Magnet Heroes
It was a random day. We received the weekly Publisac. It’s usually filled with all the flyers I will soon be throwing into my recycling bin. It also contains the free, weekly, local newspaper, Le Soleil de Chateauguay. I love reading it. I like learning about my community via this old-school medium. On this random day, on the front cover no less, was someone I recognized. I just pointed at the picture and yelled out “It’s Mister Will!” like a 4 year-old. Mister Will works at my son’s old school. He’s the gentle giant type. He was on the front cover with one of his brothers, and they were magnet fishing! I was immediately interested. I reached out to him and we arranged an interview with him and his brothers.
And so, I met the 3 L’Oiseau-Whitebean brothers yesterday. They each came with their own gear, including a grappling hook!! Yes, a real, genuine, grappling hook! It’s what they use to pull up bikes. William has a double-sided magnet, which has a weight capacity of 850 lbs. per side, for a total of 1700 lbs.! Joshua’s has an 880 lbs. capacity magnet and Isaiah’s can pull up to 1200 lbs.
Standing left to right, William, Joshua and Isaiah. Check out the grappling hook in Isaiah’s hand!
As like in everything, it only takes a few who care, who care with all their might, to make a difference. Hopefully, these 3 brothers from Kahnawake, who clean up the Chateauguay river, have inspired you. They have shown me that we all have a part to play on this huge planet. And we can make it important to us AND fun.
We are fortunate enough to get to choose which part we want to play, so make it fun and most importantly of all, be the change we want to see in the world.
Thank you to all my eco-conscious friends out there in the world. Go humans of Earth!
Next you will find the Q & A portion of my chat with the brothers.
This is Joshua’s magnet. Along with some zebra mussels, there’s a bike chain, a fishing hook, some big screws, a beer bottle cap, and much more.
Interview Section
What made you all decide to start magnet fishing?
J - Our mom bought a 500 lbs. capacity magnet on a whim. We just started playing with it and it grew from there. This is what we did during quarantine. It gave us something to do, and we get to help clean up the environment.
I - I want to know what’s at the bottom of the river
What’s your favorite part of magnet fishing?
J - Seeing all the kids walking by, they stop, ask us questions. During the summer, the day camps would pass by and watch. A father and son saw our picture in Le Soleil and they came with their own 700 lbs magnet. There was a mother and son duo too. We actually pulled up a bike in decent shape while they were there, which the police did not want. We ended up giving the bike to the kid.
What kind of stuff do you usually pull up?
I - a steering wheel, knives, kids bikes, a lot of kids bikes.
J - change, a bumper, jewelry. We have a Facebook page called Chateauguay Magnet Fishing and Finds, where we post our discoveries.
What do you do with what you pull up?
J - The small stuff we’ll bring home, to show our friends. But the big stuff, we leaved pilled on the side for the scrappers to come pick up. We don’t do this for the money. We do it cause it’s fun, we get to hang out with each other and it’s great for the environment.
What’s the biggest environmental problem that you’ve noticed?
J - Lead sinkers. These are the weights attached to fishing lines to keep the hook submerged under water. When they break off, they sink to the bottom. The main issue with lead sinkers is that they get swallowed by fish, who get lead poisoning. The loons eat the poisoned fish, now the loons have lead poisoning. Not all sinkers are made of lead, but enough of them are for this to be a problem.
I - They changed the laws for duck hunting, why not fishing? Lead was banned and replaced by steel.
The grappling hook in action! Look at it! Batman would be proud!