Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 1, Ed. 1 Monday, October 17, 1983 Page: 1 of 24
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16 PAGES IN 1 SECTION
MONDAY
EDITION
Vol. 19 No. 1
October 17, 1983
MICROFILM CENTER
PO 1CK 45436
EALLAS tx 75245
25*
For Mail Delivery
295-0486
■ I
■ , . a
*1*
Up On A Roof
Silhouetted against the afternoon sun. David Bleeker launches Into his task, sweep-
ing a chimney flue. Yes. shaking hands with a sweep is good luck.
Photo hy Terry M. Etant
Making it safe for Santa
By TERRY M. EVANS
Since long before they were immor-
talized in song and dance by the movie
Mary Poppin*, chimneysweeps have
been among the most recognizable of
professionals. The felt hat and jacket
with tails they wear set them apart and
raise them above, literally, the dirty
jobs they do. They are real people with
an undeniably beneficial service, but
the mystique that surrounds them links
them with other good luck symbols and
makes them almost fairy tale charac-
ters.
But, there are no chimney fires in
fairy tales. The blazes and even explo-
sions that can, and often do, result from
the buildup of creosote in a chimney or
stove pipe are altogether too real. Only
a sweep, whether a hired professional
or a homeowner who becomes one
temporarily, can prevent the catas-
trophe.
Fear not, fireplace owners, Burleson
has a chimneysweep in it. David Bleek-
er trained for a year before beginning
his career as a sweep. He started the
business, Lone Star Chimney Cleaning,
last November as winter work when his
other business, Burleson Pest Control,
began its seasonal subsiding. He stud-
ied under a certified sweep in Tulsa,
Okla., and will soon test for his own
certification.
Certification is not required of
sweeps in the United States, but Bleek-
er said there is a growing movement
through the National Chimney Sweep
Guild to establish such a program.
“In Germany, the system is set up
where a person starts as an apprentice
to a master sweep and works under
him for 10 years,” Bleeker said. “Once
he has become a master, the sweep
must either find a district without a
master sweep or wait until his old
master either retires or dies.”
BLEEKER SAID the German gov-
ernment requires every chimney to be
swept twice a year. “The master has a
schedule In his district,” he said.
“There is no announcement of the
sweep’s visit, nor does the resident
have to call for the service. The sweep
just shows up, cleans the chimney, and
bills the owner.”
In addition to having no choice in the
matter, the resident must also provide
either a ladder or a door to the roof and
a platform far the sweep to stand on,
Bleeker said. “Because of the way their
dangerous a chimney fire can be to the
community,” Bleeker said. “The
sweeps, therefore, are highly respected
members of the community.”
The danger, though not on the scale in
the south as it is in the northern United
States or in northern Europe, is no less
a factor for individual houses, with
fireplaces or wood-burning stoVes.
“People in this area should have their
chimneys or stove pipes cleaned once
each year, or twice if they burn a lot of
wood,” Bleeker said. “With hard wood,
the chimney should be swept after each
cord. If the person burns soft wood, or if
they use a stove that burr* the wood
slowly, the creosote can build up much
faster.”
BLEEKER SAID people can check
their own chimneys to see if sweeping is
necessary. “Soot is the first stage of the
creosote buildup, ” he said. ‘ ‘The second
stage is black puffy stuff that looks
like charcoal. Then there is a point
where the buildup will have a white,
ashey surface. If it looks like that, they
have already had a small chimney fire
and the time for cleaning is already
past due. They are in a very dangerous
situation. A black, shiny glaze is ex-
tremely serious and will probably re-
sult in a fire that could level the house. ”
Bleeker said that chimney fires did
over $2 million damage in Tulsa in 1980.
“We need a system like Germany’s
because more and more people are
burning wood,” he said. “The people
down south don’t think sweeping is that
important. You find much better ac-
ceptance from people who move here
from the north’ because they are more
used to wood and coal burning.”
He charges as much for one job,
Bleeker said, as a German sweep will
make in a day of cleaning chimneys.
But, while that sweep might do several
chimneys in a day, Bleeker considers it
a busy one if he gets several jobs in one
week. “I charge $45 to $50 depending on
how dirty the chimney is and how long
it takes,” he said. “Some sweeps will
use a vaccuum and hood at the fire-
place to suck the soot down as it is
swept off. I prefer to use a blower that
sends a 275 mph wind up the chimney to
carry everything outside.”
Bleeker said homeowners can do
their own sweeping, but if they don’t
have the right tools and the knack, they
can make the job a miserable and
ineffective effort. “People can do their
Trustees mull
tougher policies
Trustees discussed—but apparently
have no plans to take any immediate
action— policy shifts which would
tighten requirements for participating
in extracurricular activities. Increas-
ing the minimum passing grade from 65
to 70 was also mentioned as a future
possibility at the October meeting of
Burleson ISD Trustees.
Since the proliferation of blue ribbon,
blue chip, and blue collar committees
have been formed nationwide, includ-
ing in Texas, the trend—according to
Burleson School Superintendent Gor-
don Cockerham—has been for school
boards to jump on the band wagon and
consider sweeping changes in cur-
riculum or policy.
He recommended against such action
in Burleson, however.
“1 hate to act too quickly because
under those circumstances we some-
times overreact,” he told the board.
HE SAID THAT before the school
board made any decisions on policy
changes, he would prefer to hear
recommendations and suggestions
from the administrative staff, teachers,
and parents.
“Extra curriculum activities keep
some youngsters interested enough to
keep trying (in school) when otherwise
they might drop out,” he said. “These
students may not make the best of
grades, but they hang in there because
they excel in the extracurricular field.
If these activities were strictly to
reward academic excellance, then
there would be fewer involved and
We’re going to lose some of our
students.”
sentiment on the board seemed to
favor of upping the minimum
passing grade to 70 and to require that a
student be passing every course to par-
ticipate in extracurricular activities
(cheerleading, band, drill team,
athletics, etc ).
That brought a response from Band
Director Richard Crummel who told
the board that he preferred a minimum
average grade for participation in ex-
tra activities. He said that the sug-
gested policy would not affect many of
his students, but that in some cases an
otherwise good student could chance
upon a subject in which he was com-
pletely uncompatible.
ANOTHER SUGGESTION from the
board was to eliminate athletic com-
petition on the seventh grade level.
“We need to give these students a
chance to adjust at the middle school
level first,” Charleen Wallace said.
Assistant Superintendent A.A.
“Nick” Kerr cautioned, however, that
“if we drop it, the peewee’s will pick it
up and we'll lose all control over it.”
Board members also discussed, but
took no action, on a request from the
Tarrant County Mental Health/Mental
Retardation center for use of a portion
of the school's future elementary site at
the east end of Alsbury Road. Current-
ly, the Tarrant County organization is
helping fund a Burleson center utilizing
facilities at St. Ann Catholic Church.
That location is being utilized to its
capacity, however, Wayne Tatum told
the board, and another site needs to be
found in the Tarrant County portion of
the city to continue receiving
assistance from that county.
A PERMANENT BUILDING of ap
proximately 3,000-4,000 square feet is
what is planned, he sjaid. He said the
building would be located so ifS'nbt toin-
terfere with school use of the land and
would be of an architectural style Jo
harmonize with the future school
buildings.
Dr. Edith Heil, who heads up the
special education program, told
trustees that the center here benefited
the BISD because formerly some
students had to be sent to Fort Worth
for training that could now be received
locally.
“Within the next few years, more
BISD students are going to need this
type of training. We can point them out
already."
Kerr, who is in charge of transporta
tion for the schools, also noted that bus
ing mileage had been reduced from 135
miles per day to only 25 miles per day
since the center had been in operation
here.
The board was unclear on the legal
aspects of allowing the center to locate
on school property and an opinion from
an attorney will be sought before any
decision is made
IN OTHER ACTION, the board:
—Changed the date of the November
meeting from Nov. 14 to Nov. 10. Ballots
for the Johnson County Tax Appraisal
District Board of Directors have to be
in Cleburne by Nov 14, Cockerham ex-
plained.
— Accepted the resignation of
Marianne Snell, currently on leave of
absence from her special education
position at J.W Norwood Elementary.
—Approved revisions m the substi
tute teacher list.
—Nominated Stacy Calvin and Jerry
Boone as candidates for the JAD Board.
Both are from Burleson and currently
serve on the board Both can also be re-
elected by pooling votes with the City of
Bwfewen.'itlie 'AJwsrfiflfc-lS&v Jdshua<
ISD, and Venus ISD, Cockerham said.
—Accepted monthly reports from the
tax office and the business office
Secret by necessity
houses and buildings are so extremely own chimneys if they get the proper
close to each other and the fact that just flue brushes," he said. “Most flues
about every house' has at least one made now are square and require a
chimney, they learned long ago how square brush. If they want to avoid the
expense of the extension rods, they can
tie ropes to either side of the brush and
ha ve a person on the roof and another in
the fireplace to pull it back and forth.
“THEY WILL also need a standard
wire brush to clean the smoke shelf or
chamber just above the damper. If the
flue is not glazed with creosote, a sweep
can get 90 percent of it off. If it is
glazed, the only choice the owner has is
to reline it or have the chimney
rebuilt.”
Bleeker said he will tell a howeowner
immediately if he discovers the flue is
glazed and recommend that the fire-
place or stove not be used until the
situation is corrected. “The glaze is a
black shiny surface that looks like tar,”
he said. “I cleaned a chimney that had
a wood-burning stove piped into it. They
had burned so much wood in the stove
that the entire flue was glazed. I had
already cleaned the fireplace and stove
pipe for two hours before I discovered
the glaze in the flue. I had to tell the
owners not to use either the, fireplace or
the stove until they had the flue taken
care of. I don’t know what happened
after that, but I wouldn’t want to be
around when they use it the next time if
they haven’t either relined the flue or
replaced the chimney altogether.”
According to a pamphlet Bleeker
likes to refer to about chimney fires,
once creosote is kindled, it burns with
“joyous abandon.” “In a matter of
seconds the fire spreads up through the
flue creating a draft that only helps
things along.
“AT THIS POINT your average
chimney fire begins to roar and howl,
sounding for all the world like a rocket
taking off in your living room. As the
creosote burns, it actually peels and
curls off the inside of the chimney. The
blazing creosote then drips into the flue
forming red-hot fire balls that are
whisked up in a tremendous up draft.
Like a giant roman candle, it shoots
molten balls of fire out the chimney and
onto the roof. If you’re lucky, the
chimney will fall apart destroying one
end of the building. If you’re not, this
miniature volcano can bring the whole
house down.”
A chimney fire can be controlled, the
pamphlet continues. “Call the fire de-
partment. Put out the fire in the fire-
place with an extinguisher or sand.
Cover the opening with a wet blanket
and hope for the best. But, it should be
pointed out that having your chimney
cleaned is a lot easier on the nerves
than the sand and wet blanket method.”
As a security measure, Roast Com-
mittee Chairman James Moody has
issued an edict banning the public from
the rehearsals of the Third Annual
Roast of the Burleson Area Chamber of
Commerce.
“It’s for the security of having any
kind of audience at all for the actual
show,” he said. “We’re so bad that
nobody in their right mind would pay
ten bucks to see the roast once they've
been subjected to 10 minutes of one of
our rehearsals.”
He’s even thinking of extending the
ban to include the press. “That would
exclude me from the rehearsals and
whata blessing that would be,” he said.
Tickets for the annual event are now
on sale at the new chamber office on
Highway 174 (next to the BISD Admin-
istration Building) and at the Burlenon
Star. Moody urged area residents to
purchase their tickets early.
“IF WE HAVE ENOUGH pre-sale of
tickets, we might just take the money
and run,” he said. “Believe me, you’d
thank us for that if you knew what lie in
store for you if we actually go through
with this thing,” he said.
The roast is scheduled for Nov. 3 at
the SPJST Lodge on south 1-35. Doors
open at 6:30; dinner is served at 7:00
and those who are smart will eat and
run before the show begins at 8:00.
Before the show, during the show,
and at intermission, cold drinks and
setups can be ordered from the gals
from LoS Charros and Pizza Inn or can
be purchased back at the snack bar.
Ice chests are also permitted.
Cast members will be revealed later,
pending the results at a court ruling.
They’ve filed a class action suit which
would prevent their identity from being
revealed. Roast Committee members
John Daniels, Carole Nitsche, Les Sells,
Jerry Brown, Cliff Lopez, Les Todd,
and Cherry Richardson will not be
namedeither, in accordance with their
wishes. Like the cast, they do not want
to be publicly associated with this show.
“IE NOTHING ELSE, everyone
should come just to hear the band,
though,” said Moody, who Lakes great
pride in the musical accomplishments
of the chamber orchestra lie also'^
organized the group and plays guitar in
the Chamber of Horrors Band Other
members of the group—none of whom
are any worse than they were last year,
he promises—are Richard Crummel on
guitar, trumpet, and vocals; Sam
Woodward on drums; Jerry Brown on
bass; and two new members, obviously
unfamiliar with the wretched history of
the band: Terry Evans on rhythm
guitar and vocals; and, by far the
prettiest member of the band, Michelle
Redden on keyboard and vocals
As an incentive for purchasing tickets
early, Moody announced that if 251-
tickets are sold before the end of
October, then Jerry Brown would defi-
nitely _not sing at this year’s roast.
“It’s up to you,” he said “Either buy
your tickets early and just grimace a
little while the band plays or proems
tinate and we’ll make Jerry our fea
tured vocalist."
Remember home show date
Have you remembered to set aside
the evening of Nov. 10? That is the date
the staff of The Burlenon Star will
“Share More of The Good Life at
Homemakers School 1983.”
The Star is anticipating a full house,
so plan to arrive early for the free
entertaining program. Plans have been
made to accommodate 750 at this year’s
program, the fourth annual presenta-
tion of the homemakers cooking school.
The popular event is scheduled for
Thursday, Nov. 10, at J.W. Norwood
Elementary School auditorium and
cafeteria.
All who attend will receive a free
copy of “Come Share More of The Good
Life at Homemakers School 1983”
cookbook, plus many other coupons,
brochures, and samples. Numerous
door prizes will also be awarded. The
program has no admission fee, but
those attending must have tickets so
that adequate seating space can be
assured. Tickets will be available on
Nov. 7 through participating merchants
only. A listing of the merchants to be
distributing the free tickets will appear
in a special section of The Star to be
published on that date.
DOORS WILL OPEN at 6 p.m. when a
Mini-Home Show will begin with
business and merchants display fraoths
providing a wide variety of information
of interest to visitors. Beginning at 7
p.m., Dawn Smith, Homemakers
School Home Economist, will be
demonstrating many cooking ideas us-
See School, Page 15
Cooking Up Cooking School Plans
Burleton Star owner Sue Hutson and Publisher Chuck Hutson disi nssvU seating
arrangements last week with Norwood Elementary principal Judy Hajek (far
right). Plans for the fourth annual Homemakers Cooking SchooLare now being
finalised. The stage of the auditorium will be the setting for Dawn Smith's two and
one half hour cooking demonstration Nov. 10, a popular annual event sponsored by
TJ>« Hurl,.non Star and oarticinatinE area merchants.
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Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 1, Ed. 1 Monday, October 17, 1983, newspaper, October 17, 1983; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth761538/m1/1/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.