Written by Emma Jones // Photo by Balazs Balassa
Several campus organizations and businesses around Searcy are planning events and specials to prepare for Valentine’s Day next Tuesday, Feb. 14.
Harding’s Arts and Life Series is hosting pianist Barron Ryan for a Valentine’s Day dinner and concert called “Classics Meets Cool.” The dinner will be held in Cone Chapel starting at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 14. The $25 tickets can be purchased at hardingtickets.com, and the purchase includes complimentary admission to the concert, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Anthony and Wright Administration Auditorium. The concert itself will cost $8 if tickets are bought in advance or $10 at the door and is free with a student ID.
“I think that the style of music that [Ryan] is going to present that evening in his concert will be very mainstream and should appeal to a wide variety of people,” Dr. Jay Walls, director of the Arts and Life Series, said. “He’s hitting the middle between the classical music world and the popular music world, with a little more emphasis on romantic favorites for this concert.”
The Honors College will be hosting its first Honors semi-formal on Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Honors Student Association President Isaac Raymond said the decision to host a function like this was to continue building culture among Honors students.
“A good number of people in the Honors College aren’t in a club, so they don’t really have access to semi-formal or formal events,” Raymond said. “It’s also just a time when there isn’t really a ton happening so it made sense for us to have a semi-formal to bring people together.”
Tickets for the semi-formal are $22 each and include a meal and a sweatshirt. Raymond said all students are allowed to go, not just Honors students. For information about the signup, contact honors@harding.edu.
Tacker’s Shake Shack in the Student Center is allowing students to gift a “shakegram,” a voucher for a small shake with the option of three Valentine’s themed flavors. Cards are now available to buy, and the new flavors will be available Feb. 13 and include “Heart-Breaker,” a hot fudge and black cherry shake, “Cupid Crush,” a red velvet shake with sprinkles and whipped cream, and the “Sweetheart,” a white chocolate and strawberry shake.
Midnight Oil is offering three new Valentine’s themed drinks at their location on Race Avenue, including the Rose Cloud 9, a London fog with rose syrup, the Love Triangle, a honey, almond and chocolate latte, and Twisted Love, a frozen cranberry lemonade with lime syrup. The drinks will be available through the end of the month.
Another local business with a new Valentine’s themed menu is Wild Sweet Williams, which has new cookie, sandwich, baby cake and scone flavors available through Feb. 14.
Slader’s Alaskan Dumpling Co. is also planning a special event for the holiday. The restaurant is taking reservations for a fancy dinner experience on Feb. 14, with a $30 special that includes meals, drinks and desserts for two.
“We’re putting tablecloths on tables,” sophomore Jiana Manglicmot said. “We’ve got roses — I think we’ll have candles. It’ll just be Slader’s but like slightly upscale.”
Manglicmot said there are some reservation times still available and to call Slader’s at (501) 203-4070 or direct message their Instagram @sadco to place one.
The Student Association (SA) hosted an event on Feb. 7 to make Valentine’s cards for residents at Harding Place. SA freshman representative Elizabeth Brown said she wanted to give students a chance to show kindness to others this Valentine’s Day.
“We had a great turnout to the event,” Brown said. “We had about 50 or 60 come and go. All 200 cards were made in an hour and a half.”
