How this P.E.I. man's collection is keeping the history of his community alive

"It's fun," says Eddie Doucette of his decades-long hobby of collecting local artifacts.

Doucette lives in Skinners Pond, P.E.I., and for the last 30 years or so he's been scouring his local beach with a metal detector to find treasures — at least, to him.

"There's lots of times you don't find anything but there's quite a few times you do — majority of it is right after storms," he said.

Doucette looks for anything unique or with historical value, most of it coming from the community he lives in and from what he calls the "lost settlement" known as Frog Pond.

"It's not on the maps so no one really has heard of it much anymore," Doucette said.

Doucette said many of the buildings that made up Frog Pond have been repurposed or hauled away to become what is now Skinners Pond.

That's why around the side of Doucette's home is a shed that he's dubbed the Frog Pond Museum.

Inside are hundreds of artifacts he has uncovered by combing the beach or looking through abandoned barns in the area: everything from old P.E.I. coins, Chinese currency, antique locks, fishing equipment and dolls that he said date back to the 1800s.

"You just never know what you're going to find. There's no two days going to the beach that are alike."

'Trying to fill in the gaps'

In part, the hobby is inspired by Doucette's love of history. But he said it's also an attempt to connect with his grandfather, who once ran a now-defunct lobster factory in the area.

"Never got to meet him. Just trying to fill in gaps."

At this point, Doucette estimates he's picked to 45 kilograms of lead from the beach. If he finds a metal object that he's sure has no historical value, he melts it down and makes it into art.

Doucette said his hope is to see an official museum built in the area to which he could donate his findings, to preserve the community's history.

Until then, he said, "It'll be hobby till I die, that's for sure."

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