Though I don’t suppose most churches have a designated parish bar, many of those that I served happened to. Down the street from my first assignment, Visitation Parish, was the (original) Peanut; members of Vis often shuffled there after meetings, games, prayer, or community gatherings. Teachers periodically assembled there on Friday afternoons for happy hour. I don’t know why it became an extension of parish events, but it was. Similarly, at Saint John Lalande in Blue Springs, it was Clancy’s; and up north, at Saint Charles Borromeo, the first Mass was celebrated in a bar/restaurant until the church got built. In south KC, near Saint Thomas More, the parish hangout is The Sandtrap.
Owners, Carl and Bev Tutorino, sold it this month after twenty-five years of serving the neighborhood and providing a site “where everybody knows your name.” On any given afternoon or evening, you can count on certain groups or families being there for a meal, drink, camaraderie, and cheers. Like church pews, patrons have particular tables and sections that they claim as their own. After choir practice on Wednesday nights, members shifted from choir loft to pub. The Sandtrap hosted baptism receptions, golden anniversaries, graduation parties, and many annual events. Each Veteran’s Day, a large group of military servicemen and women gather there to toast fallen friends and salute those who serve our nation. Each Thanksgiving Eve, a lighting ceremony packs the house, complete with a countdown to inaugurate the holiday season as a switch is flipped to light the way through ensuing darkness; there is live choral music as the first toast of the season gets made. When I was transferred from the parish, The Elders came to the bar to provide their incredible music for the farewell bash. Though closed on Sundays, if the Chiefs are playing in Europe, proprietors might open before sunrise for loyal customers with a buffet breakfast to cheer them on. Bev claims that after certain funeral receptions, their new floor or other upgrades got paid for—thanks to the Welsh’s and Powell’s, and friends thereof.
The place is so beloved that when the local funeral director met with a grieving adult child and suggested that charitable gifts from friends could be directed to a place that the family loved and supported, he responded that donations ought to go to The Sandtrap. They didn’t, of course, but the sentiment was heartfelt. The establishment’s ceiling is decorated with emblems from local schools and teams, except at Christmastime when it has more lights than Clark Griswold’s roof. Like in Ireland, children seem right at home in the public house along with the generations that bring them. The walls are decorated with sports memorabilia, as well as a tribute to Carl, who was quite a pitcher and quarterback in his younger days. With cigar smokers on the patio, regulars on barstools, Carl in the kitchen, and Bev as the hostess who brings a smile and favorite beverage to patrons as they enter, it is a great place to gather.
As they depart from ownership (Bev is still on the staff), I want to offer this blog post of gratitude to Carl and Bev and their children. I hope their lives slow down as their spirits rise up. They have been a tremendous blessing to south Kansas City, the Saint Thomas More Parish community, and to all those who know and love them. We thank them for the place they provided us all—an extension of our own house (and even God’s house) at their public house.
