New neighborhood market brings community together at local high school Trading post nds a new location in the San Fernando Valley

Richard Zamora Roundup Reporter

The Melrose Trading Post opened its second location on Saturday, March 15 at Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new weekly market which opens at 9 a.m. and will raise funds for the school.

The ceremony featured L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield who cut the ribbon, and LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer who spoke to the crowd and the estimated 150 vendors who showed up for opening day.

“To LAUSD folks here and to the LAUSD folks that are watching somewhere, this is great proof that when we choose to work together great things can happen,” Zimmer said. “This trading post, this marketplace, I really believe that this is going to continue for generations just like we have at Fairfax.”

The Melrose Trading Post (MTP) has been operating a market for the public at Fairfax High School for the past 16 years.

MTP was co-founded by Pierson Blaetz and Whitney Weston who originally approached the school for arts education classes but saw a greater need.

“It was a partnership with two

Jason Sudds / Roundup

MARKET: The Le Boustique bus at the Melrose Trading Post at Taft Charter High School March 15.

parents that were part of the parent organization at the time. Fairfax had 3,700 students and three involved parents,” Blaetz said. “They didn’t need arts education classes at that time, they needed money. They were really struggling. So we proposed this idea of a trading post in their parking lot.”

The Fairfax location operates

Sundays. An admission ticket is $3 with 100% of the entrance fees going to the school along with a portion of the vendor fees. The Taft market will use the similar structure with an admission price of $2.

“It was very humble in its beginnings, and now the last four Sundays we’ve been averaging close to 5,000 people attending and we have 240 vendors,” Blaetz said. “At Fairfax High School over the 16 years we’ve raised over $5,000,000 for the school. Its primary goal is as a fundraiser for the school, but certainly an important goal is community building.”

Many of the vendors present for the opening were regulars from

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Nicolas Heredia/Roundup friends and other members of the Robotics Club.

Spencerʼs drone flies around Pierce College campus.

“He takes his time with everything. He gets it right the first time too. It’s kind of embarrassing for me,” said Nima Ganjehloo, an electrical engineering major and member of the Robotics Club.

Depending on whether or not Spencer decides to transfer, he will continue to host “The Memory Dump” and may consider to take the title of being club president for the Robotics Club if offered again.

His experiences so far have allowed him to meet and network with billionaires including the Founder of Activision, Howard Marks, and Co-founder of Snapchat Evan Spiegel that confirm a passion for aero technology and radio hosting.

“To me, they were my creations. Even though my parents always encouraged me to continue, they always made sure they had their secret stash of tape for themselves.”