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.
Some of the pictures from Dave's infamous Christmas gift made an appearance yesterday. Today, after a few more of the boys granted permission for their pictures to be posted here, I bring you a few more.
January: Joe, looking sharp with all his classy accessories, including the Rolex.
May: Danny, looking all hot and sweaty on a trail run.
August: Fyler. This might be the month where the calendar started to go downhill.
November: Frank. Everyone utters a collective "Whoa, Frank!" when they flip to this page. He's our resident tech expert/website host/Guinness drinker.
There's obviously a few more pictures in the calendar. And they're certainly not more outrageous than these, but the boys haven't given permission for them to be posted online. If they do, I'll post them.
So, we're thinking of doing something like this every year now. Danny suggested a fundraising calendar. What do you think? Would you buy one? Would you prefer that the ladies be included? Let us know!
The Sandbar boys put together a fairly amazing gift for Dave this year: "The Men Behind the Bar," a calendar full of fun and sometimes outrageous pictures of the male bartenders, along with a few regulars.
We've talked about making a Sandbar calendar for a long time. Andrew finally came through and accomplished the task, and it was a huge hit. A second copy of the calendar made its way into our white elephant gift exchange, and we've talked about ordering more copies to sell.
Here's a glimpse at a few of the pictures in the calendar.
April: Sandbar art director Brother Pants, painting himself. He also conveniently marked his birthday in that month so Dave would never forget it. Even though their birthdays are a day apart.
July: Dave himself, floating the day away in his pool with his dog.
September: Tyler, our fearless bar band leader posing with his instrument of choice. For his white elephant gift, Tyler brought an autographed copy of this picture, along with the robe he wore in it.
December: Blair. I wasn't sure if I wanted to share this one, since the joke is on me too. But I figured it's funny and fairly harmless. This picture is from our staff Christmas party a couple years ago when everyone wore ugly Christmas sweaters and other stuff.
So, there you have a peek at four of the pictures from the now-legendary calendar. I was nice and asked the boys for permission to put their pictures on the internet. Of course, these were the first ones who said "Yes! Show it to the world!"
Perhaps we'll post more later.
For years we've been collecting dozens of small wooden plaques with funny pictures and phrases on them, thanks to Lawrence resident Larry Colley. And for a long time, we've wondered what to do with them- hang them someplace special, give them to our favorite customers, use them as prizes- while they gathered dust upstairs in the office.
Dave finally found some bare wall space (imagine!), so we decided to make a "wall of fame" for the plaques so everyone can enjoy them. And, as a double bonus, it gives the ladies something to look at while waiting in line for the restroom.
Here's a quick picture of the first phase of the wall. Please forgive the crappy picture, all I had was my phone. I need to start carrying a real camera with me.
Now that we have a place to hang the plaques, we're anxiously awaiting for another set from Mr. Colley! Or for the cleaning fairies (or the Sandbar ghost) to clean the upstairs office, where dozens of these things could likely be hiding.
A couple months ago, Dave put up a shot wheel of fortune behind the bar. If you know Dave, you know his wheels (pardon the pun) are always turning and he's always coming up with new ideas, so of course he's already modified the shot wheel.
Introducing, the carnival shot!
If you want to play this game, you get to throw darts behind the bar. Dave added a dart board to the mix. You throw two darts, and the two numbers they hit determine the two liquors in your shot. Then, the bartender spins the wheel to pick your mixer. Finally, they mix up your new, randomly created shot. It might be good; it might not.
The wheel still has the shot picker, for those of you who are too indecisive to pick your own. The bartender spins the wheel, and the outer ring of the wheel contains the names of our most popular shots. Whichever one the wheel lands on is the one you get.
Please don't hit the bartenders with the darts.
Once upon a time in Sandbar history, a giant stuffed toucan sat on top of the jukebox. He was sort of an unoffical mascot, watching over the bar back in its smoke-filled days.
He was also the subject of much mischief. The toucan was "kidnapped" many times and taken on adventures all over Lawrence. Curtis and Todd were likely guilty of borrowing our toucan many times. At least once, the toucan accompanied Curtis to an after-hours movie screening at a local theater.
Photographic evidence exists to prove the toucan theft. In the picture above, circa 1995, Todd is stuffing the toucan into his car.
Sadly, someone eventually stole our beloved toucan and never returned him. We heard rumors that he'd been spotted at the local Salvation Army. Outside the dimly lit bar, the toucan wasn't quite as spectacular: dingy, dirty and reeking of smoke, we can certainly understand why the culprit didn't want to keep him.
Last week, Dave was scavenging goodies at the local Antique Mall when he stumbled upon….a stuffed toucan. No, not our original- this one was in much better shape, and more importantly, didn't stink of cigarette smoke and spilled beer.
When I went to my car after leaving work that day, I opened the door and found the new toucan.
Now, we just have to figure out what to do with him.