We've never run a contest on Facebook before-- Facebook's terms of service make it just too darn difficult.
(All those contests you see asking you to "like" or "share" a status or a photo in order to enter to win something? Yep, those are against Facebook's TOS. Most people either don't know or don't care, but Facebook can shut down your page without warning if you violate their rules. I don't want to take that risk.)
In order to run a legitimate contest on Facebook, you pretty much have to use a third-party application. Which either means you need to have mad development skills to create your own (I don't) or spend money to use an app that someone else has already created.
So, that's what we're doing.
Announcing the Best Sandbar Pictures of All Time contest.
You can enter on Facebook (click here to enter or vote), or you can also enter a photo on Twitter or Instagram by using hashtag #sbparty13. The app claims that entries with the hashtag will automatically be entered, but if for some reason it doesn't work, we're not responsible.
You can enter pictures and vote until August 5.
Encourage your friends and family to vote for your picture; the entry with the most votes will win a pair of VIP passes to the beer garden at our August 10 block party!
You must be 21 to enter the contest and redeem the prize; we'll ask for two forms of ID to verify.
So start digging out your best Sandbar pictures and enter our contest!
The
Sandbar, a downtown beach bar, has been a staple on the Lawrence bar scene
since 1989. A little over a decade ago, Sandbar founder Peach started dabbling
with the idea of expansion.
“The
subs story started when I found out that most downtowns would not allow a bar
to go in without food sales,” she said. Overland Park and other similar
towns—including Lawrence-- have zoning
regulations to prevent the same type business.
Longtime
bartender and manager David Johanning agreed to take over the responsibility of
the Lawrence bar while Peach explored expansion options. This was during
the time the Legends shopping center in nearby Kansas City was under
construction. “We were asked to
participate in the original Legends plan,” Peach said, “but realized we were
not experienced enough at that time to handle such volume.”
The
small town of Ottawa, close to home, was a great place to test ideas and
concepts. Peach opened a second Sandbar location that was a restaurant and
bar (click here to read more stories about the Ottawa adventures) and enjoyed
it, but she knew it wasn't quite the right match.
During
this time, the Madls became friends with the Zaremba family of Zarco66. The
Zarembas had just bought a store in Ottawa, and Scott and his family often came
into the restaurant on wing night.
A
downtown Ottawa sub shop without table service was the next effort, and boy it
worked. It was great fun, Scott came down and enjoyed the food and a
partnership was born. We now have three Sandbar Sub Shops inside Zarco66
convenience stores in Lawrence and Ottawa.
The
Sandbar Subs World Headquarters is slated to open in August, right across the
street from the original Sandbar, along with a new location of Peoples Bank.
Now
how did the relationship with Peoples Bank happen? Peach explains, “Well, back
in the old days, banks would sometimes be ‘not nice.’ My husband and I had the
opportunity to buy the building the original Sandbar bar was in. However, I was
rejected by a bank my accountant referred me to-- because ‘you receive the
majority of your income from the sale of alcohol and we are a family owned
bank.’”
Their
regular bank wouldn’t loan money for properties outside of Baldwin City. So one
day Ted said, “Hey, I have a cousin who’s a banker, let me call her!”
“That's
when I met Maley Wilkins of Peoples Bank, and she took great care of us.”
Another
connection to Peoples Bank comes by way of the Winter family, who are
well-known around the Lawrence area.
“When
we first got the Crystal Plaza Theater in 2005, it was struggling, “ Peach
said. Peoples Bank kept sponsoring events and coming by and supporting us in
many ways in Ottawa. The late Wint Winter, Sr., who was chairman of Peoples
Inc., was a wonderful man and he is honored at the Plaza Grill and Cinema with
a picture on the Wall of LOCAL Stars in the lobby.
As
for the new Sandbar Subs World Headquarters/Peoples Bank adventure in downtown
Lawrence?
Peach
says it came about when Scott and Maley spent time talking instead of listening
to speakers at a Chamber event and came up with this wonderful plan.
“And
Ted and I said ‘we're in!’” said Peach.
Usually, this is where they say the rest is
history, but in this case, the next chapter is just beginning.
Be sure to join us on August 10 for the big block party bash! Click here for more info.
For our inaugural block party five years ago, the one that celebrated our 20th birthday, we put together an epic slideshow of pictures from those first twenty years.
And when I say epic, I mean it was like twenty minutes long.
We went through all our old photos; we scanned photos from our walls; and we requested photos from our customers and friends.
In the end, we ended up with some 800 pictures in that slideshow.
Last year, we put together another slideshow, and again we asked for your photos. Most of the pictures in that slideshow were newer, and this show was significantly shorter with only around 200 pictures.
We recently resurrected those slideshows and started running them on the TV's in the bar-- in between music videos by 90's boy bands.
And now, it's time for another one. We know you all take lots of pictures in the Sandbar-- we see them on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. So if you have a favorite (or two or five!) that you'd like us to include in the slideshow, send them our way. You can email them to [email protected] and we'll do our best to make sure it gets in this year's version of our photo album.
Awhile back, we told you about the new Sandbar Sub Shop that's opening across the street from us, in the former Mirth Cafe location.
Peach has hired a manager for the new shop, but now she needs more fun people to help open this new business.
Employee Open House
Want to learn more? Join us for an open house and get all your questions answered!
Monday, July 29
4-7 p.m.
Sandbar Subs World Headquarters, 745 New Hampshire
Peach is looking for fun
people with food service skills to work at the new shop. If you want to
be part of a growing business that provides great food and excellent
service in a fun environment, we want to meet you!
Training would begin immediately. Well, probably not that night, but very soon after!
Print the application and bring it with you to the open house or email it to [email protected]. If you can't make it to the open house, that's okay! Just email your app to Andrew.
Even if you're not looking for a job, you probably have a friend who is. Please share this information with anyone you think may be interested!
Former bartender Danny has probably had more press on this blog than any other bartender, besides maybe Dave, but he happens to not only lead a busy and interesting life, he's also very willing to share stories with me. I guess you could say he's good at promoting himself.
This is kind of "old news," meaning he told us about it over a month ago, but it's still completely relevant.
His latest endeavor is really cool. Here it is, in his own words.
I have a friend named Amy who I basically met secondhand via
Facebook. Back in 2010 when I raced Ironman Coeur d'Alene, she was
training for Ironman Louisville and had a friend recommend my race blog.
We ended up becoming acquainted through chatting about training and
racing and occasionally about "real life" stuff. In January, she was
diagnosed with breast cancer and in February, she began chemotherapy.
She started a Caring Bridge blog to document her day to day experiences
as she battled cancer, which I read. As a pediatric oncology nurse, I
was not only curious about her experiences, but was able to better help
her understand some of the terminology the doctors were throwing around
and explain some of the aspects of her treatment.
Throughout her
treatment, she has been an inspiration. Not only has she faced the
diagnosis with grace and courage, she has inspired me by continuing her
active lifestyle through this very difficult chapter in her life. And
obviously, I've not been the only person to take notice. A friend of
hers submitted her name to the PR company that runs the annual Lee Jeans
Denim Day campaign. This is an event which takes place in October, and
basically turns casual Friday into a fundraising opportunity for breast
cancer.
The group ended up choosing her to be the face of their
national campaign this year. In preparation for the photo shoot for
their website and all of their promotional materials, they asked her to
choose a handful of friends who have inspired her, supported her, and
given her courage through this process. She chose a few coworkers, one
of whom is battling cancer herself, a new friend who she met during her
treatments, and to my surprise, she also included me on her short
list... stating that I had been inspiring her with my athletic exploits
ever since we "met" and that I had lately been a source of encouragement
to her through my racing, my fundraising efforts for pediatric cancer,
and shaving my head at the same cancer benefit.
In
April, we all met at a studio in Kansas City, went through makeup and
wardrobe, conducted video interviews, and a lengthy photo shoot in the
studio, as well as several locations around KC. The website is www.denimday.com and the actual day of the event is October 4th, 2013.
It's that time of year again, friends- time to celebrate our birthday with another block party! This year's extravaganza takes place on Saturday, August 10.
This year, our friends at Peoples Bank have stepped up to sponsor the
event and kick it up a notch. In addition to celebrating our birthday,
we'll also be celebrating the grand opening of Peoples Place at the
corner of 8th and New Hampshire (in the former Mirth Cafe location),
which will house a new Peoples Bank location as well as the new Sandbar
Subs World Headquarters.
This year's concert will feature the grammy-nominated band the Fabulous
Thunderbirds, with local favorite Cowboy Indian Bear opening the show.
Also new this year: a VIP party! Very Important People like you can enjoy a
pre-party with appetizers and beverages in the new Sandbar Subs space
before the concert starts. Each VIP ticket also includes a
limited-edition party T-shirt, a meet & greet with the band and
admission to the beer garden and Sandbar.
The concert itself is free and family-friendly, but you'll need to buy a
ticket if you want to enjoy it from the beer garden or inside the
Sandbar- and you must be 21 to do that.
We're selling tickets in advance this year, too. (We're just going all out, aren't we!)
You can buy tickets online here (use promo code SANDBAR to save $5 per
ticket for regular beer garden tickets, or SANDBARVIP to save $10 per
ticket on VIP tickets). We'll have tickets available in retail locations
this week, including at the Sandbar, Sandbar Subs and Peoples Bank.
Stay tuned for more updates and fun announcements about this year's party!
RSVP on Facebook and share the event with your friends! And don't forget to use #sbparty13 when you talk about it online.
This is a guest post from long-time Friday bartender Heather, who has a big life change to announce.
Friday evenings are that enchanting part of the week when many let go of the stress from the work week and smoothly slide into the weekend. For a lot of years I have been fortunate to share that time with many of you. While I often say it has been ten years, my spouse likes to remind me that I have been saying ten years for several years now. So, let’s just call it a good, long while.
I’ve learned a lot behind the bar. For example, it’s not a good idea to mix up the salt and sugar when making lemon drop shots. Yes, it is possible to fall off the bar while stone cold sober (not one of my finer moments). Some songs will bring people together and turn a group of strangers into friends no matter their age. Drinks with toys make adults as happy as kids with toys. Usually most everyone has a pretty interesting story to tell or advice to share and no matter how bad your day people seem happy to see the person handing them drinks.
During my time I’ve seen bar patrons experience hook-ups and break-ups, birthday celebrations, anniversaries, and many a bachelorette party. I’ve danced on the bar more times than I can count but am guessing at least a thousand times. Phil and I have had the same discussion about the merits of disco over a hundred times but bless his heart the man will tolerate ABBA on my behalf.
Some truly amazing individuals have come through our doors. A few have moved on – some to other places in the world and some to that great bar in the sky. (RIP my friends and may the spirits on the other side be as delicious as those we toast to you here.) I’ve been lucky to forge friendships with people who’ve become more important to me than I could have imagined all those years ago when I got my very first tip.
Just as that first dollar bill opened up a new phase I am preparing for another new beginning in my life. He doesn’t officially have a name yet but he should be born around the beginning of September. This isn’t a goodbye, at least not for me, not yet anyway. This is just a break and I hope to return from maternity leave with lots of amusing stories.
Until then, enjoy the tunes coming from the speakers, the beverage in front of you, and the company of those around you.
Join us this Friday, July 12, from 5-9 p.m. to celebrate Heather's "final Friday for awhile." RSVP on Facebook and invite your friends. And for the record, Heather's been behind the bar for thirteen years now.