theaters are an iconic part of our history and an experience that everyone should get to enjoy as they grow up.
First, though, a little bit of history behind this one.
Our wonderful Lawrence Public Library is gearing up for this year’s Read Across Lawrence, the eleventh edition of the community reading event sponsored by the library, KU Libraries and Friends of the Library. This year’s book is “The Worst Hard Time,” by Timothy Egan.
The book chronicles the stories of a half dozen families during the Dust Bowl and how they survived. Lots of community events are planned for Read Across Lawrence, including book discussions, exhibits and Film Church at Liberty Hall.
Read Across Lawrence Book Night kicks off the month-long event, and this is where the new tropical drink comes in.
Our library does a great job planning events that appeal to a wide variety of people, and they’ve certainly tapped into the bar scene. On Friday, Aug. 30, during Final Fridays in downtown Lawrence, library staff will be wandering around Mass St. handing out copies of “The Worst Hard Time” and library tattoos (of the temporary kind).
What’s in it for you? Well, showing your library tattoo or a copy of the book will unlock secret drink specials at several Lawrence establishments, including ours!
We did some quick research to find out what types of drinks were popular in the Dust Bowl era, and we found that the list included punches. So, we found a great recipe for Planter’s Punch, a rum-based drink that we like to think of as a vintage version of our tropical drinks.
Stop by Friday night to try our Planter’s Punch, and if you show a copy of the RAL book or your library tattoo, it’s only $2.50!
Our new neighbor, Sandbar Sub Shop, is also participating in the book night and offering $1 fountain drinks. See the full list of drink specials here. And, stay tuned for news about the kids’ version of Read Across Lawrence- we’re involved in that, too!
Lawrence’s favorite weird and fun-for-the-whole-family downtown festival, the Lawrence Busker Fest, is back this weekend for its fifth year.
Wondering what a busker is? You must not be a townie. Just this week, I had the pleasure of explaining to an out-of-town friend what I meant when I offhandedly referred to the “busker fest.”
You know the freaks, geeks, artists and musicians that hang out on the streets downtown and perform for tips? They’re buskers. (I hope you aren’t offended by the description. I took that straight off the Lawrence Busker Fest website.)
The difference is, with the festival, there’s an organized schedule of some of the most talented performers around. There’s also facepainters, statues and balloon artists spread around downtown to entertain the whole family.
The festival kicks off Thursday night with Busker Ball at the Granada, and the buskers will perform on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Click here for a schedule.
And, for the adults out there, you can enjoy a cold beverage outside! That’s right—8th street in front of the bar will be closed to traffic and we’ll be selling drinks outside on Friday and Saturday evening.
So, bring the kids downtown for some of the most unusual entertainment you’ll find in Lawrence this weekend!
Thank you to all of our wonderful customers and friends who celebrated with us, and a huge thank you to Peoples Bank for sponsoring this year’s party.
In case you missed it, we went all out this year with a giant stage, even bigger beer garden and a Grammy-nominated band, the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
And perhaps the best part? The weather was gorgeous—really, we couldn’t have asked for better weather, especially after a long, gray, rainy week. It wasn’t hot like it’s been for all our other block parties; it didn’t rain; but it wasn’t cold, either. Truly perfect.
Very Important People enjoyed a pre-party in the brand new Sandbar Subs World Headquarters right across the street from the bar, where a new Peoples Bank location will be housed as well.
Local band Cowboy Indian Bear opened the show and then the Thunderbirds took the stage. They played until around 10:30, which left plenty of time for party-goers to mingle in the beer garden after the show.
We took a lot of pictures. Watch the slideshow below:
It's that time of year again, friends- time to celebrate our birthday with another block party! This year's extravaganza takes place on Saturday, August 10.
This year, our friends at Peoples Bank have stepped up to sponsor the
event and kick it up a notch. In addition to celebrating our birthday,
we'll also be celebrating the grand opening of Peoples Place at the
corner of 8th and New Hampshire (in the former Mirth Cafe location),
which will house a new Peoples Bank location as well as the new Sandbar
Subs World Headquarters.
This year's concert will feature the grammy-nominated band the Fabulous
Thunderbirds, with local favorite Cowboy Indian Bear opening the show.
Also new this year: a VIP party! Very Important People like you can enjoy a
pre-party with appetizers and beverages in the new Sandbar Subs space
before the concert starts. Each VIP ticket also includes a
limited-edition party T-shirt, a meet & greet with the band and
admission to the beer garden and Sandbar.
The concert itself is free and family-friendly, but you'll need to buy a
ticket if you want to enjoy it from the beer garden or inside the
Sandbar- and you must be 21 to do that.
We're selling tickets in advance this year, too. (We're just going all out, aren't we!)
You can buy tickets online here (use promo code SANDBAR to save $5 per
ticket for regular beer garden tickets, or SANDBARVIP to save $10 per
ticket on VIP tickets). We'll have tickets available in retail locations
this week, including at the Sandbar, Sandbar Subs and Peoples Bank.
Stay tuned for more updates and fun announcements about this year's party!
RSVP on Facebook and share the event with your friends! And don't forget to use #sbparty13 when you talk about it online.
