The Path We've Chosen: People
A well-worn path is carried not by machinery, but by memory.
In our Well-Worn Paths series, we followed the journey of a shoe. From leather selection to cutting, stitching, handsewing, bottoming, and finishing , tracing how craftsmanship takes shape inside our Lewiston factory.
But shoemaking, at its core, is not a process.
It is people.
Every pair that leaves Lewiston has passed through the hands of individuals whose stories are woven into the company itself. Some are new to the trade. Others carry decades of experience. Many are part of family lines that stretch back to the earliest days of this factory.
Generations at the Bench
Ron Bichard’s family has been connected to this company since the 1960s. His father and three brothers worked for Mike Rancourt’s father. Ron began as a hand sewer, trained directly by the previous generation. Stitch by stitch, he learned not only technique but discipline.
Over time, he expanded his skill set, becoming a pattern engineer and later transitioning to a cutter on the electron auto-cutter. His career reflects something fundamental about this place: growth is earned, and experience is valued. Skills are not confined to a single station. They evolve, just as the company has evolved.
Rick Peltchat represents another generational thread. A second-generation hand sewer, taught by his father who also worked here, Rick’s precision stands apart. The spacing. The tension. The consistency. These are not written in a manual. They are corrected in real time and refined through repetition. That level of craftsmanship takes years to develop and generations to sustain.
The standards you see in our true handsewn moccasins today, from long-standing core styles to limited releases are shaped by this continuity of skill.
The Craft Continues
And then there is Kim.
She joined the company three years ago without ever having worked in a shoe factory. She came to us through Pat Ashman, one of our senior stitchers who recently retired and who happened to be her landlord. Kim arrived with no background in footwear. What she brought was determination.
When given a task in stitching, she embraced it fully. Then she learned another skill. And another. Each time, she approached the work with quiet resolve.
The craft continues because someone new chooses to learn it.
It is not frozen in time. It is alive.
That same willingness to evolve shapes our newest releases. Where traditional construction meets new materials and fresh interpretations.
For Mike Rancourt, this continuity is deeply personal. He often reflects on the decision to join his father in the business, not simply as a career choice, but as a commitment to heritage.
“One of the most important decisions I made was joining my father. The heritage mattered to me more than anything. Learning shoemaking was secondary. What mattered was carrying forward the product, the perspective, and the responsibility to our community. Three generations in the same place in Lewiston, continuing 58 years later — that means everything.”
That belief extends beyond the Rancourt name. Shoemaking has long relied on family-owned networks. Many of the tanneries we work with are family-owned. Many of the sole makers we depend on are family-owned. The people inside these walls often come from families who have done this work before them.
It is a craft sustained not by scale, but by continuity.
Each year, we pause to recognize that continuity. Not as a promotion, but as a reflection on the people who have carried this work forward for more than 58 years.
The Pause Before the Lid Closes
Walk through the factory and you will notice that no one rushes the final inspection. There is always a pause before the lid closes. A final look at the stitching. A last brush across the leather.
That moment reflects accountability.
When your father worked here. When your mentor trained you. When your family has been part of this building for decades, the work becomes personal.
The Path Continues
The Path We’ve Chosen continues here.
Beyond materials. Beyond technique.
It lives in the people who decide, generation after generation, to remain. To invest in craft. To honor what was handed down. And to continue shaping a product that carries their work into the world.
A well-worn path is not built by one person.
It is built by those who stay.