by Debbi | Nov 12, 2009 | Birthday Party, Halloween, People
One of our very good longtime friends turns 40 today!
Curtis and Dave are buddies from their college days, and there's a whole group of those guys who turned 40 this year. Today it's Curtis' turn to celebrate the big birthday.
One of our memorable moments of Curtis at The Sandbar is from Halloween in the mid-90's. For Halloween in 1995, Curtis and Todd (another long time friend who turned 40 this year) dressed as Hans and Franz from the Saturday Night Live sketch.
They were so funny, and so popular, in this costume that we invited them to return in 1996- but this time as bartenders. Todd and Curtis spent some or all of the evening behind the bar slinging drinks for the masses, dancing on the bar, and generally behaving as "girlie men" all night.
They certainly did pump the crowd up!
Today, Curtis has a wife and two adorable boys, and enjoys a job serving his fellow Jayhawks. All of us at The Sandbar wish him a super happy birthday, and if you see him anytime soon, buy him a drink!
(Photos provided by Curtis)
by Debbi | Nov 3, 2009 | Bar Band, Halloween
Everyone recovered from Halloween?
The Sandbar had a great Halloween night, thanks to all of our great friends and customers. Once again, we neglected to have a costume contest- that's quickly becoming "our thing." I don't think anyone really noticed or cared though.
Lots of great costumes paraded through the bar! Some of our favorites:
John McEnroe, aka once upon a time staffer Todd; current bartender and sometimes-sax man for $ellout Danny, "I'm not Amelia Earhart, d**mit!"; and current bartender Coleen as a pirate.
An eclectic group that includes an actual Amelia Earhart, characters from Up!, and the Burger King:
And perhaps one of the stranger pairs of the night, the ShamWow guy and the, uh, lady (?) who beat him up. Yeah, only Joe and someone who hangs out with him could pull this off.
Some others in attendance: Beyonce, in her "Single Ladies" outfit; Disney princesses; a Roller Derby team of four (yes, they were actually on rollerskates, in the bar); a beer pong table; the Karate Kid group from last night; and a whole gaggle of schoolgirls and nerds. Oh, and remember Rose, from the movie Titanic? She was there, too. Dressed from the scene where Jack is painting her? And all she's wearing is that enormous blue diamond necklace? Yeah, that girl had guts.
Oh, and Top Gun seemed to be a popular theme this year, too. We couldn't figure that one out, but there were lots of pilot types in the bar. Dave played some Top Gun tunes for them.
Dave and Hayley tag teamed their costumes- he was a jail inmate and she was the sexy cop.
We unfortunately didn't get very many pictures on Halloween night. There's a few more on our Facebook page and our Flickr photostream, but otherwise, we are hoping that you will share your pictures with us. Email them to us at sandbar{at}thesandbar{dot}com.
Hope you had a safe and fun Halloween!
by Debbi | Nov 1, 2009 | Halloween, People
All of us at the Sandbar love any holiday that encourages costumes- heck, we look for any excuse to dress up and often create our own reasons.
Halloween is, of course, one of our favorites and we love to see the creativity of our customers and staff.
On the Friday before Halloween this year, the B+ team (or whatever they're calling themselves these days) of Blair, Tegan, and Andrew wanted to work together because they had a great group costume planned.
Karate Kid– everyone's favorite 80's movie.
Tegan went all out to transform herself into Mr. Miyagi, the karate instructor. You might think that Andrew, the resident "kid" of the bar, would be Daniel-san, but instead he was one of the mean Cobra Kai's. Blair, our athletic rugby player, was Daniel the Karate Kid.
And to complete the whole experience, the Karate Kid movie played on one of the TV's above the bar all night.
The group rocked this costume again on Saturday night. They even added another Cobra Kai, our friend Erick.
by Debbi | Oct 31, 2009 | Events, Halloween, Ottawa, Pub Crawl
Last night was our inaugural Rocky Horror Picture Show party bus extravaganza, and judging by the amount of fun that was had, it might become an annual event!
The party started at The Sandbar in Lawrence, where about 30 of us gathered to wait for the bus. A majority of us were dressed in costume from the movie- lots of Brads and Janets and french maids.
We posed for a group picture before boarding the bus:
And then we were off! We traveled down the country roads to Baldwin City and made several more stops to pick people up. We even drove right by Tony and Robin's house near Baldwin- after they had made a crazy effort to meet the bus in Lawrence on time. Next time we'll pick you up on your corner!
The bus continued on to Ottawa, bouncing over potholes along the way and inspiring more than one person to beg the driver to stop alongside the road so they could have some "relief." The begging didn't work.
We finally made it to the Sandbar in Ottawa, and our crew partied with the folks in Ottawa for about half an hour. Of course there was bar dancing:
If you can't tell from the picture, Dave is sort of doubled over. The ceilings in Ottawa are much shorter than the ones we're used to and he barely fits up there!
Everyone loaded back up on the bus and we headed downtown to the Crystal Plaza movie theater. The Sandbar rented out the place for a private showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, complete with props like water guns, party hats, and newspapers.
I've never seen the movie in it's entirety, but I was relieved to find that more than a few other attendees were newbies too. One of the funniest stories from the night was about the person who kept asking everyone to be quiet, because she was trying to watch the movie!
Half of the crowd ran to the front of the theater and danced to the Time Warp song during the movie:
Kudos to Movie Dave and Scotty Mac, who kept the crowd entertained during the entire show with their constant commentary. They've apparently seen the movie more than once. And we can't figure out why Movie Dave won't dress up for Halloween or any other holiday, but yet he's willing to go out in public dressed like Brad…
After the movie everyone loaded back up on the bus and we retraced our route home, dropping folks off at random corners in the country. The ride home was a little more subdued- perhaps because the coolers were pretty empty.
The bus got back to the Sandbar in Lawrence before closing time, so we had a few minutes to catch up on the happenings of the evening with those who had to stay behind. Lots of people in the bar were excited to pose with some of our characters.
All in all, it was a fun event filled with Sandbar staff and regulars, along with some new faces we hope to see again!
More pictures from the event are available on our Facebook page or Flickr photostream. We also created a Whrrl story during the event, but because the iPhone has such a poor camera, the pictures aren't very good quality.
by Debbi | Oct 26, 2009 | Events, Halloween, Ottawa, Pub Crawl
And our second-favorite holiday of the year! (The first being St. Patrick's Day, if you've somehow missed this information.)
For some of us Halloween has already started, given that there were parties this weekend and costumes were spotted in the Sandbar on Saturday night.
We encourage you to stop by the Sandbar anytime this week wearing your favorite disguise! We also have several events planned that you might want to put on your calendar.
Rocky Horror Halloween
This Friday, load up on our party bus and travel to Ottawa for a special Sandbar screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Meet us at The Sandbar at 7 pm; the movie starts at 10 pm. We haven't decided what time the bus will leave Lawrence yet, but as soon as I know, I'll post it here.
For $25 per person, you get a designated driver to and from Lawrence; fun and refreshments on the party bus; movie tickets; and a goody bag for the movie. That's a bargain when you consider the fun we'll provide. Oh, and costumes are encouraged, whether they're costumes from RHPS or whatever you want to wear.
Halloween in Lawrence
On Saturday night come back to The Sandbar for our annual Halloween extravaganza, complete with the costume contest that we always forget to actually have. We'll try to remember this year. Prizes for the winners, as voted on by the crowd.
There will be a cover charge. Give the doorguy your best trick, though, and maybe he'll waive it. Don't be a jerk or he might double it.
Halloween in Ottawa
If you're in Ottawa on Saturday night, come out to our second Sandbar location. The Cash Cage is back! Starting at 8 pm, everyone in a costume is eligible to jump in the Cash Cage and try to win! We'll have $200 up for grabs, but you have to be in costume to participate!
We'll have pictures from all the events to share next week- feel free to send us yours, too!
by Debbi | Oct 15, 2009 | Halloween, Ottawa, Pub Crawl
Halloween– one of our favorite days of the year- is rapidly approaching, and we've got a special treat for you!
We rented a party bus, and we're looking for a bunch of our favorite fans to take a trip to Ottawa on Friday, October 30, for a special Sandbar-only screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show!
Peach and Ted, longtime Sandbar owners, also own the recently renovated Crystal Plaza Movie Theater in Ottawa and are excited to host our group for the night.
Interested? Here are the details:
- Ticket price is $25 per person
- Meet at The Sandbar (Lawrence) at 7 pm for a Rocky Horror pre-party
- Ride the party bus to Ottawa and back
- Showtime is 10 pm
- Refreshments provided on the bus
- Accessories goody bag provided at the show
There's a sign-up sheet at the bar, and the staff will gladly take your money. You can call and pay with a credit card, too. We encourage you to sign up in advance- space is limited (it always is at the Sandbar!), so don't wait until the night of the party.
Of course, we also highly encourage costumes and audience participation!
If you've never been on a Sandbar party bus before, let me tell you that the bus trip alone is worth the $25, and I have pictures to prove it. This is a trip you won't want to miss.
