by Debbi | Feb 20, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
My plea for stories about couples who met at The Sandbar must have reached the right people this year, because the stories and pictures are still coming in. So, even though Valentine’s Day is over, I’m going to continue sharing these.
Brad is an old college friend of mine and has been coming to The Sandbar for at least a decade. He moved to Overland Park a long time ago and we don’t see him nearly as much as we used to. Especially now that they have baby Graham. Here’s his story about how he met his wife, Jennifer.
I was at The Sandbar on May 18, 2002 with friends, standing on the bench near the jukebox to get a better view of everyone having fun, swaying to "Brick House." I looked over, caught Jennifer’s eye, and motioned for her to come join me on the bench- and to my surprise, she did! We sat down afterwards and started talking. It turned out we had a lot in common, which made it easy and enjoyable to talk about something other than the weather!
At the end of the night I told her how much fun I’d had and asked if I could call her again. According to Jennifer, I waited the "mandatory three days" before calling to say hi and see if she’d like to go out again. We came back to The Sandbar and things took off from there. I was living in Overland Park, so Fridays were even more fun to look forward to so I could come back to Lawrence to see her.
I proposed at Union Station in 2003, and we were married in October 2004. Three or four of my good friends from college met their spouses there {including me!} so I’m glad it happened to me, too! Thanks for the memories. All the pictures I took over the years will keep them alive. We hope to make it back soon!
Here’s a picture of Brad and Jennifer from their wedding, along with one I found of their earlier days:
Go here to read about Matt & Aña, and here to read about Jen & Scotty Mack.
by Debbi | Feb 14, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
Happy Valentine’s Day!
In the spirit of love and romance, here’s another Sandbar love match. Aña met Matt here once upon a time, and the rest was history. Here’s what she had to say about their meeting:
I was going to move to London for awhile after college and my friend ended up having to rent out my half of her loft after 9/11 hit and my parents "recommended" that it wasn’t a good idea for me to move overseas. Anyway, a few of us went down to The Sandbar that following Wednesday (lei night) and Matt "lei’d" me. That pretty much consisted of him giving me a lei and ignoring me the rest of the night. My roommate and I decided we loved Wednesdays because there was basically nobody else in the bar so we came back every week. Matt and I’s relationship bloomed over Photo Hunt. I think I sealed the deal when the entire town of Lawrence was shut down for a snow day and I came to the bar in my pajamas and even brought my own blender because yours was broke and he could no longer make a Dirty Banana with ice. That’s commitment. The rest is history and we’ve been together almost six years. I actually have a picture from teh first night we met, because my friends thought it was funny that I was in such a bad mood…
Aña and Matt were married in July a couple years ago in a lovely outdoor ceremony at Circle S Ranch, officiated by none other than Brother Pants. Unfortunately- or fortunately, depending on who you ask, we no longer offer blended Dirty Bananas at The Sandbar, because a blender is an evil torture to a bartender. And they break. Constantly. We do, however, still offer the captivating Photo Hunt for your enjoyment.
by Debbi | Feb 13, 2008 | People, Sandbar Love Stories
I’m so excited to share a "how we met at The Sandbar" story that doesn’t involve me!
Customer and friend Jen heard my pleas for a sweet story and not only did she provide one, but she sent a picture too. Here’s what she had to say about the fateful meeting between she and Scotty Mack:
Well, Scotty Mack and I met in front of the Sandbar jukebox. It was a Wednesday, and I was there with a friend of mine, bemoaning my fate as a single gal. As if on cue (or maybe he was eavesdropping), this guy came up to me and asked me to pick out some songs on the jukebox. I called my best friend from the bathroom telling her a "cute boy" asked for my phone number and she told me to behave myself. Well, I guess I picked out the right songs (Hank, Waylon, and Willie were involved if I remember correctly) because here we are, engaged and happy as clams.
Awwwww. And isn’t that the cutest picture ever? Courtesy of our lovely friend Aña, who has a Sandbar love story of her own that is just begging to be shared with the internet. Come on, don’t be shy.
by Debbi | Jan 24, 2008 | Newsworthy, People
Our fearless leader, Dave, has a brand new job!
Don’t worry, he’s not leaving The Sandbar. Peach nominated him for an open position on the board of Downtown Lawrence, Inc. He started his three-year term as a board member this month.
DLI is a not-for-profit organization created to promote the interests of the downtown business district. The mission of DLI is "to preserve, protect, and promote Downtown Lawrence as the retail, service and professional, governmental, entertainment, and social center of our community."
Dave will do a wonderful job representing not only The Sandbar but all of the other downtown businesses. (Of course I might be a little biased!) We’re all excited for his new opportunity.
The public announcement of the 2008 DLI board is here.
{I’d like to point out that, contrary to what some anonymous commenter on the LJW site seems to think, this is not a paid position. It’s voluntary.}
by Debbi | Jan 20, 2008 | Good Things, Newsworthy, People
Aimlessly flipping through yesterday’s newspaper, I suddenly saw Peach and Ted’s faces staring up at me.
Peach and Ted are the Baldwin division co-chairs for this year’s United Way of Douglas County campaign. They posed for the picture with students from Baldwin City and Eudora high schools, who participated in the fundraising event with Weigh In for United Way. The students were recognized during halftime of their schools’ football game on October 25.
See the picture here.
by Debbi | Jan 16, 2008 | People
Josie is part of the Madl clan- most of whom have worked at The Sandbar at one time or another. She tended bar several years ago. Here’s what she’s up to these days… besides chasing her daughters (and husband) around and keeping the books for the bar.
How long did you work at The Sandbar? I think I worked there for about a year, maybe a year and a half.
How did you get the job? Family connections, of course!
Other jobs you’ve had? Oh so many I can’t name them. In Lawrence I’ve worked at the Topiary Tree and Chili’s. I’m currently a bookkeeper and work from home.
Favorite job besides The Sandbar? I love my current job, but the bar was definitely a very fun job. Something different and crazy was happening every night!
Favorite drink to drink? Midori Sour or Margarita on the rocks with salt.
Favorite drink to make? Hmmm…this is hard. Maybe a shotski? My least favorite drink to make was a martini, though, I never got the hang of that.
Most embarrassing moment at the bar? This wasn’t too long ago. I went up and talked to a stranger because I thought he was cute and I wanted to try to set Betsy up with him, but he was engaged. Oops. That was not a good move. All of his friends were laughing at me. {you may have been embarrassed…but I’m sure he was probably flattered.}
Favorite memory at the bar? Probably my bachelorette party with all my girlfriends. Lots of good memories from that night… well, okay, so maybe I don’t have too many memories from that night…maybe a little too much to drink.
Favorite jukebox song? "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" by David Allan Coe.
Song you never want to hear again? "Cheeseburger in Paradise" by Jimmy Buffett.
Favorite bar dancing song? "Love Shack" by the B-52’s.
Favorite music? Country. I love George Strait and Tim McGraw.
Favorite ice cream? The strongest chocolate flavor I can find!
If you could live anywhere? Right where I am!
5 Random Things You Might Be Surprised to Know About Josie
- I drive a minivan
- I’m currently obsessed with eating deviled eggs
- I like to have dairy goats so I can drink fresh goat milk
- I still wear a t-shirt I got in junior high basketball that has my name on the back and a t-shirt that I got when I was about 10 that has a picture of a steer with my name above it
- I can beat Andrew in horse. Okay, maybe not, but that will get him riled up
