Warm weather greets St. Regis Flea Marketers

Melissa Oyer

Valley Press

The weather was warm.  The wind was cool. The swag was everywhere.

People from all over Western Montana, Idaho and even Washington made it out to the 33rd Annual St. Regis Flea Market this weekend at the St. Regis Community Park.

Everything from handmade quilts and blankets, beaded jewelry, household knick-knacks, toys, furniture and clothes to carved wooden sculptures, sunglasses, paintings, knives, guns and ammo could be found throughout the aisles upon aisles of goods for sale.

Several booths were also set up to inform people of non-profit organizations such as the DAV and Valley Arts Association (VAA).

Lark Chadwick with the VAA was on hand seeking donations to raise money for the construction of a multi-purpose building to be built somewhere in Sanders County.

Chadwick said the ideal location would be near the airport and would utilize some of the existing hangars and building space already there.

The purpose of the VAA is to promote and develop the Valley Community Cultural Center project and Chadwick said they were at the flea market to just get as much exposure in the area as possible.

Dick Wells, Publicity chairman for the DAV was showing off one of their vehicles that was parked on site.

They were asking patrons for donations to help raise funds to purchase new vehicles.

The DAV offers rides to and from doctor’s visits and other medical appointments for veterans throughout Montana.

A familiar smell to most flea markets visitors was the aroma of fresh-popped kettle corn. Glen Benedict with Ma & Pa Kettle Korn from Coeur d’Alene was just one of several popcorn vendors on site.

Although Benedict wouldn’t divulge his secret ingredient, he did offer a sample and whatever it was, it was tasty.

“We’ll go through about 400 pounds of kernels over the weekend,” Benedict said “We’ve been coming here for years. We always have such a good time. It’s just a good weekend filled with good people.”

Just up from the popcorn stand was a booth dedicated to the education and demonstration of healing oil, courtesy of Laid in Montana.

Norene Johnson, sales rep for the company, came up from Missoula to inform people about the benefits of using Emu Oil.

“We love coming here every year,” Johnson said. “We usually get the same booth space every year so it’s great to see the same familiar faces each year, not only the other vendors, but also the same people come and shop.”

Judy Arledge has been coming to the flea market in St. Regis for the past five years.

She was looking for some ornate beads to use in her basket weaving while her husband was in search of a six inch chimney brush. “It has to be six inches,” Arledge said. “Not four or five, not seven, exactly six.”

Arledge said she likes coming to this flea market because the prices are so reasonable and the people are so nice, a comment that seemed to be reiterated over and over again from everyone in the park.

Not only were there handmade, home-grown goods, hawkers also had used goods for sale.

Everything from clothes and cassette tapes to dishes and sporting goods could be yours for the right bargaining price.

One lucky patron walked away with what he considered was the best bargain he had made in some time.

Marcus Grace, who was just passing through town on his way to Wenatchee, WA from Fargo ND was traveling to see family for their annual Memorial Day golf tournament and managed to stumble across golf balls for a quarter a piece.

“With my golf game, I need all the balls I can get my hands on,” said Grace. “And at this price, who could pass them up?”

Further down the park, people walking by glanced at what seemed like chunks of wood and old tree branches but for Tom McClelland, it was his work.

McClelland, a Paradise resident, runs the Paradise- Arlee Wood Company. He carves large wood pieces into ornate and one-of-a-kind shapes and designs. A few pieces McClelland was working on he said he already had well over 100 hours put into them.

Wood pieces of all different sizes and shapes were on display and McClelland was more than happy to share details about each piece to passersby.

One of those passersby happened to be Phill Benson.  Benson and his wife Shondalae were vendors who had decided to do some perusing while taking a break on the hot afternoon.

Across the way from McClelland’s make-shift wood-carving shop, authentic traditional Indian tribal music could be heard.

Dave Williams from Drummond gave people a reason to stop and enjoy the cool breeze as they listened to the soothing sounds coming from his hand-carved woodwind instrument. On display in Williams’ tent were other handmade Indian relics, dream catchers and tribal jewelry.

People of all ages could be found roaming the aisles of the St. Regis Flea Market looking for a deal.

Kids shouting, “Give me a dollar dad,” followed by a parents reply of “no son, put that back. You don’t need that,” could be heard from every inch of the park.

Brad Smith and his friend Ken Stephens, both of Superior had their sights sets on some vintage knives. “We came to find goodies,” said Smith, “you know, the goodies you don’t need but that you can’t live without.”

The aisles were not crowded but there enough people googling over trinkets that made the day enjoyable. Good conversations were overheard from friends who meet up once a year at this annual event.

Some people came from out-of-town just to spend the weekend with one another, like Donella and Charles Mooney from Silverton , ID. “We’ve been coming here together for the past 10 years,” Donella said. “It’s a tradition we spend every Memorial Day weekend together here.”

If antiques and collectibles is what you were in the market for, then this was the place to be.

There were close to one-hundred and fifty vendors at this year’s event and the weather could not have cooperated better than if organizers haggled with mother nature just like the patrons that paraded through the park.