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Hutton Road in Oakfield has a lot of sole

By Traci Turner

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It's fairly common to see a pair of sneakers dangling over a power line but not every day do you come across shoes nailed to utility poles. If you travel down Hutton Road in Oakfield, you will find one woman's shoe attached to every utility pole between Maple Avenue and Route 63. The shoes were nailed up about a couple weeks ago. After talking with officials from the Town of Oakfield and employees from the U.S. Gypsum Oakfield Plant, no one knows who nailed them up or the meaning, if any, behind it.

A similar phenomenon, the Shoe Tree, exists in the Town of Yates. Hundreds of shoes are nailed to four ash trees at the corner of Foss and Lakeshore roads. It's one of Orleans County's main attractions. The shoe craze began after a man threw his girlfriend's old shoes into the trees. The man started a trend and locals have been adding to the collection ever since.

Whether someone was cleaning out their closet or trying to start a trend in Oakfield remains a mystery.

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Pamela Klotzbach

I knew something was afoot when I saw the shoes at the west end of Galloway and along Maple St Rd. Quite an expense, all that footwear! I'm looking for size 8. See any?

Jul 23, 2015, 7:06am Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

Anna Dello Russo said, "I can be naked as long as I'm wearing the right pair of shoes."

Sounds to me like some hubby on Hutton Road came up with a way to say, "Enough with the muff in the rough. I've GOTTA go to work!"

Jul 23, 2015, 11:06am Permalink
George Richardson

Some heel with a loose tongue laced the Kool Aid and his wife with one leg took a trip without ever leaving Oakfield. This is a call to legs, cover the poles with more soles, eventually someone will arrest you.

Jul 23, 2015, 1:50pm Permalink

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