Beth Little

Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, Beth Little studied history at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she also met her husband, Tim Little. After graduation, they drove a VW van to Alaska and a summer in the fisheries, discovering Eugene along their route. "We came back, bought a '69 school bus, and drove to Eugene," Little recalls. "We went to national parks. It took months." A year later, in 1987, the Littles began selling wood and canvas deck furniture at the Saturday Market. "I felt a kinship to the market community from the start," she says. "The structure of representation and the amount of volunteerism is paramount to its success." She served as chair of the market board in the early 90s, and she learned about management first-hand in two years with the non-profit Family Resources and five years at Burley Design. Little became general manager of the Saturday Market in April of 2000. "Our sustainable practices have bubbled up from customers and vendors," she notes. "Now we sort one hundred percent of waste and compost at least a thousand pounds every Saturday." Tim Little owns Built to Last Woodworking. The couple's deck furniture can be seen at the Oregon Country Fair, Booth Two.