Thursday, November 5th, 2009 3:19 pm
JR Clifton won Roy's Shoes Okanagan Big Foot contest for his size 19.5 shoes.
By Kathy Michaels
They’re not quite as delicate as Cinderella’s glass slippers, but for 21-year-old JR Clifton, the pair of shoes he won this afternoon is just as rare as that fabled footwear.
The six-foot-10 Keremeos rancher can’t remember the last time he’s been able to squeeze his foot into anything other than a sneaker that accommodates athlete-sized tootsies. So when Roy’s Shoes held a competition to find the Okanagan’s Big Foot, he stepped his size 19.5 into the ring.
And, by a full shoe size, he walked away the victor.
“I usually wear a size 20 New Balance shoe, but I am always on the lookout for something different,” he said.
He looks, but rarely finds a thing. Not work boots, which would come in handy for working on a ranch, or shoes that would be appropriate for a night out on the town.
“I can’t walk into a store and buy shoes — they don’t sell anything above a Size 13,” he said, noting the least he can spend on a pair of shoes is about $200. “I do lots of searching on the Internet.”
Clifton’s enormous feet have won him the grand prize of a custom pair of shoes made by Jim Belshaw, owner of Roy’s Shoes, worth $1,000 — though Belshaw said if they cost a bit more than that, he’ll throw in the rest.
It’s worth it for the amount of attention the competition garnered.
Around 60 curious Okanaganites headed into the shop to check out the Big Foot competition to see how their feet stacked up against the competition, oftentimes opting to simply walk away.
What surprised Belshaw the most, however, was how many big-footed women live in the valley and how that’s going to change the way the business brings in product.
“We have started already to bring in larger footwear sizing (for women),” he said, adding that in the ladies category of the competition, teenager Ashley Pohl won $200 for her size 14.5 feet.
Other category winners were Braxton Bunce, who came in first in the sports category for his 16.5 feet. Columnist David Crawford won in the celebrity category for size 15 feet Brett Vanderhoek took home the Civil Servant category for his size 15.5 feet and Cal Manky won in the business professional category for size 15.25 feet. Last but not least is Tyler Harcus in the general public category for size 18.5 feet.
More details about Roy’s is available at http://kelownacustomshoes.blogspot.com/
Jim Belshaw
Roy’s Shoes Boots and Repair
1627 Ellis Street, Kelowna, V1Y2A8
250-763-5696
roysshoes@shaw.ca
http://www.roysshoes.com/
http://www.soles4soulscanada.com/
