by Debbi | Feb 28, 2011 | Cool Stuff, Good Things, Social Media
Here's something unique you probably never knew you needed: a custom car emblem with your Twitter handle on it.
Local business skooladesign creates these fun emblems, but you don't have to have a Twitter account to have one. You could probably order any word or symbol you wanted. And you don't have to put it on your car- we aren't sure where we're putting ours yet. Maybe somewhere in the bar. Maybe on Andrew's car.
On a side note, it's an interesting story as to how we got this emblem.
Bill, the designer behind skooladesign, recently traveled to the Super Bowl with his father, who won the tickets in a contest. However, the prize didn't include airfare or a hotel. Bill's wife, Sarah, jokingly tweeted one day that if all of her Facebook friends and Twitter followers pledged a buck, she could send the boys on their dream trip.
Funny thing- people responded with offers of a dollar or five or ten, and before long Bill and his dad were on their way. You can read the entire story here and here.
Everyone who donated at least ten bucks was given a custom car emblem as a thank-you gift. So not only did we get to contribute to the experience of a lifetime, we also got a cool, unique gift in return.
by Debbi | Feb 21, 2011 | Events, Good Things, St. Patrick's Day
Everybody knows St. Patrick's Day is our favorite holiday. But it's not just about the parade on March 17; we love all the events leading up to the parade, too. And one of our favorite events is the annual Pub Quiz trivia night.
Former Sandbar-tender Scottie Mack organizes this event every year, and Andy from Channel 6's One on One trivia hosts it. We see many of the same teams every year- Johnny's, the team everybody likes to pick on (or smack), We Are The World Company, Tabula Rasa and lots of others. Of course there are some new teams each year.
Last night found our team at the Eagles Lodge, holding our own against some of the smartest people in town. Between our American history experts and our gossip column buffs, we had it covered.
There was controversy- who knew there was a Massachusetts Street behind Johnny's?- and there was "that guy" who always yells out the answer when it's another team's question.
There was an amazing brisket buffet and lots of prizes, including a basketball signed by the 2011 KU men's team.
And most of all, there was fun.
Speaking of fun, let's see how many of you know this, the final question:
In 1929, America heard him say "hot dogs."
We wagered 1073 points on the final question. We lost. Herbert Hoover is not the answer.
For more fun, do you know the significance of 1073? It's not just a random number we picked.
by Debbi | Feb 8, 2011 | Good Things, People
Hey fellow hospitality industry folks! Here's a great opportunity for you to raise money for children in our community while having fun with your friends and co-workers.
Bowl for Kids Sake is an annual fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters. This year, they've added a special event for the hospitality industry- "Bloodies and Bowling." It's a special day of bowling that will feature a bloody mary bar, breakfast burritos and lots of fun.
- Date: Sunday, May 1
- Time: 1-4 p.m.
- Where: Royal Crest Lanes
Carrie, one of our former bartenders, and I have been asked to recruit team captains from bars, restaurants and liquor stores around town. Are you interested? Here's all you have to do:
- Let us know who your team captain is.
- Sign up your team online here.
- Recruit five other team members, for a team total of six people.
- Each team member commits to raising at least $125, for a team total of $750.
- The website provides easy ways to email friends and family to solicit donations.
- Have fun!
If you're interested in putting a team together, please let us know. You can send an email to sandbar@thesandbar.com and we'll answer all your questions.
You can even get your bar, restaurant or other business involved in raising funds! Challenge another business to a competition to see who can raise the most money. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Donate all or a portion of a cover charge to your team goal.
- Put out special Bowl For Kids‘ Sake tip jars.
- Create a drink that goes with your team name/theme and donate a portion of the profit to the team goal. Encourage patrons to order that drink because “it’s for the kids.â€Â
- Sell tickets for patrons to win a t-shirt or other item.
- If you have a pool table or foosball table, hold a tournament where all proceeds go to your team goal.
- Ask your patrons for their “pennies and pocket lint.†Any change or lint in their pocket goes straight to the kids.
We're looking forward to this great event and hope you'll join us!
RSVP on Facebook.
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!
by Debbi | Oct 18, 2010 | Downtown, Events, Good Things, St. Patrick's Day
Scooters are popular among the Sandbar staff and friends, and we've joked about our "scooter gang" before. Last Saturday, we held what might be the first poker run for scooters.
Poker runs are popular among motorcycle groups. They're usually for charity and usually take most of the day, riding from town to town and picking up a new card for your poker hand at each place. We wanted to do something similar with our scooters and Saturday was perfect weather for it.
The gang met at Slow Ride Roadhouse for lunch- a popular biker destination. We took over the front parking area with our little scooters. If you've never had lunch out there, I highly recommend it. Good stuff!
We traveled up the street to Johnny's Tavern, parked our bikes out front and enjoyed a drink on the back patio. Next up was Conroy's Pub, followed by Jet Lag, where we ran into a *real* biker gang. Some of the generous guys in that group paid the fee and drew a poker hand. Thanks guys!
We were having so much fun that we decided to add two more stops on our tour of Lawrence: Louise's West and Rick's Place. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that Rick doesn't open until 4 on Saturdays, but as we were pondering which bar to hit next, he opened the door and invited us in.
Our last stop was the Sandbar. Prizes were awarded for the best hand- our game changed to accommodate seven cards instead of five- and Sara was crowned the winner, with Laura taking second place and Pat taking third. The three winners all received cash prizes, and we were still able to raise $140 to donate to the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee.
The booby prize for the worst hand went to Justin, and he promptly donated his prize to Sara. We all had a great time riding our scooters around and hanging out on some of the best patios in town!
Big thanks to Laura for managing the money and cards, and to Gayle for all the fantastic pictures!
by Debbi | Sep 26, 2010 | Events, Good Things
Some of the Sandbar crew headed out to Alvamar last Thursday for the fifth annual Spurling Scramble, the annual golf tournament put on by the Lawrence Police Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police and International Association of Firefighters.
Proceeds from the event benefit SAFE, the Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment, which provides funds to families of police and fire personnel killed in the line of duty. "Violet's Valor" bracelents were also available to purchase, to help support a local family's expenses while their daughter fights leukemia.
The Sandbar sponsored one team of golfers: Phil, Joe, Tyler and one of Tyler's friends. Dave did what he does best- dispensed shots to golfers and took pictures of them in the Sandbar beach-themed cutout. He also got to hang out with Karen and Kalissa, which is probably the real reason he opted for that job instead of golfing.
Andrew's other employer, adidas, also sponsored a team. Andrew and Tegan played on that one along with some guys Andrew works with. The adidas team won first place in the second flight, and the Sandbar team won second place in the second flight. We've got trophies to prove it!
It was super windy that day, but at least it didn't storm. Everyone had a great time, and we always enjoy supporting great causes like this one. Check out our Facebook page to see pictures of golfers with the photo cutout.
