Well, the one week anniversary was actually yesterday, but whatever. Bartender Heather and her new hubby Ken have been married for a week! And they've been off soaking up the sun in Hawaii while the rest of deal with this unpredictable Kansas weather.
The wedding last Saturday was held at the Adams Alumni Center on the KU campus. Heather is a KU alum, and the groom- well, let's just say he's not. He's a Nebraska fan, and arrived at the wedding with a giant blow up Cornhusker in tow. It was tied around the Jayhawk statue in front of the building for a brief time, until the helpful staff at the Alumni Center assisted with removal.
After the wedding, the bride and groom made a brief stop at The Sandbar for pictures. Fitting, since they became engaged on the bar last year. They didn't get on the bar this time- large wedding dresses tend to make that difficult- but we took some pictures downstairs and also upstairs on the fake beach.
Next stop, the fabulous wedding reception at the Lawrence Country Club. Rumor around the club was that this was the biggest event they've seen in ten years- and I believe it. Lots of people, loads of great food, and the drinks were flowing.
The dance floor stayed packed, too. You probably notice that at most weddings, people have to be dragged on to the dance floor with a silly snowball dance, and the only people who actually stay on the dance floor are the little kids. Not this wedding. Young and old alike were dancing up a storm all night. Sandbar staff Dave, Tyler, and Andrew (Fyler not Madl) entertained the masses with their stellar moves.
When the reception finally wrapped up late that night, lots of us traveled to The Sandbar to cap off the evening. It was busy there, too.
Overall, it was a beautiful and fun day. Congratulations to Heather and Ken, we are all so happy for you!
The Bar Band is one of our favorite traditions- members of the Marching Jayhawks & the KU Pep Bands form this group that takes to the streets of Lawrence the night before games to get the town excited.
They used to only come out during football season, but at some point decided it was so much fun, they might as well play during basketball season too. We're glad they do.
Not too long ago, Dave installed strands of white LED lights on the ceiling. They're not on all the time, but they make the bar a little brighter during the day. When the bar band stopped by in early March, he flipped on the lights so we could record a little better video.
Here's our last footage of the bar band from this season. It's kind of long, about five minutes, but it's worth it. Our bartender/doorguy Tyler is standing on the bar, on the far left of the video, playing his trumpet. Enjoy!
The end of January brought the first part of the Sunflower Showdown, the multiple-times-per-year sports clash between in-state rivals KU and K-State. KU won that game in Manhattan, but just barely, and in overtime.
The rematch is tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. And this time, both teams are ranked in the top 5 in both major polls. Has that ever happened before? Sports trivia buffs?
Even though we're mostly die-hard KU fans at The Sandbar (Dave played for KU, after all!), it's great to see even more basketball attention turned towards our state.
We're not much of a sports bar, but we do have a couple of TV's. And very recently we even got some compliments on those TV's from someone who clearly expected a dive like ours to have a lesser-quality viewing experience.
All TV's will be tuned to the game tomorrow night, and Dave's working on hooking up a radio connection so we can listen to the senior speeches & ceremony afterward. Assuming it's broadcast on the radio, that is.
And, FREE TACOS! That's right. If you were around for our inaugural free taco bar night a week ago, you know how good they are. We'll have the taco bar set up again tomorrow night for the game, along with our usual $2 well drink special. The lovely Hayley will be behind the bar, and she's hoping for a great turnout of spirited fans!
Curtis Marsh was presented with the Citation for Leadership and Achievement in Student services, or C.L.A.S.S. Award, during last Saturday's home basketball game. The award is presented by the Board of Class Officers, a student organization, to an unclassified staff member in the Student Success division. This division at the University houses many student services like housing, admissions, and financial aid. Members of the student body submitted nominations, and a BOCO committee selected five finalists and conducted interviews.
Curtis has worked at KU for over 15 years, but since 2005 he's been the director of one of the most popular and well-known programs on campus: KU Info! We've all used that service one time or another, whether for a serious question or something silly.
We're so excited that students at KU recognized Curtis with this award. He's one of the most passionate KU fans we know, and he is the perfect person to represent not only KU Info, but the entire University.
Congratulations Curtis, all of us at The Sandbar are proud of you!
Once upon a time, long before he mixed fruity concoctions or danced on bars or poured towering glasses of shots, Dave played basketball. His long, winding road through the land of college basketball eventually brought him to Lawrence and the Kansas Jayhawks.
(If you missed the fantastic story this fall about his path from backboards to surfboards, you can find it here.)
Anyway.
The KU-KSU Sunflower Showdown is always a heated rivalry, and Dave's playing years were no exception.
When his team traveled west to beat down the purple kitty-cats one year, Dave came home with more than a win. I've heard that Greg Gurley was talking about this on the radio yesterday, and it's been mentioned on the KUsports.com message boards, but I'm the only one with the exclusive story from Dave himself!
"I can't remember if it was '91 or '92, but I think it was my junior year ('91). We won the game, and afterwards the students started throwing crap at the court. I got hit on the forehead with something- to this day I don't know what it was. Maybe a quarter, a piece of ice…who knows.
Anyway, my forehead had a bleeding gash on it, and Coach Williams actually told the trainer not to fix it up right away. He wanted the media and everyone else to see the blood on my face so they wouldn't minimize the whole incident.
Of course the trainer fixed it before too long, but at least there were a few pictures of it, to prove I really did get hit. There's still a small scar on my forehead from it.
I think someone else, maybe Rex Walters, got hit with something the next year."
This picture was taken shortly after the game before Dave's head was fixed. Doesn't he look young? (And skinny?!?)
The adorable little girl? His cousin Mariya, who has since graduated from KSU, is working on her master's degree and teaching, and recently got married. That makes Dave (and me) feel really old.
The KSU fans are still throwing things from the stands. Recently, their projectile of choice has been rubber chickens, which is particularly amusing to us at the Sandbar. If you've seen our hurricane videos, you know that rubber chickens play a prominent part.
Let's hope that everyone can stay classy today and that no one gets hurt.
If you're looking for a place to watch the game, we're giving away free chili dogs at both Sandbar Lawrence & Ottawa locations during the game. We may not have big-screen TV's, but our chili dogs can't be beat!
