NORWAY – It’s taking sisters Mary Everett and Gina Jacobson just a little bit longer to lace their shoe than they thought.

It’s because their shoe – Norway’s attempt at creating the world’s largest snowshoe – is 30 feet long and 5 feet wide.

In the mid-1900s Norway was known as the Snowshoe Capital of the World.

In the past, a 20-foot tall snowshoe was on the bridge on Route 26 near the former Swan Supply business. Falling into disrepair, that snowshoe was taken by Charles Aldrich.

Everett said Charles is the son of Homer Aldrich, who originally built the snowshoe sometime in the late 1940s when he worked for Snowcraft Inc.

“We have been wanting to bring a snowshoe back,” said Anne Carter, Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce member who is in charge of creating a world-record size snowshoe. “We tried to get the original, but I guess it’s not fixable.

“We decided to build our own,” she said.

She said the 30-foot snowshoe was built by Oxford Homes at the request of the chamber.

After the frame was constructed, three sections of the shoe, the body, heel and toe, needed to be strung or laced.

Everett’s cousin Roger Lister and his son Scott laced the body for the chamber.

Lister has a snowshoe business in Lebanon.

Everett said many of her family members had been involved in the snowshoe business.

She said her grandfather Elmer Aldrich used to work for Tubbs Manufacturing in Norway, which made snowshoes. He purchased Tubbs and after a fashion he sold the business and started Snowcraft Inc.

“He made snowshoes through World War II and then sold Snowcraft in the late ’50s to Garland Mfg. in Saco,” Everett said. “My father, George Boyce Jr., managed it for Garland.”

Working on the current snowshoe brought back memories for Everett, who worked on heels and toes when she was in her 20s, and Jacobson, who did bodies, heels and toes.

“We used fine strips of rawhide soaked in water to soften them,” Everett said. “When they dry they are just like leather.”

She said the 30-foot snowshoe is challenging because the pattern the sisters used for regular sized shoes didn’t fit the big one.

“But we’ll most definitely have it ready for the parade,” Everett said.

Carter said the show will be a centerpiece on a float at the Nov. 29 Christmas Parade.

After the parade she is unsure of the shoe’s fate.

She said it will probably have to be stored inside because the frame could have been thicker.

“We would like to get it somewhere in Norway,” Carter said. “Right now the plans for its final resting spot are uncertain.”

She said she is looking for ideas on where to showcase the snowshoe and donations to help cover its restoration.

jsmedley@sunjournal.com

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