Unflagging determination for street vendor

Al Wellenstein is the guy selling $1 American flags at the intersection behind the Home Depot store in Kalispell.

Up until a month ago, he was homeless, but the flag business has been good. The snow keeps piling up, his feet are frozen and he loves his work.

“There’s something about flags. I just love selling flags,” he says. “I guess it’s just like any other job. Some days, I don’t want to do it, other days I feel like I’m living the dream.”

Every weekday, for four to five hours at a time, he waves a handful of the miniature flags, candy canes and other seasonal wares at passing cars from the southeast corner of West Reserve Drive and Hutton Ranch Road.

Each American-made “Christmas flag” has tiny gift bow on it, and a hand-written message: “God loves you” or “Smile, you are blessed.”

Wellenstein talks freely about being homeless.

During the harsh northern winters, just pulling together the money for a cup of coffee could be a major accomplishment.

“A lot of it is, you get inside, and you get some coffee,” Wellenstein said. “After that, you sell flags, go out and panhandle, do whatever you can.”

He used to be a self-employed handyman and window cleaner in California, but lost his business in 2008 when the economy tanked and no one wanted to pay to have windows cleaned any more.

After multiple car accidents and falls at work left him with chronic pain and problems in his neck and back, he was left disabled. He’s 54.

“Physically, I just couldn’t do it anymore,” he said. “But I love sales, even when I had a job I’d always enjoyed flea markets, yard sales. I always loved selling stuff.”

This year Wellenstein became a licensed street vendor, which costs $50 per year in Kalispell. He says insurance is the bigger bill — $80 every three months.

But he’s got enough to afford rent and groceries, and gives away what he doesn’t need.

“A lady gave me this backpack today,” he says, pointing to a new-looking, dark green canvas pack. “I’ll probably give it to someone else. If people give to me, I give to other people.”

It’s not an easy life, but he’s getting by.

He said the Lord is his biggest supporter, and he knows it’s what he’s meant to do.

“There’s a holy spirit that comes over people. It’s not a big, booming voice. It’s a small voice. It’s a voice in your heart that tells you what to do.”

After a long search for a decent apartment away from the “tweakers” and other undesirables, he now has a place to call home. But he doesn’t forget his neighbors from when he was living on the streets. Of what money he makes on flags, he gives what little he can to those who are still struggling.

“There seems to be a stigma about homeless people. They look at you like you have leprosy, or they don’t want to look at you. They lock the doors on their cars, they tell you, ‘Get a job,’” Wellenstein says. “Then the homeless get mean toward them, and it’s just a vicious, ugly circle. I think America needs to change that. ... I think a lot of people are just a paycheck or two away from being where I was.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.