Where Have Your Aurora Shoes Taken YOU?

San Francisco, CA

Sara, a Wells alum and long time Aurora Shoe wearer writes:

"Here's a recent picture of my Aurora Shoes in San Francisco- that's the Bay Bridge.  These shoes have been to Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Bahamas, St. Maarten, St. John and probably a couple of other places I've forgotten.

I bought my Aurora shoes in 1994 before heading to Spain for a Wells semester abroad the spring of my sophomore year. They are size 5.5 EEE with custom straps because the tops of my feet are really tall. I've only had them resoled once in those 16 years".

Sara Floor Miller, Wells Class of 1997, current resident of Sacramento, CA

Thanks for sharing, Sara - those are some very well traveled shoes!  Where have YOUR Auroras taken YOU? 

Shoe Spotting in Japan

Dave has been on exchange in Japan since the end of March.  He hasn't had many opportunities to email, but has found the time to share some photos of his journey. 

As you may know, Aurora Shoes have become very popular in Japan.  We all wondered if he'd spot many while there.  If these photos are any indication, they're not very hard to find.  

It's customary to remove one's shoes before entering a temple or a home in Japan.  Lucky for Dave, this eliminates the need for awkward translations such as, "Would it be OK to photograph your feet?"

We're guessing this is Dave's own foot with the Hello Kitty sidewalk tile.

Meet Bill

As we near the end of our Meet the Staff series, we'd like to introduce you to a member of the original 3 person crew.  Bill came into this business at the very beginning and has been with us ever since.  He's a guy of many talents (not just around here, as you'll see below) and a person whom the Aurora Shoe Company definitely wouldn't be the same without.

Bill grew up on a farm in Aurora and has lived in this area his whole life.  In addition to his nearly 20 years at Aurora Shoe, Bill is also known around these parts as a honeybee keeper, a steam powered sawmill operator (built with his dad back in 1973), a squire for Paragon Jousting and most notably, as a driver of the Wells College owned Wells Fargo Stagecoach.  

Bill, his dad and their horses have been pulling the Wells stagecoach since the late 1960s

 Take it from Bill, nothing looks better with a tux than a well polished pair of Middle English shoes!

It's safe to say that Bill is a man of varied interests and abilities.  Around the shop he can be seen performing and enjoying all but a few of the nearly 50 steps that go into producing a single pair of Aurora Shoes.  He's especially skilled at the difficult task of attaching the soles and estimates that he's done about 200,000 pairs.  

When asked what he likes most about Aurora Shoes, Bill cited the difficulty he'd had finding shoes to fit his 11 and 1/2 EEEE (SUPER wide) sized feet.  It was a joy and a relief when Bill found that the leather in our 11 and a 1/2 D width shoes stretched beautifully to comfortably accommodate his hard to fit feet.

With so many other talents and hobbies, we feel lucky to have had Bill around for all these years.  What do you think, Bill - are you up for 20 more?

Check back next week to meet the staff member who founded the Aurora Shoe Company!