by Debbi | Mar 29, 2009 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
The rumored "snowstorm" likely kept people away from downtown Lawrence and The Sandbar on Friday night; when it didn't materialize into the Armageddon that the weathercasters suggested, those same people were probably wishing they would have left the house.
The Sandbar was the site of three birthday parties on Friday night!
Friday bartender Heather and long-time regular customer Sherri both had birthdays on Thursday and planned their parties for Friday. A third young lady, Kim, brought her friends in for a birthday hurricane before the game started.
At halftime of the KU game, we ran another birthday hurricane for Heather and Sherri. And then, there was a big surprise for the crowd. A boy jumped up on the bar and proposed to his lovely lady. She said yes, of course. (I know most of you reading this probably know all about it; but I don't want to publicly announce their names because it's really their news to tell).
The KU game was a bit of a letdown- okay, a lot of a letdown- but after a few minutes of drowning our sorrows in our drinks, everyone moved on to happier things like laughing and dancing.
Late in the night, someone played "Love Train" on the jukebox, and some of our float dancers jumped on the benches and relived St. Patrick's Day. They treated the crowd to the Sandbar rendition of "Locomotion" too.
It was a pretty good night. And we're pretty glad that we didn't end up with 29 inches of snow and ice.
by Debbi | Mar 22, 2009 | People
One of our favorite world-traveling former bartenders paid a visit to The Sandbar this weekend.
Jake worked the door and tended bar several years ago while he was finishing school at KU. Him and his partner in crime, John, were loads of fun to have around.
Jake is currently off on another continent, teaching English in China. This is his second stint abroad- that we know of, anyway- he spent a year in Australia, and he also spent some time in Alaska which I suppose could be a different continent to some of you.
He popped by The Sandbar on Friday night when Dave was working:
You can keep up with Jake and his adventures in China on his
blog. He shares fun facts about his experiences along with lots of pictures.
by Debbi | Mar 8, 2009 | People
Yesterday was the much-anticipated 40th birthday celebration for Ken, aka "Daddy," a longtime Sandbar employee who only recently retired from tending bar.
The party started out with a KU vs. Texas game watch at Jo Shmo's, a local establishment up the street from The Sandbar. It was chosen for the fact that it was kid-friendly, with a semi-private room upstairs that includes bocce and ping pong and TV's.
After the game, the party moved to the back room of The Sandbar. The bar had a pretty good early evening crowd, and we had the windows open all day to enjoy the nice weather. Later in the evening, the thunderstorms started- I like to think it was Mother Nature's way of wishing Ken a happy birthday and welcoming him over the hill.
Ken wasn't the only birthday boy- there were a couple of ladies celebrating their birthday as well, and they donned the mermaid costumes for the hurricane show.
Ken might refuse to be the mermaid, but he put on a different kind of show as he danced on the bench to his favorite "Cryin' Fridays" tune, "El Paso." You truly have to see this performance to fully appreciate it. Video footage of the event exists, but given that Ken has a day job, I'm not going to publish it for the world to see without his permission. You can use your imagination instead.
by Debbi | Jan 27, 2009 | People
This is sort of old news, and for that I'm embarrassed…it should have been shared with you long before now.
Peach and Ted spend what little free time they have raising and showing horses. They've got quite the stable of horses out on their farm.
Back in November, they took a trip to the inaugural American Paint Horse Association Fall Championship Show at the Will Rogers Equestrian Center in Fort Worth, Texas. And, Ted won a World Championship title in the Amateur Weanling Geldings with "Ty Nemo."
The extra special thing about "Ty Nemo" is that he has a rather large seahorse-shaped white mark on the side of his neck, which you can probably see in this picture. We think he was destined to win because of this.
Ted also placed in the top five in the world at the Appaloosa Horse Club with "Sandbar TNT," and with "Confirmed Te and Honey" at the American Buckskin Registry Association. He's quite the showman.
I don't remember if it made the blog- probably not because he wasn't working here at the time- but Andrew has also had success showing horses. He placed 13th in the 2006 American Quarter Horse Association's World Show for Youth with "Obviously A Fella," a two year old gelding. I'm sure there's a picture somewhere, but I don't have it, and somewhere Andrew is thanking someone.
by Debbi | Jan 26, 2009 | People
This isn't the first "Last Hurrah" and it probably won't be the last. At least the last one featured here was celebrating a marriage, and not a dear friend leaving…
Fun was had by all last night at Ashley's official going away party. I say official because there will probably be more parties every night this week, as there were several nights before last night.
There was, of course, the requisite mermaid show:
And dancing on the benches when they decided the bar was just too far from the floor:
And there was even entertainment for the boys:
Dave set up the Wii downstairs, and John let us borrow his steering wheels too so four people could play MarioKart at the same time. It was like a mancave or something.
So, if you missed her last night, or Saturday, or Friday, stop by another night this week and you'll probably catch Ashley before she leaves for Baltimore.
by Debbi | Jan 23, 2009 | People
Well, we found out today that one of our favorite and most loyal regulars over the last few years is leaving town.
You've probably met or at least seen Ashley in The Sandbar at some point. She's the blonde who towers over everyone- except Dave- including me, and I'm pretty tall. She's also doorboy Andrew's day-job boss which probably means he's going to be working a lot more until they hire a replacement.
A few years ago, Ashley was the big winner in our annual Halloween costume contest. Well, the contest ended up being held online, since we forgot to do it that night, but she probably still would have won even without being able to email all 7,921 of her fans and asking them to vote for her.
Ashley took a new job in Baltimore, of all places, and she leaves next Thursday. Yes, as in six days from now. She has assured us that she will be spending a lot of her time at The Sandbar until she leaves.
The official going away party will be Sunday night at The Sandbar, of course, so stop by sometime and share a toast with Ashley. We will miss her and we wish her well in Baltimore.
I snagged this picture from Ashley's Facebook page…I figured since she put it on the internet of all places, she wouldn't mind if I used it. I thought it was appropriate for this post.
