Behind the Scenes with Sandbar Float Builders

This is a guest blog by the Sandbar's art director & chief mischief maker, Brother Pants. If you need something framed, he's your guy. Visit him at Fast Frame on West 6th Street.

The Sandbar has been entering floats in the St Patty's Day parade for over a decade, but the thing that makes their floats as unique and original as the bar itself is their departure from the rules of traditional parade floats. With the Sandbar, it is less a float as it is a theatrical experience. And that's why I am honored to be part of the team.

It actually reminds me of my high school experiences in the theater department. The float ideas start months in advance (usually over some tasty beverages) and the construction and production is very similar to a stage production. Of course the actual building of the float goes on for a few weeks by a horde of volunteer workers (usually consisting of employees or SB regulars) led by the dedicated Dave Johanning, compiling hundreds of manhours (and beers).

On another front, staff members often teach dance routines, create costumes and build scenery. And amidst the madness, as time is running short, there always seems to be a specific moment when you just know it's going to be a great show (for me last year, it was when I saw the smoke come out of the dragon's nose at 1 a.m. in Dave's shop). Always a team effort.

And when the big day arrives, and the anticipation peaks, and the music rises, and thousands of people line the streets, it's as if the curtain rises on the stage and the show begins. It's worth every minute.

Let the float building begin!

Our annual Sandbar float-building extravaganza has finally begun, a little behind schedule this year.

We have a new space to build our creation this year. Good thing, since we outgrew Dave's yard several years ago. And our new space is indoors, with heat and running water, so we don't freeze to death.

The boys have decided to mark their progress this year not by how big the float structure is, but rather by their beer can structure:

20110225_float_building_0007 20110227_float_building_0016

Check back tomorrow for an inside look at float building from one of our experienced crew members.

St. Patrick’s Pub Quiz Trivia Night

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.

Sandbar Resolutions

Happy 2011! We're excited about the new year and all the things we want to do. Here's just a few things on our radar. We'll call them resolutions, but they're really just some things on our list that we want to accomplish.

1. Rebuild the hurricane machine

  • The hurricane has been running since 2002, can you believe it? And it's time to upgrade our setup. In fact, we have to- we have a new video to add, but our current system can't quite handle it.
  • Of course, Dave also wants to add more- more wind, more lightning, more everything.

2. A new hurricane video

  • We have one new video to add, but it's really not totally new. It's recycled footage from some older videos, which means it will be new to most of you.
  • You might remember last August when we had a hurricane video contest. Our winner, Kim, has been patiently waiting for months for her video clip to debut, and we want to make her a star as soon as possible. Don't worry, we'll get a brand new video done soon.

3. The biggest, most over-the-top St. Patrick's Day float ever

  • You all know we try to outdo ourselves every year on St. Patrick's Day. This year will be no exception. It will be hard to top last year's castle, but not impossible. 

4. Find something fun to do with our upstairs space

  • We have a beach upstairs, but it doesn't get much use. We don't have many options; the upstairs space doesn't increase our capacity and we're still limited to 49 people according to fire code. But surely there's something we can do up there that would be fun. Suggestions welcome!

There's a few of our goals for 2011. I'm sure we'll have many, many more.

What goals or resolutions do you have for the new year? We'd love to hear them! Leave us a comment, and in a few days we'll put together a list for the blog.

Double Dream Hands

In the midst of all our holiday cheer, something dropped in our laps that relates to another very important holiday: St. Patrick's Day.

Our friend Scott posted this video on his Facebook page:

It's called Double Dream Hands, and it's fantastic. We were instantly reminded of our own cheese (but not quite this cheesy) St. Patrick's Day dance routines.

You can bet we'll be incorporating Double Dream Hands into our float dance this year.

May your double dream hands stay dreamy!

Scooter Poker Run at the Sandbar

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!

JohnnysRicks

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!

Bikes Winners

 

Big thanks to Laura for managing the money and cards, and to Gayle for all the fantastic pictures!