by Debbi | Aug 7, 2009 | Bar Band, Birthday Party, Events, People
The stage was in place, the beer garden was ready, and people were arriving rather quickly and much earlier than we anticipated.
One of our great surprises for the fans at our birthday party was our Master of Ceremonies- Captain Jack Sparrow. He's made an appearance at The Sandbar before, a couple of years ago when the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie opened. We loved his character so much that we sort of promised him that our next St. Patrick's Day float would be a pirate ship and he could travel down Massachusetts Street with us…but we all know how that goes. Whatever we decide to do outside of a month beforehand is definitely not going to be our float the following March.
Anyway, we redeemed ourselves with Captain Jack by throwing the party. We promised to build a pirate ship stage and give him a microphone. He even brought another pirate with him this time, and if you were there I know you'll agree that they were the real deal!
They spent lots of time mingling with the crowds, taking pictures with babies and children and, probably more frequently, grown married women swooning over "Johnny Depp."
But the pirates weren't the only special surprise guests we had…
Our fantastic neighbors at Richards Music Company helped us out tremendously with this party. They provided the sound systems, electricity, and even the opening band- Stomper. Some of the guys who work at the store play in the band, and we were excited to give them some exposure. The crowd loved them and we can't wait to see them play again.
The Bar Band was up next, much to the delight of the crowd. We're very proud of the fact that the Bar Band began at The Sandbar, started by one of our very own former staff members over a decade ago. It's a small splinter group of the KU Marching Jayhawks (not officially sponsored by KU, of course). They travel around to various bars the night before home football and some basketball games, usually decked out in Sandbar shirts that we've provided to them. Of course, we still have Bar Band members on staff.
The band members looked pretty sharp in their matching blue shirts- and we were frankly surprised that Tyler was able to round up so many of them to play at the party. They played for about thirty minutes- the KU fight song, the alma mater, and some other popular game day songs.
The Bar Band was so great we were sad when it was over! But there was much more to come at this party…as the crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
Tomorrow: More music and dancing and an enormous crowd of people!
by Debbi | Aug 6, 2009 | Birthday Party, Events
What's a party without a beer garden? Once we finally got the stage backed into place on 8th Street, it was time to set up our extended service area. This was probably the second-biggest task after the stage. It involved lots of pieces rented from Anderson Rentals and put together by Dave and helpers.
Of course we can't just use plain old barriers; we had to Sandbar-them up. Once the fences were placed, braced, and not going anywhere, our crew stapled festive grass skirting all around them to create a tiki lounge. We even had a lighted palm tree.
Standard Beverage staff arrived to set up the portable bar outside, where we served big cans of Corona and Red Stripe. How many cases of beer did we go through out there? 45. Our man on the street didn't think he was going to have to work all night, I'm sure, but he did a great job and worked hard, and we appreciate it.
Hayley and Danny broke their fingers popping beer cans open all night in the beer garden. It twas pretty crowded and you all kept them busy!
We hate that people had to wait in line to get into the beer garden at times. Of course, being The Sandbar, everyone is probably used to waiting in line at some point….but we were hoping that this could be one night where no one had to wait! But so many people showed up, and there just wasn't any more space to put people. We honestly had no idea how many people to expect at our party, and we are still amazed at how many of you celebrated with us.
Tomorrow: Pirates and the Bar Band
by Debbi | Aug 5, 2009 | Birthday Party, Events
We'll probably be talking about last Saturday's 20th birthday party for a long time here- there's just so many stories and pictures to share.
I didn't want to ruin the surprise of the stage before it was unveiled on 8th Street, so there weren't any pictures before the party. Much like St. Patrick's Day every year, we try to keep as many secrets as possible! And this event was definitely similar to a Sandbar St. Patrick's Day.
We borrowed a trailer from our friend Scott at Zarco66– and this trailer was at least ten feet longer than the Madl trailer that we use in March every year. Of course, that also meant that it wouldn't fit in our back yard, which is where our usual float-building shenanigans take place.
Peach and Scott hooked us up with a guy who owns the old bus barn in East Lawrence, and we rented a space in there to store the trailer. It's close to the bar so it was pretty convenient. Our usual float-building crew worked on the stage: Dave, Justin, Michelle, Coleen, Bridget, and Aaron. I'm probably forgetting some others who helped, too.
We spent a couple weeks building a giant pirate ship on the trailer, complete with a blue sky mural on the back by Sandbar art director Brother Pants. Coleen and her mom Sylvia sewed up some white sails. After a lot of painting and building, we had a pretty fun ship/stage ready for the party.
And then the big day arrived…
On Saturday, the guys had to dismantle the lower parts of the ship so they could drive the trailer to the corner of 8th and New Hampshire. It was pretty entertaining watching the ship arrive in Downtown Lawrence- and even funnier to watch twelve guys try to get it parked among the traffic.
But they did it, and by 5 pm on Saturday, a pirate ship had landed on 8th Street in front of The Sandbar. The guys all went to work, frantically re-assembling the parts they had removed and getting the ship ready for the night.
Tomorrow: More early evening party activity.
by Debbi | Aug 4, 2009 | Birthday Party, Events
Wow. Saturday night was a-maz-ing! We had no idea that so many people would show up to celebrate our birthday with us. Thanks to everyone for a fun night! This week we'll share stories and pictures from the event. If you have any to contribute, please email us!
The insanity started Friday. Well, it really started weeks ago. But on Friday is when party supplies started arriving, out of town guests started dropping by, and the final flurry of activity took place.
Friday afternoon, Channel 6 called the bar and wanted to know if they could come over and talk to someone. Dave decided he was too busy and needed to go finish work on the stage, so he told me to "deal with it." Yikes. Usually talking on camera is Dave or Peach's job, never mine. I tried to convince Andrew to stick around for it, but he just laughed at me.
The cameraman arrived sans reporter- apparently they were all either tied up at high profile trials or on vacation. Instead, he wanted me to just hold the microphone and talk about the party. I was prepared to answer questions, not just babble on my own!
Check out the Channel 6 video clip.
Funny story: when this clip ran on the 6 pm news Friday, I was labeled as "Sandbar Manager." Believe me, Dave heard about that! If Channel 6 says I'm the boss…well then I guess he has to listen to me. I posted a comment about it on our Twitter page, and about ten minutes before the 10 pm news aired, I saw this response: "Would you like to be labeled anything else? We can fix it for the 10 pm news."
Sure enough, they can fix things lightning fast down there, and by time my spot aired on the 10 pm news, I was demoted to a mere employee. Which I'm not even, really.
Friday night was fun- long lost friends were in town, Sandbar newbies enjoyed a first visit, and it was a great night for the patio.
