The Ohlone Flea Market celebrated its third anniversary and the first market of the season with a ribbon cutting on March 14. The market started in the 1980s, serving the Fremont community for 27 years, before its eight-year shutdown due to construction and the Covid pandemic.
“This is not just a market, but this is also a place for our community to gather,” said Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “[It’s an opportunity] to support our small businesses and our local vendors, so they can sell their goods and create an environment where people have things to do.”
Site supervisor Marissa Romano shared with the crowd that 80 vendors were present, including small businesses, garage sellers, a wellness center, food vendors and the car meet hosted in collaboration with Ohayō Roadsters.
Some vendors have stuck with the market throughout it all, selling in the ‘80s and returning to celebrate the first market of the year.
Bernie Lucero is the owner of Excelsior Precious Metals and has been selling antique rings at the market for at least 35 years. “When I found out they were doing [the market] again, I signed up right away,” he said.
Photos by Paige Francis
Lucero came back out of enjoyment. “You can see the good customers that I have, and all the other people that work for me are all positive,” said Lucero. “Never mind about making money as long as you have fun. And if you don’t have fun, forget about selling.”
Lucero’s customers are loyal to his business, traveling from Los Banos or keeping in touch after 30 years. Something unique to Excelsior is the ring boxes themselves. Lucero collects vintage ring boxes from the 1900s to display the jewelry. However, the boxes are not for sale as they are hard to find.
Christopher Booras, the director of Civic and Theatre Operations for Ohlone College, remembers attending the Ohlone Flea Market in the ‘90s and was a part of the market’s comeback. “There aren’t a lot of ongoing outdoor events in Fremont. I think this [market] is one you can count on every month,” he said.
“It’s just a nice, chill, family-friendly environment to do some shopping,” Booras said. “Let’s come up here, get some food, take a nice walk.”
Van Tran, Ohlone College Civic Center rental officer and flea market coordinator, was also a part of the team that restarted the market. “When I was told that part of our goal for the college and the civic center was to reestablish the flea market, it was a daunting task,” she said.
“Not only are we doing a new market, we’re being compared to how it was done before,” said Tran. “We started doing things the way they were done before, but it wasn’t working out. We started doing things differently and made the market more community-friendly, more focused on kids, families and inclusion.”
A newer vendor, Rocky’s Treats, has been selling at the market for a year and a half. Bishop McElvaney started the business with his wife, naming it after their pet squirrel, Rocky. McElvaney’s products are all freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, candy and more.
“It started as something we did for our grandkids. The first item we did was Skittles,” said McElvaney. “They sold so well and fast that I ran out of capacity and had to buy a bigger [freeze drier]. Then from there it grew.”
McElvaney added, “Van and Marissa were the first ones who really acknowledged us. We were turned down at a lot of other markets because we sold sugar products. They were the ones that gave us our first chance, and we’ve been coming back every year.”
“It is our community, it is our people, it is our businesses, it is all of you and then some that make this happen,” said Romano when she addressed the crowd. “We contribute to making Fremont the happiest place on earth, right?”
