The Rosfeld Men of ValentineThis father and son duo go together like two feet in a pair of boots. Story by Kristen Friesen |
 |
 |
|
Video: |
|
ON NORTH CHERRY STREET IN VALENTINE, Sandhills Boot Company is one of a handful of authentic custom boot-makers nationwide. It is little more than a humble bungalow, still dependent on a wood stove to keep warm, but it’s a short walk for Kyle Rosfeld, who lives just next door in what was once a boarding house. His wife, Missy, and their four children – Ivan, Margaret, Ethan and Elizabeth – drop in often, as if the tiny workshop is merely an extension of the family’s living quarters.
Plenty big enough for his workshop, the little house doubles as a fishing shack when Kyle’s brother is in town. Sure enough, a fishing pole dangles from a fluorescent light fixture.
If the sight of Kyle’s handlebar mustache, hand-sewn leather vest and cotton shirt doesn’t take you back a century, his sewing machine will. “It’s more experienced than I am,” he says of the antique Singer from 1896. He bought the machine, a room full of equipment and a thick book (Western Boot-making: An American Tradition) from a rancher he met at a local branding.
Though Kyle grew up in Valentine, he always knew that operating his own ranch was out of reach. Ranches usually stay in families, and Kyle’s dad, Otto, was a music teacher. When a cattle brand inspector – a man with enormous bunions – commissioned Kyle to make him a pair of boots and the boots fit perfectly, Kyle knew he’d found his calling.