Breaking News
Local News

Wellsville resident finds calling in broom making

By Kristi R. Garabrandt 5 min read

WELLSVILLE -- Ron DuMoulin, also known as The Village Broom Maker, discovered his passion for the craft of broom making after stopping into a craft shop while on one of his many trips to the Smokey Mountains.

In either 2008 or 2010, he doesn't recall the exact year, he stepped into a craft shop in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where there was a man working on making brooms. DuMoulin found this interesting and asked the crafter if he could sit and watch him work for a while.

The broom maker said sure, so DuMoulin talked with the crafter for a bit and told him he would really like to learn how to make brooms.

"I didn't even know why, it just kind of sparked something in me," DuMoulin said of his desire to suddenly learn the craft. "It just caught my eye for some reason. I'm not sure why."

DuMoulin returned home to Wellsville after that trip and placed a call to a supplier in Texas and ordered broom corn and other supplies he would need to get started and then just started experimenting in his garage until he taught himself how to make brooms.

"There's a lot to learn and I don't know if I do it the right way because I have never been shown," DuMoulin said. "I just do it the way I do it. It's so much fun for me, to other people its work."

DuMoulin has the process down so that once all the processed materials are gathered and his workstation is set up, he can assemble a kitchen broom in 10 to 20 minutes.

According to DuMoulin, making brooms involves a little bit of everything from sewing to woodworking.

DuMoulin now sells his brooms at craft shows and festivals around Ohio, but when he first started out, to make sure he had a good product he would make them and give them away to his friends to get feedback on them.

"I was paranoid about selling at first. I wasn't sure my product was good enough," DuMoulin said. "After a few years since go I to the Smokies a lot, I would take my brooms down there to the broom makers there and ask them if they thought they were good."

Once he was satisfied that he was crafting a good product, then he started to sell.

What started out as just brooms he has expanded into a variety of brooms such as whisk brooms, kitchen brooms, cobweb broom, camper brooms and witches' brooms. He also makes canes, walking sticks and dustpans.

DuMoulin drives 1,200 miles round trip to Sevierville, Tennessee, to buy the wood for brooms handles.

The wood for his canes, which are sticks that are used for drying tobacco leaves on, also comes from the south.

DuMoulin spends his winters in Florida and while there spends his time getting the wood ready for broom handles, canes and walking sticks. He burns designs into the wood he uses for the canes and walking sticks using high voltage electricity.

To assemble the brooms, he uses a broom machine or a kick winder which he made to wrap the stalks of broom corn he has processed around the handles, and then has to sew them to bind them together.

According to DuMoulin, broom corn has been around since the 1700s. It was brought to the United States by Ben Franklin who received some as a gift while he was visiting France. Franklin brought the broom corn back to the U.S. and planted it.

DuMoulin believes in making his brooms to last even if it means he doesn't get repeat customers.

The broom he made for his wife was made 12 years ago and she is still using it.

One of the secrets to corn brooms DuMoulin said is hanging them up to make them last which is why he puts a leather strap on each one he makes.

"Making them to last is bad for business," DuMoulin said. "But, I would rather make something good that last than make a cheap discount style broom. I would rather have it right even if it means not getting repeat customers."

DuMoulin, when asked what he liked best about broom making said he likes the creating part best and people coming back to him to tell him how nice their broom is or how well they like it. He also said it's fun and he has meet a lot of good people doing it.

"I'm never going to get rich doing this, but I'm rich in other ways," DuMoulin said. "I have grandchildren, so I'm as rich as I can be."

DuMoulin only sells his products at festivals and craft shows in and around Ohio. He can be found at Steubenville's First Fridays, The Great Trail Festival in Malvern and at the Christmas in July Festival at Janoski's in Clinton, Pennsylvania, July 22-23.

For additional information on DuMoulin's broom making or to find shows and festival where he is scheduled, check out his Facebook group The Village Broom Maker.

Starting at /week.