Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2000)
Social stew brews at market ■ Saturday Market attracts a mixed crowd with rare wares, mouth-watering food and warm atmosphere By Kristina Johnson Oregon Daily Emerald Stale donuts. TV. A trip to the mall. In towns across America, these are the trademarks of Saturday. Not in Eugene. Starting at sunrise each Saturday from April through November, artists, cooks, musicians and farm ers stream into Eugene’s park at Eighth Avenue and Oak Street to carefully arrange their handmade toys, beads and basil for Saturday Market, the oldest continually op erating outdoor market in the Unit ed States. “It's a market and a festival com bined,” said Beth Little, a former vendor who now manages the mar ket. Saturday Market was conceived 30 years ago, when local potter Lotte Streisinger visited a Peruvian plaza market and decided that Eu gene could use something similar. In May 1970, a handful of local artists and farmers gathered togeth er and braved the rain to sell their wares in an alley off Oak Street. Since then, the market has grown out of the alley and into its current location, which better ac commodates the 300 vendors who set up shop every Saturday. Though Saturday Market now serves as a model for markets in Portland, Bend, Hood River and Ashland, it has maintained its orig inal mission of providing a celebra tion for the Eugene community and a venue for local artisans. Crafts at the market can only be sold by their maker or a family member. “We’re not a flea market, an an tique show or an import market,” said Little. “We stand by the idea that the maker is the seller.” Vendor Kimberly Godsey said her entire family helps create the Native American crafts she sells at her market booth. “When we gather sage for smudge sticks, we do it as a fami ly,” she said, while spinning wool on a wooden spindle. “My boys help put the rocks in the rattles, and my 14-year-old watches the booth when I need a break. I’m a stay-at-home mom, and this puts groceries on the table.” Michelle Gay, also a stay-at home mom, is wrapping up her first season selling at the market. “I was going to have to go back to work to make extra money,” she said. Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald Visitors to the Saturday Market in downtown Eugene will find crafts, such as those above, handmade jewelry and a plethora of other goodies. Instead, she and her husband, a welder, decided to try their hands at selling garden art. Gay designs and cuts the metal for their sculp tures and garden gates. Her hus band welds the pieces and watches the kids on Saturday while she works the booth. “For a first-time product maker, this is a great opportunity to see if your products are going to sell," said Gay. “It’s an incredible feeling when people buy something you made.” Gay said she was apprehensive about joining the market at first. “I was a little nervous because Saturday Market has this image of being just hippies,” she said. “But there are schoolteachers selling Turn to Market, page 18D Neighbors Bar Great Weekly Specials University of Oreon's Hottest Dance Club ’Video Game Room* •Quarter Pool Everyday • •Laje Beer Garden Full Service Bar with 12 taps Friday Niyht Prime Rib Dinner $6.99 1417 Villard • 3 Blocks East of Campus * 338-0334 More Greens For Less Green Enjoy unbelievable golf at unbeatable rates. Memberships for the remainder of the year are priced from... $300 Full Single • $400 Full Family Call 895-2174 to enroll today. EMERALD VALLEY CLUB Student Rates (with valid ID) M - Th $20 • F - Sun $24 Don't throw your money away. Use... && Save with these money-saving coupons every term! Oregon Daily Emerald ODC Archive/, find ODC /torie/ from 1994 through lodoy. Archived on the web @ uiiuui.dailyemerold.com any wttl with this coupon (coupon good through 6«pt. 30, 2000) LDcdQ clothes for d©SD(£hcs>c?, ViNyl, Wigs, Snoes, Fetish wear 4461.13th by Bijou 343-3225 Other stores can sell you software. We sell it for much less... We can save you money on popular PC and MAC software through exclusive educational discounts other retailers can’t offer Need tech stuff? Come to the right place. Need accessories and supplies? We carry a full selection. Why shop anywhere else? OF OREGON BOoKSTORE
