Rain doesn't dampen flea market

Rather than singing in the rain, people were shopping in the rain on Saturday.

A good pair of rain boots and an umbrella was good to have if you were visiting the St. Regis Flea Market on Saturday, opening day. For most of the morning it was raining and didn't clear up until about 1:30 p.m. or so. Still, despite the rain, signs along I-90 directed visitors to the St. Regis Community Park. And if you didn't have at least an umbrella, you were in luck.

Mike and Sue Neal of Neal's Affordable Tack were at least selling one item in the morning, a mule umbrella with two ears sticking out of the top. Sue said that they started with 19 umbrellas and by the time the rain had cleared up they were left with only six.

"As soon as the rain stopped though a good flow of people started to come by," Sue said.

Donnie Mann who has had a booth for the past nine years said that all it ever does during the flea market is rain at least on one day. He said that there has maybe been two years that he's done it in which it didn't rain.

Vendor Julie Powell didn't mind the rain and said that despite the weather "business was good." Powell said that she saw a lot of repeat customers and that everyone seemed happy to be out even in the rainy weather.

"The thing about the people here is that they're very good about supporting the community," Powell said. "So whether it's raining or snowing, they'll come out."

Umoh Essiet said she was also seeing customers despite the rain though they weren't many until the weather cleared up. Florence Evans returned to Essiet's booth where she was selling unique baskets that were woven with elephant grass from countries such as Ghana and South Africa.

Evans said that she bought a basket last year from Essiet and said that she thought she'd come back this year and see if she could find her again. Evans said she loves the baskets because of their uniqueness.

Essiet said that despite the weather and the decreased turnout early on, she said, "returning customers make it all worth it."

Betty Tijerina from Washington was helping out her sister, Janie Beaver from Plains, run her booth which featured goods that had all been sewn. Linda Sanchez, also their sister, came into town for the weekend.

"It's nice to come and hang out with them," Tijerina said. "I don't get to see them very often."

Tijerina said that they had a lot of people coming inside their tent and walking around, but they noticed a lot of people were more into the antique-like things and so their goods were a bit harder to sell. However, Tijerina noted how friendly the people were in the area that they had talked to.

After Saturday morning's rain, the weather stayed pretty constant, dropping a few sprinkles here and there over the rest of the weekend. Shoppers had through Monday to browse items and talk to vendors. It was also just a good time to go hang out with family and friends.

Leslie Garber, from the St. Regis Community Council who worked to organize the event, thought that it went real well.

"I think it went great," she said. "Even with the rain on Saturday there were tons of people. A lot of people did really well. It's a great event."

Garber said she wants to thank all those who stepped in to volunteer their time with helping to run the market and the concessions.