Written by Amanda Toye//Photo by Briley Kemper
For 28 years Midnight Oil has been a beloved Searcy staple full of funky decor, an ambient studying environment and good coffee. Midnight Oil has brought constant joy to the community by hosting different music artists inside their building and on their backyard stage.
Hannah Carpenter and Sarah Cox, the current managers of Midnight Oil, want to bring fun activities and diverse groups of people into the coffee shop.
“When I was in school, this place was like a hub of activity in the evenings, and it was open till midnight every night, and people hung out every night,” Carpenter said. “But, something has happened culturally, and people don’t come here unless they’re just sitting and studying, and so I kind of just want to find ways to create fun things for people to be part of.”
Sophomore Millie Williams attended the Ladies Night on Saturday. This event started at 8 pm. with dancing, mocktails, music, and a thrifting boot.
“The vibes in here are immaculate,” Williams said. “I think it’s so kind of them to open it up for all of the girls to come have a place to have fun and dance around and have good food. I wish it was more of a frequent thing. More places in Searcy should do things like this because we want to just dance and have fun as college girls.”
Senior Rahamatu Blake owns a small thrifting business where she sells gently used clothes at different events in town. Blake had her inventory displayed for purchase in the Kibo room on Saturday night during the event.
“It was so fun,” Blake said. “I was planning on doing a pop-up sometime soon, and when I mentioned it to one of the baristas, she suggested I come do it at Ladies Night. I was really apprehensive because I didn’t know what the turnout would be like, but I was astonished at how many people came to participate and how involved people were at the Ladies Night. Everyone was really excited to be there and really into it.”
