Vignettes of Vermont Local characters through the eyes of College students

Author: Rodrigo Seira

It was a sunny Vermont weekend when I decided to take a walk into town­ - camera in hand - to snap a few pictures of Middlebury before the snow flies. As I walked past Leatherworks, the unique store of a professional leather craftsman, the methodically arranged window display immediately caught my attention.

Anyone who has ever set foot in Dan Freeman's Leatherworks will tell you that it is an extraordinary place. Although the store is covered from top to bottom with old shoe casts, tools and other mysterious objects, a definite beauty emerges from the clutter. One would be hard-pressed to find a couple bare inches of wall, yet its meticulous organization and fascinating content make it welcoming and intriguing.

"I honestly can't understand how you guys do it. How can you wear those mass produced things?" Freeman said after I inquired into his line of work. After hearing him point out all the possible deficiencies of my Converse All-Stars, I defiantly asked to see what he was wearing. Part of me was actually interested, but I'll confess that I wanted to catch him wearing green crocs and triumphantly uncover his hypocrisy. However, when Freeman emerged from behind the work desk he showed off what he described as "an eight-year-old pair of work boots," made by him, of course.

While it would be questionable for anyone to call Middlebury a fashion hotbed, as far as appearances, Freeman's shoes can hold their own with the most expensive Italian designer. An untrained eye could mistake Freeman's shoes for a pair just off the assembly line of a factory in Milan - their precise cut and clean finish suggest the work of a machine. However, the shoes are the product by something more precious - hand labor and the decades-long perfection of a craft.

Freeman's interest in leather craft began more than 30 years ago. After returning from Vietnam and dropping out of Duke University, he started working at a "hippie sandal shop making fringed vests, yellow suede miniskirts and leather bikinis." What started as a juvenile hobby quickly turned into a lifelong career. Freeman moved to Vermont and ran a sandal business for six years. After hearing of a Jamaican-American shoe craftsman living in New Orleans, Freeman jumped at the opportunity to fine-tune his craft and traveled south.

The shoemaker's offer was, "You can work for me as long as you want. I will teach you all that I know and won't even charge you a penny." So, Freeman spent the next three years as an unpaid apprentice while his wife supported the family by teaching.

Having learned the basics of shoemaking, Freeman settled in Middlebury, where he continues to practice his leather craft today. Once a hippie sandal maker, Freeman is now a world-renowned shoemaker passionate about his art and dedicated to perfecting it. When asked about the future of his trade, Freeman seems undaunted.

"The entire time I have been involved in shoemaking people have told me that the trade is now dead. The materials are no longer available. People will be wearing all plastic shoes within a year. I've been hearing that for the last 30 years."

In a world were shoes are assembled in different continents and shipped to every corner of the globe at decreasing prices, a world where 98.5 percent of the shoes worn by Americans are made in another country, Dan Freeman continues to do what he loves while quietly defying the forces of globalization and industrialization. If you ever find yourself in downtown Middlebury with some time to spare, even if you're not in the market for $2,000 boots, a quick trip to Dan's Leatherworks might just make you rethink your next pair of Converse All-Stars.