The metal detecting hobby has introduced me to so many fascinating people. A few weeks ago, I shared a blog post on one of the many metal detecting groups on Facebook. Shortly thereafter, my laptop started buzzing with notifications.

The messages were from a Howard Hewitt. Some of you may recognize his name from the relic recovery circuit or even from Travel Channel’s DigFellas.

I’ll admit. Up until this point, I’d never heard of Howard Hewitt or DigFellas. There was just something about the way that other group members responded to his comments that gave me the inclination to look him up on Google. I suspected that Howard Hewitt must be some sort of relic recovering royalty.

Sure enough, Howard Hewitt was famous! I was pretty thrilled that he would honor my post with his kind words of encouragement.

Howard was really interested in knowing why I pursue metal detecting and other forms of historical relic hunting. I know Howard well enough now to realize that the question was simply an ice breaker. At the time of our initial conversation, I assumed that he was questioning my appreciation for the past. After-all, you don’t meet many twenty-six-year-olds who share my passion for history.

So I told Howard the same thing I tell everyone who is caught off-guard with my knowledge in relation to my age. “Howard, I am an old soul.” Little did I know that Howard Hewitt is an even older soul.

I watched DigFellas for the first time the other night. In fact, my entire family sat around the television eating New England clam chowder and watching Howard travel the country in the pursuit of history. We all loved it. In fact, we watched every single episode that YouTube could offer.

As someone who metal detects, I can really appreciate the reference to the junk-pocket. Everyone who has ever metal detected knows that by the end of the hunt, our junk-pocket is full of pull-tabs and bits of aluminum. Not too many other metal detecting shows even reference the junk.

Now, I chose the topic of DigFellas because someone needs to put the ugly rumors to rest. DigFellas is not fake. If all those critics only took the time to view earlier videos, they would see that Howard is not an actor. Howard is a real person with a passion for the past. He was hunting relic hunting long before DigFellas and he will be relic hunting long after.

In one of those earlier clips, Howard pulls a cobalt bottle from the dirt and cries out in excitement. As someone who understands the significance of that small cobalt bottle, I can tell you that his reaction is genuine. Howard is genuine.

I’ve very much enjoyed my conversations with him and we rarely talk about the show. His silence on the matter really speaks volumes to his character. I’ve known people to make a cameo appearance in the background of the evening news and brag about it five years later–“I was on TV once.” In fact, Howard never even told me he was on TV. I had to discover it by googling him.

Now, I don’t know Bill very well. I haven’t heard very nice things, but I’m willing to give him a chance.  I can speak for Howard. Howard is real. And I can only hope to someday have a fraction of his knowledge and his understanding of the past. He is truly an old soul.

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