Ron Potvin sits on his well worn stool at a bench in the basement of the Pepperell Mill in Lewiston, crafting a pair of shoes. He is one of the few remaining hand stitchers left in the city that just a few decades ago filled many of the local mills. He and nine others work away at a dying craft that takes a great deal of time and skill to produce each pair of shoes.

“Even though there are only a few of us left, I think there will always be a market for the quality and craftsmanship of our Maine-made shoes. There are one or two other companies left in L-A with a dozen or so employees, but I think we are the only one left that does all the work here and doesn’t send them out for some part of the process.”

Each pair they make for Quoddy Trail Moccasin may look alike to the average person, but Ron can tell at a glance who made each pair. “There is an art to it and it takes a lot of practice and patience. If you try to go too fast you can easily ruin an hour or two of work.”

A pair of Tracker Ankle Boots takes about four hours to make and sells for about $250.

“It is hard work, especially when doing skin stitching, but it is relaxing work,” he said.

Skin stitching is when the sewer pushes a big needle into a piece of leather to bind two pieces together, but only penetrates a portion of the way into the material and does not go completely through it.

Ron started working in the shoe business when he was in high school, doing slip lasting, one small step in the process of mass produced shoes. His older brother Mark also worked in the shoe industry, but he was at the top of the pay scale doing hand sewing, so he asked him to teach him the skills.

In the two decades since that time he has worked for a half dozen companies in the Twin Cities.