by Katie Clark
While the men are away, the women get to play.
The first Saturday evening in April and October every year, men from around the world gather to watch the Priesthood Session of General Conference. In the meantime, women across the state gather to celebrate a women’s night out.
Every year, Deseret Book hosts various “Ladies Night” events at various locations throughout the state, featuring different artists and authors. The Provo Deseret Book will have an event from 6 to 8 p.m., according to Melinda Crane, head supervisor at the Provo location, however, women arrive far before that.
“People start lining up around five because we give out a prize to the first 100 people,” Crane said.
Besides door prizes, Traci Hunter Abramson, author of Crossfire and Backlash, will sign books and visit with guests. Refreshments will be provided and prizes will be given out. Artist Greg Olsen will visit the Orem location, as well as several other authors. A list of participating Deseret Book locations can be found at deseretbook.com/stores/events.
For women hoping to get in touch with their more crafty side, Robert’s Crafts in Provo and Orem will host events from 6 to 9 p.m. There will be plenty of free make-and-take crafts as well as demos from teachers of classes. A Wilton instructor will be at the Orem location and participants will take home a free cupcake. Children will receive prizes while supplies last. One of the biggest draws of the night is a 50percent discount of an entire purchase, said Danni Freeman, the night supervisor at the Orem location.
“It’s always a lot of fun and a great atmosphere,” Freeman said. “Lots of ladies from all over the area come in.”
The Quilted Bear in South Provo sells locally created crafts and home decor and will host their women’s night from 6 to 9 p.m. There will be various sales, such as 50percent off any product with a 25$ purchase and 35 percent off store-owned Halloween products. Door prizes will be given out and refreshments served throughout the evening. Hilary Lauchner, a geography teaching major from Colonial Heights, Va., attended the event the past two years and came away with prizes and good deals each time.
“Even though the store usually has good prices to begin with, Girls Night Out has even better deals, snacks and surprises,” Lauchner said. “I’ve won a prize bag two years in a row!”
For students and women in the community who are looking for an event around campus, the Museum of Peoples and Cultures, just south of campus, will host a women’s night that Noelle Olivete, a senior studying recreational management and youth management and one of the events organizes, claims “is truly unique from other girl’s night out.” The event goes from 7 to 9 p.m. and the first 25 women will receive a swag bag. Instead of having activities typical to women’s night out, the museum will do a service project that benefits under-privileged children with literacy. There will be a jewelry station that correlates with the Mayan exhibit that is currently on display, Olivete said. At 7:30 p.m., Jaime Bartlett, a member of the Anthropology Department, will be a keynote speaker presenting on the topic “From Lucy to Lady Gaga.” Olivete promises the event to be uplifting and unlike other women’s night out in the area.
“When I think of a girl’s night out, I think of a bunch of girls getting together to go do a bunch of girly things,” Olivete said. “We found a way to give a girl’s night out a unique twist and have the girls experience something they’ve never experience before.”
More details can be found by calling the individual hosts or checking websites.
