Variety of vendors populate flea market

Bad winter weather on Saturdays doesn’t keep people from attending Zurko’s Midwest Promotions Indoor Flea Market at the old Shawano Community Hall, 115 E. Division St.

The markets started Jan. 6 this year and will continue through March 23, running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The popular Sunday flea market on the Shawano County Fairgrounds moved indoors for the winter in 2005, according to Tim Zurko.

“This is our 19th year,” he said. “We purchased the building in 2005 from the city, renovated it, because we like old buildings. We’ve had it ever since. We do auctions here, as well.”

Admission is free and there is ample parking in the building’s lot and on the street. The flea market is held on the building’s main floor, which is accessed by heading up a ramp that is decorated with multiple antique signs.

According to Zurko, there are usually about 25 vendors for the Indoor Flea Market.

“Some of the vendors only display at this market, but some of them are regulars at the fairgrounds,” Zurko said, noting that they draw vendors from Wausau, Appleton and Green Bay.

One vendor at the Jan. 27 market was Travis Pipes, from Milwaukee.

“I wanted to come up and see what this is all about. I had a free Saturday, and I’m glad I came up. I’ve been doing this for about five years,” he said.

It was his first time at the indoor market, but he said that he’s displayed at the summer market three times. His wares are varied, with many antique and vintage collectibles.

“I attend a lot of rummage and estate sales, it’s relationships and social-networking to find things that I like to display and sell,” Pipes said.

Items for sale at the indoor flea market are quite varied. They range from Amish jams and homemade wooden puzzles, to antique jewelry, to a new Amazon Alexa Dot, vintage comic books or an old VCR.

Gordon Fecyk, owner of Great White Retro, displays 1980s computers, parts and systems, items from his vintage computer museum.

“I do this only for the indoor market,” he said.

Fecyk buys, sells, trades and shows parts and systems at the market.

“A good chunk of it came from Tigerton, a lot from Green Bay, Pulaski,” Fecyk said. “A person just north of here, who was getting rid of her collection, had an Atari 400 that wasn’t working well, but I was able to get it fixed up. I’m trying to encourage people to dig stuff out of their closets and see if we can get it to work.”

Patricia Owen, of Shawano, has run the snack bar at the Indoor Flea Market for about five years. Her granddaughter, Jordan Woltemath, helps out with the snack bar, while selling her hand-crafted jewelry at the flea market.

“We have donuts, coffee, tea, hot chocolate,” Owen said. “We also do chips, macaroni and cheese and ravioli microwave lunch bowls. We don’t have a food vendor’s license, so I can’t make hot dogs, or hamburgers. It fits the needs of the vendors and customers.”

Woltemath has been working at the flea market for about a year. She has her own business, JOBUGG Designs.

“I make and design everything that I sell,” Woltemath said. “I watched a YouTube video and got inspired to do this.”

Carol Fuqua sells vintage jewelry, glassware, pottery and collectibles with her husband, Scott, at the flea market.

“It’s something to do in the winter. We’ve been doing this for about five years, interrupted by COVID,” Fuqua said. “It’s been a fun thing meeting people and getting out in the community. It’s fun selling things, wheeling and dealing. Prices aren’t set in stone.”

Fuqua said she enjoys the other dealers and have made friends with a number of them.

“There are quite a few husbands and wives here,” Fuqua said. “Some of the people do it year-round, but we just do it during the winter months.”