By: Anaya Miller
Students, faculty and community members flooded the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church parking lot last Saturday night for Student Association’s (SA) annual 423 Night Market. Vendors set up tables around the area, selling clothes, food and artwork.
SA began the planning process in February, according to Jeaneva Bautista, SA President. In an email to the Accent, Bautista explained how the SA team spent two months meeting with the Service Department, the church and Plant Services to prepare for the event.
“We have to coordinate two aspects of the event: vendors and band,” Bautista stated. “What I looked forward to [at] the event is seeing everyone enjoying the night as they navigate through the booths and listen to our bands. I really want to showcase our entrepreneurs and the talents that our students had to offer, and having this event as their platform can really help out a lot in sharing to the public.”
Vendor reactions
According to Bautista, about 90 vendors took part in this year’s market, several of which were participating for the first time.
Laura Ringstaff, a senior management entrepreneurship major, sold handmade tops under her brand name, LR Atelier. Ringstaff talked about the preparation required for what was her first time participating in the event as a vendor.
“The easiest part was probably just making the decision,” Ringstaff said. “It’s kind of something I wanted to do for a while. I’m going into fashion; I want to start my own business and sell clothes, so I thought it would be kind of fun to get my foot in the door. But the hardest part was definitely the sewing. I’ve spent hours on this so far. It was a lot of work, but it’s been worth it.”
Ringstaff also praised the atmosphere of the event.
“I just love the liveliness of [the event] too,” she said. “Everyone’s so friendly walking by.”
Tamar Hamilton, a freshman business/ strategic communication major, and Jeannette Mahoro, a freshman nursing major, sold homemade cookies for Hamilton’s business, Sugar Spun Bliss.
“The hardest part about planning for this event was definitely baking the actual cookies,” Hamilton said. “Baking, and then packaging … and labeling, it’s a lot of work. The easiest part was setting up. [The SA team] made it very easy; a very kind gentleman carried my table over here for me.”
Hamilton went on to talk about next year’s event.
“I’m definitely thinking of participating next year, for sure. I would say that my favorite part of the event is just interacting with people. I enjoy sales, so this is fun for me.”
Other vendors, including Sarina Young, a senior graphic design major, have participated in the past. This was Young’s third year as a vendor, and she sold handmade pinback buttons, mini magazines and posters with the help of Jyle Frias, ’25.
“The easiest part was doing the posters,” Young said. “I really loved illustrating them; it was really fun. I think the hardest part was logistics and figuring out how much I’d need and, frankly, the anticipation of waiting for people to show up at my booth.”
Frank Lizardo, senior nursing major, joined the Caribbean Heritage Club at their booth, selling cassava balls and morir soñando, a creamsicle-like drink made of orange juice, evaporated milk, sugar and ice.
“It’s a great time out here,” he said. “The hardest part of this is selling all the supply we have. Since we’re a club, they don’t let us do Cash App. We all have to do cash, but it’s a lot of fun out here, we’re very blessed to do this and God’s got us.”
Lizardo was running the booth with Kristina Bermudez, senior psychology major. At her suggestion, Lizardo elaborated on the fund-collecting system.
“There needs to be a Cash App dedicated for all these clubs, so it makes it easier for us to sell things,” he said. “Because, like 25% of the people that have come here are like, ‘Oh, sorry I can’t, because I don’t have cash.’ It would make it a lot easier [and] it would encourage us to do more events like this.”
Isabella Dixon, junior English major, helped run the English Club’s booth where they sold tote bags and t-shirts, allowing customers to decorate the items.
“Honestly, preparing for this event was pretty easy,” she said. “This is a pretty laid back event. We kind of function independently from Student Association for this one, so we don’t have to worry about … tickets and all the stuff we do for SA events.”
Dixon also spoke about the cash situation.
“If [clubs] are functioning independently, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be allowed to accept our own Cash App,” she said, “because it really limits business when you don’t do that. I don’t think they’re doing us any favors by doing that.”
Student and/community reactions
The church parking lot was filled with students and community members with containers of food and bags of newly purchased items. Diego Gonzalez, a senior psychology major, said he was happy with the Formula 1 items he found.
“My favorite part of the event so far was a jacket I got,” Gonzalez said. “It’s Ferrari, and I love Formula 1. What I hope to see at next year’s event [is] potentially more Formula 1 theme clothes.”
Michael Blood, a senior marketing major, attended 423 Night for the first time.
“My favorite part of the event so far [is that there are] so many cool stores,” he said, “It’s been great to just meet a bunch of people, some of them I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Heidi Arms, a community member, attended 423 Night with her husband Brock and their daughter Gabrielle. Arms said she enjoyed the event and would like to return next year.
“I just like that there’s so many young people who are being creative about little businesses, and a lot of people actually making things,” she said. “It is so nice to see people still handmaking crafts and so on.”
Behind-the-scenes
In an email to the Accent, Bautista said she viewed 423 Night as a success. She briefly covered the stressful parts of the planning process.
“We were definitely working within a time crunch,” she said, “especially since we wanted everything set up before the event began while also having to wait for the sun to officially set before starting. Despite that challenge, I’m grateful that everything went smoothly. By God’s grace, we only encountered minor issues … that we were able to address quickly.”
Bautista went on to discuss the highlights of the event.
“Overall, the event was a success, and I’m really excited for next year’s 423 Night Market,” she said. “We had around 90 vendors, all of whom were amazing and contributed to making the event such a great experience for everyone involved. I really want to thank everyone who put their hearts and efforts into making this event a success!”
