Drive past the parking lot at the corner of Main and Industrial any Sunday morning and you'll see it. A ton of cars, a flock of people milling about, and table after table crammed with eclectic merchandise.
It's Penticton's preeminent flea market, and it's been that way for decades. But it's also a flea market with a cause. That cause is the local branch of the SPCA, which oversees the operation and charges vendors a reasonable $20 to set up shop each Sunday.
And right now, the SPCA is putting the proceeds to especially good use. During the final couple weeks in September, the organization removed no less than 111 cats from a home on the south side of the city. And those cats need care - badly.
Granted, 68 of them have now been sent to other SPCA branches. But that still leaves 43 cats that need to be rehabilitated, reintroduced to human contact, and ultimately, deposited into the hands of adoptive families.
"The cats all lived in one mobile home," said SPCA Branch Manager Carolyn Hawkins. "They weren't properly socialized and they're terrified of people. They're scared because we're trying to tame them and make them adoptable."
Worse than that, they were sick. "All the cats came in with a disease called giardia (intestinal infection). We've had to treat every one of the cats, which costs a lot of money.
"And we had to vaccinate and de-worm them. We had to Revolution them, which keeps external parasites away, and now we have to spay and neuter them. And we have to spend hours gaining their trust."
As Hawkins says, it's expensive. Though the fully treated, socialized cats will be adopted out at $150, the per cat rehab cost is $600.
And that's why guys like Glen O'Brien are so important. O'Brien sells merchandise at the flea market, as he's done with his wife Jane for the past several years. He's usually stationed near other regulars such as "The Picker Sisters" (Ricki and Judy of Keremeos) and Michele of Penticton.
But he's also the on-site boss.
He arrives at 5:30 a.m. ( 4 a.m. in the summer), sets up the vendors, directs traffic when the place gets crazy, and collects the fees. After the market closes, he delivers those fees to the SPCA office. And he does all of this on a volunteer basis, costing the Society nothing.
"After I retired, I felt I had a void in my life," says the Peachland resident. "I love doing this. I love meeting people, and I love being in charge."
Hawkins is a big supporter of the market, saying, "It does great things for us. It helps with the fundraising. Because we're a non-profit society, we live on fundraising and donations."
But, she warns, the market slows after summer and shuts down completely at the end of October. And this year, that dwindling source of revenue comes at a time when the place is overrun with recovering cats.
There are plenty of ways you can help. To donate to the local SPCA branch, click here.
Alternately, you might want to get in on the 2018 edition of "Photos with Santa" on November 17th, an event where pet owners and their pets grab a hot chocolate and pose for pics with St Nick.
There's also a Facebook auction planned for sometime in the near future. The branch is looking for "gently used" auction-ready items in advance, and of course lots of bids on auction day.
And finally, all those cats do need homes. Hawkins cautions that prospective owners must prove they are willing and able to care for a cat over the course of its lifetime.
In the meantime, the flea market continues every Sunday though the end of the month. Want to be a vendor? Show up Sunday morning before 6 a.m. and ask for Glen. And have $20 in your pocket.
