(July 2006) - Features Doug Ables of Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweeps.

(October 2009) - Ables, who grew up in Brady, owns and runs Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweeps. He has been sweeping chimneys in Central Texas for almost thirty years. When I was 28, my wife and I moved into a house in Brady, and I started looking for someone who could sweep our chimney. We had just moved from Kerrville, where I’d been working at a radio station, so that I could work with my dad as a housepainter. I’d had some health problems, so I’d decided to get out of radio and live near family. As I asked around about chimney cleaning, no one had any idea. But everyone I talked to said, “If you find a chimney sweep, let me know.” Suddenly I said, “Wait a minute. Is this my next career?”