2005 Grand Silver Cup Winner Charles Bolinger,
Chuck's Shoe Repair & Comfort Center, Fort
Wayne, Ind. |
Charles Bolinger
of Chuck's Shoe Repair & Comfort Center in Fort
Wayne, Ind. was honored by his peers and awarded
the Grand Silver by the Shoe Service Institute
of America. The presentation was made at the
101st Annual Convention in Kansas City.
This year's
contest featured entries in
three different categories. Bolinger's work
was judged best and worthy of the shoe repair
industry's most prestigious award.
Bolinger is a
second generation shoe repairman who loves what
he does. He started working in is father's shop
at 11-years-old and has been in the business
full time since he was 20.
"Repairing shoes
is my first love," he says.
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Bolinger received
numerous awards for craftsmanship in years past,
and was also named SSIA's 2004
Retailer of the
Year.
Since 1938, SSIA has been recognizing excellence
in shoe repair craftsmanship and retailing with
its Silver Cup Awards program. The most coveted
award in the contest is the Grand Silver Cup –
awarded to the craftsman whose work is judged
best in the contest each year. Once a craftsman
has won the Grand Silver Cup, he is judged as
having achieved the top level of excellence and
does not enter the again.
Bolinger was chosen for recognition on the basis
of his workmanship. To enter the contest, he
submitted a pair of men’s shoes and a pair of
ladies’ shoes. One shoe from each pair was
repaired with a new sole and heel. The repaired
shoes were then refinished to look like new.
“One of the principal benefits of shoe repair is
that consumers can have their shoes repaired to
look like new, but for a fraction of the cost of
new shoes,” says SSIA President John McLoughlin.
“The purpose of the Silver Cup Contest is to
recognize craftsmen such as Charles Bolinger who
maximize that benefit and set the standards for
our industry.”
McLoughlin continued to say that the benefits
shoe repair offers go well beyond the cost
savings. There is the environmental benefit of
the millions of pairs of shoes that do not end
up in land fills each year. There are the
physical benefits that a well maintained, high
quality pair of shoes brings. Finally, there are
the medical benefits of shoe repair offered by
shops that specialize in orthopedic work.
“All of these benefits start with superior
craftsmanship,” he says. “That is why craftsmen
such as Charles Bolinger are so important.”
Judging for the contest took place in July at
the Kansas City site of SSIA's 101st Annual
Convention. Master craftsmen with decades of
shoe repair experience served as judges. The
judges compared the repaired shoes to their
unrepaired mates and evaluated the entries based
on how well Bolinger had restored them to their
original, factory condition.
Bolinger received his award from contest sponsor
Gary Edwards of Sure Foot Corporation at the
group’s convention in July.
The Silver Cup Contest, an international
competition dedicated to excellence in shoe
repairing, is sponsored by the
Shoe Service
Institute of America.
2005 Silver
Cup Award Recipients
Grand Silver Cup
Charles Bolinger
Chuck's Shoe
Repair & Comfort Center
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Men's Full Sole & Heel
First Place
Javier Melgoza
Oakdale Shoe
Repair
Oakdale, Calif.
Second Place
Gino Gentile
Anthony's Shoe
Service
San Francisco,
Calif.
Men's Half Sole & Heel
First Place
Gino Gentile
Anthony's Shoe
Service
San Francisco,
Calif.
Second Place
Javier Melgoza
Oakdale Shoe
Repair
Oakdale, Calif.
Ladies Half Sole & Heel
First Place
Javier Melgoza
Oakdale Shoe
Repair
Oakdale, Calif.
Second Place
Kenneth R. Simmons
Reuter's Shoe
Service
Topeka, Kan. |
