Unique wares, people the draw of Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Society’s ‘Flea-Tique’
Jenn Schneider spent Sunday morning setting up her vendor booth at the Tour-Ed Mine grounds in Fawn with items varying from ornaments, toy trucks and Christmas Village collections.
“We have a little bit of everything,” said Schneider of New Kensington. “It’s everything you didn’t know you needed.”
Quipped her brother, Matthew: “Or wanted.”
But in all, there is a want from the community: About 1,000 cars visit Flea-Tique each month, and it garners between 100 and 225 vendors.
Running the third Sunday of each month from May to October, Flea-Tique wrapped up its 43rd year Sunday.
Held at the Tour-Ed Mine Grounds off Bull Creek Road in Fawn, the event is coordinated by the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Society. Proceeds from vendor registration and parking benefit the Heritage Museum in Tarentum and Tour-Ed Mine Foundation.
“With no Flea-Tique, there is no museum in Tarentum,” said Jamie Stoner, historical society volunteer and Flea-Tique volunteer coordinator.
Stoner said vendors and shoppers come from as far as Tennessee, West Virginia and New York.
“It’s an antique show supporting museums. It’s perfect,” said Bill Hall, Flea-Tique grounds coordinator and referred to as the “head flea.”
“For us as volunteers, it’s a thrill to see people having a good time and enjoying it, and coming back month after month,” Hall said. “It really is the people — it’s such a community and a friendship. This is a little community that pops up once a month.”
Jenn Schneider agrees. A second-year vendor at Flea-Tique, she enjoys interacting with other vendors and shoppers along with the quality of what’s being sold.
Her favorite purchase was a vintage sweater of R2-D2, a Star Wars character. As a vendor, she thinks her most distinctive items are the detail-rich Department 56 Christmas Village pieces.
“We started out coming and buying stuff and said, ‘Wait, we have stuff to sell,’ ” she said.
Other vendors are seasoned veterans of Flea-Tique. Fay Stuyvesant of Three Hills Farm Antiques has been setting up shop at Flea-Tique for at least 25 years.
“I like the interaction with customers,” Stuyvesant said. “I actually thought about retiring, but I’m going to miss getting out and meeting people, and talking with people.”
Her booth has “a little bit of everything,” but her shop in Turkeytown, a village in South Huntingdon, specializes in primitives, she said.
“It’s a different type of crowd,” she said. “Everybody is very friendly, easy to deal with. I like to make deals.”
Same goes for David and Lilly Fussaro of Oakmont. Married 58 years, the Oakmont couple for fun sells items they’ve inherited — which include an assortment of jewelry, glassware, clothes and primitives.
One special item the couple tried to sell Sunday was a Stuka model airplane that David said they “purposely underpriced.”
“They like to feel they got a bargain,” David said. “You purposely underprice so you can ensure the sale. It convinces them that they did well, and we did well.
“And besides, we don’t want to lug this back home,” he said, laughing.
Lilly said antiquing is a hobby for her. David enjoys the history — the Fussaro booth also had a Castleton China commemorative plate of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first birthday in the White House in 1953.
“It amazes me — the quality of the past isn’t comparable to today,” David said.
Stoner, the historical society volunteer, thinks one reason that Flea-Tique is successful is because of the antiques’ gateway to history.
“You’re always learning something,” Stoner said. “There’s always something you haven’t seen. You can hold history and antiques in a tangible way.”
Hall said the historical society has seen more and more younger people come to Flea-Tique.
“I don’t care why,” he said when asked why or how Flea-Tique is attracting a younger audience. “I love it. I’m so happy they come in. We want to keep the vendors happy, and the customers busy.”
One of the younger customers was Colton Hodak, 12, who was shopping with his mother, Kelley of Worthington, Armstrong County.
Colton enjoys collecting sports cards, and has been able to get them at good prices at Flea-Tique, he said. He’s even been able to collect Roberto Clemente cards at Flea-Tique.
“I like the antiques, and it’s nice to walk around,” Kelley said. “The pepperoni rolls (from Vibo’s Bakery) don’t hurt, either. It’s a once-a-month thing, and we like to come. I like to see some of my childhood.
“It’s nice to spend time with our kids and walk around.”
Those memories hold true to Sue Thompson of Harrison, who remembered shopping at Flea-Tiques since the 1980s with her parents, John and Norma Virag.
On Sunday, she spent time setting up her wares with her sister, Jeanne Lessig of Harrison.
The Virags collected things from Mickey Mouse memorabilia to flow blue china dinnerware, Thompson said.
“They were great antiquers,” Thompson said.
On Sunday, Thompson thought one of her most unusual items was her grandmother’s spinning wheel. “I thought, maybe someone else will enjoy it,” Thompson said.
“I hope someone else does.”
Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at kstepler@triblive.com.
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