By Ralph Nichols
Don Memro is used to sticking his hands into warm, dark, smelly places.
As a chimney sweep, he should be.
Memro doesn't just clean chimneys, however, but leaves his customers with a touch of old England, where chimney sweeping got its start.
Donned in coal black top hat and tails, Memro cleans chimneys in traditional garb while, as the poem that he often leaves behind says, “helping to make people's days.”
“It's rather nice to know that someone gets pleasure from seeing you on a roof dressed like this,” Memro said. “One thing I like about chimney sweeping is the people I meet and it beats sitting behind a desk, which I'm not fond of.”
Memro has swept, brushed, dusted and vacuumed chimneys for three-and-a-half years. When he and his wife, Liz, decided to buy a chimney sweeping business, they decided to try it for five years. So far, it has worked out.
“It's a lot harder and dirtier work than most people think. I think the major reason most people give up on it is that the money doesn't come too quick at first. They get discouraged too easily.”
The idea for Memro's business came from an article in “Mother Earth News.” After investing $2,000 in a truck and equipment and doing a lot of research, Memro started the business.
“Liz and I wanted to own our own business and there was nothing else that we could afford. About a year-and-a-half earlier we both became born again Christians. We felt that God was leading us in this direction and we didn't argue.
“I read everything I could on chimney sweeping. I called up about 20 friends who had fireplaces and asked if they would let me come over and clean them.
Memro's faith in God prompted the name for the business, “God's Country Chimney Sweeps.”
One reason Memro has been able to make a go of his business is that it isn't his primary source of income. It's a second job. The second reason is that he is one of only a couple steady sweeps in the area.
Memro delivers bread five days a week and cleans chimneys on his days off. During fall, the sweep's peak season, Memro could work on chimneys every day and is usually booked a week or two in advance.
There isn't enough work year-round in the Carson City area for Memro to depend on chimney sweeping for a living.
“It's a good second job,” he said.
For now, Memro is satisfied with a job that makes him a standout on any roof in town.
“It's exciting,” he said. “There's a thrill in standing up on a flue, guarding against losing my balance and knowing that I'll die if I do. Every fireplace is a different challenge.”
Liz Memro also has her challenges being married to a chimney sweep.
“He comes home tired and sore and that's when I go to work,” Liz Memro said. “I know how much it means to him so I don't complain.”
Besides the danger, chimney sweeping is physically hard work.
Memro's worst accident was falling off a ladder onto a white picket fence. After resting for a half hour he was back to work.
Aside from being willing to work in bad weather, there are only a few other job requirements Memro would recommend to anyone wanting to be a chimney sweep.
“He must possess a good sense of balance and not be afraid of heights,” Memro said. “Pride in the job is important for the simple reason that if a sweep doesn't do a good job he won't work for very long.”
And there are also advantages in owning a black top hat and tails.
“My outfit was borrowed once to costume Abe Lincoln for some school thing.”
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