Chances are good that you might have heard Derek Lonsdale singing at the top of his lungs while operating one of the Town of Chestermere’s lakeweed harvesters in summers past, while he staved off the monotony of mowing down hapless lake weeds.
Now a 22-year-old business student at Edmonton’s McEwan University, Derek has created a thriving lake weed-cutting and removal business.¬† During those long summer days on the lake, Lonsdale observed first-hand how much lakeside home owners detested the dense lake weeds that plagued their boat docks and swimming areas. In Spring of 2014, he decided to put his newly-acquired business skills to work in Chestermere as the owner-operator of a new business called "LakeLine Aquatic Weed Removal" (Tel.403-700-7962).
Derek uses a specially-designed tool to cut weeds growing in and around private docks and shorelines during the evenings and weekends, around his current full-time management position with the Town of Chestermere. He gathers up the weeds that float to the surface and places them in the homeowner’s green lake weed bin provided by the Town. He even offers the weekly service of removing the stray weeds that float in and around docks from the weed harvesters.
"So far as I know, this is the first larger-scale lakeweed removal business of its kind in Chestermere", Derek told the Anchor, "I have received plenty of really positive feedback from my customers. They love me coming by because it saves them from getting into the water themselves to slosh around in the mud."
Customers may enjoy having Derek come by for another reason because as he puts his classroom-acquired business skills to work, he can occasionally be heard putting his musical skills to good use as well. "The weeds haven’t complained about my singing yet," Lonsdale reports with a smile.
