Al Wallenstein, The Flag Man, has been “an honest man trying to make a living selling his wares” on a few street corners on the south side of Whitefish. He’s been selling flags, artificial flowers and copies of his books in the Flathead Valley for about 12 years.  

"I started selling flags down at the parade one year, and I made some good money, and I thought, 'Might be something to this,’ so I started selling little flags out of my cart,” he said. “You see an event here in Whitefish or Kalispell, I'm there selling my wares. I have a lot of fun doing it.” 

The Montana state flags are his best seller. He has set up his cart and worked near Safeway, on the corner of West 19th Street and U.S. 93, and in the Mountain Mall parking lot, in all kinds of weather. 

“I’ve been known to be out here at 30 below. Now, if it was 30 below, I'd probably stay in. Too cold.” he laughed. “I can only work a couple hours a day [due to] a few injuries in the past and old age.” 

At 64 years old, Wellenstein says he is, “not too old, not too young, either.” Selling used to be his only source of income, but now he gets a small Social Security check that helps him pay bills, buy gas and “help others.” 

Wellenstein lived on the streets of Kalispell for about 10 years.  

“I lived in a Buick,” he said. “It was cold. You get out of the sleeping bag, get in the front seat, turn the heater on and everything was OK.” 

His mother lived in Whitefish, and for years, he would visit and help her out on the weekends. When she became ill with cancer, he made more trips to see her and was there to tend to her, along with hospice care. 

She died two years ago and Wellenstein moved into her low-income apartment in town. He found it easy to adapt to apartment living. 

“I was just thinking the other day, when it was snowing really bad ... I thought, ‘I used to live out in this stuff,’ and I don’t have to do that anymore. I’ve got a nice, warm apartment,” he said. 

He’s written four books, three of which have been published. His first contains stories about the places he’s been, freight trains he’s hopped and businesses he’s had. It describes his days of street living and working with the carnival. 

"I started out in California and hitchhiked all over the place. Then I joined the carnival and hiked around with them, did some freight train hopping, went down to Florida and back up to Seattle,” he said. “Took a freight train from California to down to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and traveled around some more and did some construction.” 

His carnival gig involved working with games like ring toss and bottle roll. The job allowed him to travel and make money. He called it a dream come true. 

"It got to the point where it was just too much traveling,” he sighed.  

Years of constant motion took a toll, but he slowed down and recaptured his life. He said he became a Christian over 20 years ago and has been clean and sober for 34 years. 

When he’s not working, Wellenstein likes listening to music, going for walks and cooking. He joked that you can never trust a skinny cook. 

“Love to cook and love to eat,” he said. “I cook at the church on Wednesdays. They just love my cooking. 

"I used to go out and hit some golf balls, but due to some ailments, I can't do that anymore,” he said. “Mostly it's the back problems, old injuries, stuff that never healed. At least I'm trying, you know, that's the main thing.” 

He wants people to know he is not begging; he is an honest man trying to make a living. Wellenstein is thankful for his customers. On a recent snowy day, a woman stopped to buy something, and she gave him a hug. 

“The hug was better than the money,” Wellenstein said. “I don’t know, it makes you feel like a human being out there, like I’m somebody.”