Mike Fearon, an Optician by trade, started sharpening skates in 1992 at his business “Prestige Eyewear.” He was the president of the Garden City Figure Skating Club at that time, and knew there was a need for a skilled skate technician to provide services for competitive figure skaters. Mike's wife, Opal, thought his years of very precise work, cutting and fitting prescription eyeglass lenses into properly fitting frames, prepared him well for the exacting task of precisely sharpening skate blades.  After some encouragement, Mike purchased a sharpener.

The sharpener came and sat in the box for a few months.  February rolled around and Mike was at a loss as to what to get his wife for her birthday. When asked, Opal said she wanted him to unpack that sharpener and get to work on it.

After unpacking the sharpener and attempting to read the manual, Mike was a tad bit overwhelmed.  That's when he contacted the amazing Sid Broadbent, inventor of the sharpening unit. A trip to Colorado to receive hands on training from Sid was arranged.  Mike learned that Sid Broadbent, an aerospace engineer, had done substantial research on skate blades and sharpening for the United States Figure Skating Association and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Sid applied his considerable engineering skills to developing a state of the art sharpening machine and customized data for providing perfect edges for each skater's preference. The knowledge and skills Sid shared, and considerable practice, enabled Mike to offer a superior sharpening service, from day one, to his customers.

After building a large customer base for sharpening services, Mike was frequently asked for advice on where to go to be properly fitted for skates. Not having a shop he had confidence in to do this correctly, Mike went about acquiring the skills necessary to provide this service.

The skaters Mike was taking care of had several different brands of skating boots. One of the best constructed and attractive was the “Klingbeil” bootline. Mike contacted Don and his father Bill Klingbeil in New York and inquired about becoming a dealer. Don indicated they did not, at that time, have a reliable dealer in the state of Michigan. Soon after that conversation, Mike traveled to New York and was personally trained by Bill Klingbeil on how to measure and fit the Klingbeil skating boot. At the time, only custom boots were offered; a line of stock boots was added a few years later.

Mike received his training in fitting Harlick boots directly from Phil Kuhn-owner and president of the company. Similar instruction was provided by experts at Jackson and Gam on the correct way to measure and fit those products.

So many things have been learned, discovered, and invented since the start of Mike's fitting career. One constant is Mike has always made sure he was confident and comfortable in his ability to offer a professional and knowledgeable service to his customers