Meet The Digging Dudes
Will
Name: Willy
Nickname: The Voice
Languages: English/French
Hometown: Aylmer Quebec
Detecting years: 4
Machines: Nokta Simplex, Nokta Legend
Go to machine: Nokta Legend
Shovel: Root Slayer
Favourite terrain: Soy Field by an old homesite
Favourite find: 1919 WW1 Medal (reunited with family)
2024 bucket lister: 1800’s US Silver
Will, AKA “The Voice”. Will grew up in the Ottawa Valley and spent his summers going from Aylmer Quebec all the way to his great grandparents homestead up the Ottawa river in Bristol Quebec and surrounding area.
We call Will “The voice” of the group because he spent decades as a songwriter and recording artist under the name Levi Hart. He did well for himself and released 3 full studio albums and even had some radio success.
He’s passionate about everything he does, and has a voice that is easy to listen to. He recently decided to retire from his music career to focus on family, mental health, and other passions, like metal detecting and saving history.
Will has always had a fascination with history and the Ottawa area early settlers. He says “So many great things have happened here in the valley over the years. Every item we find belongs to a story that helped shape the past. There is so much history around here left to save. “
Jeff
Name: Jeff
Nickname: The Historian
Languages: English & French
Hometown: Chelsea QC (6th generation)
Current town: Chelsea QC
Detecting years: This is year 5 as a serious hobby, with many more before digging up nails and garbage.
Machines: Delta Technetics 4000 -> Garrett AT Pro -> XP Deus II
Go to machine: XP Deus II
Shovel: Excalibur Shovels – 34 inch two piece with 7″ x 9″ spade
Favorite terrain: Forest Favorite find: I don’t have specific favorite finds but favorite days or memories instead, which are whenever we can reunite multi-generational landowners with items their ancestors lost.
2024 bucket lister: To save some history and have as many adventures as possible.
Jeff AKA “The Historian” grew up and lives in the Gatineau Hills of Chelsea, where his family first settled in 1841. Growing up he got to explore all of the previous generations homesites, while hearing all of the stories from his grandparents and parents, who were also members of the local historical society. This instilled in him a deep sense of family, community and interest in the first settlers to our area.
His love of metal detecting started at a young age, where a cousin had an old metal detector and they would explore the family property finding what they considered treasure.
Jeff is most comfortable behind the scenes, working on videos, researching finds and our local history in order to find new permissions. Which is how he got his nickname “The Historian” and why the collaboration with the other Dudes is a perfect match.
Aaron
Name: Aaron
Nickname: “Ay-ayron”
Languages: English (and a bit of French)
Hometown: small town Prairies
Current town: Constance e Bay
Detecting years: 1.5
Machines: Nokta Legend
Go-to machine: Nokta Legend
Shovel: Yes. Pointy.
Favourite terrain: Pasture
Favourite find: Dragonslayer
2025 bucket lister: Gold
Aaron AKA “The Newbie” and “Ay-ayron” has just recently discovered the joy of metal detecting. He’s lifelong friends with Jeff and Will who have taken him under their wing in this hobby.
Aaron has lived and travelled all across Canada (coast to coast to coast) and has a deep appreciation for our land and history.
He and his dog, Ebony, love the outdoors so this passion suits them well.
Aaron’s current detector is the Nokta Legend and he’s avidly researching how to unlock the potential of this amazing machine.