Gillespie said he threaded and varnished the rod himself, and it was used to fish many rivers in New Brunswick. His hope is that Eli "enjoys it as much as I did over the years."

Gillespie learned about Eli's new love for fly fishing through a community pastoral letter delivered to his door in early June by Eli's father, Aaron Billard, the minister at St. John's United Church in Moncton.