HOUMA, LA (AP) — Tourists will no longer find Ron "Black" Guidry leading swamp tours in Bayou Black, but another Cajun man has taken his place.
With Guidry's blessing, Captain Billy Gaston, a Houma native who was raised in the swamps of Terrebonne Parish, took over A Cajun Man's Swamp Cruise in April.
"Billy seemed to be an honest person and seemed to be a go-getter," Guidry said. "I hope he's going to do a good job, and I think he will."
Gaston's tours are similar to the ones Guidry led for 26 years, but the name has changed to "A Cajun Man's Swamp Tours and Adventures." Gaston has added some of his own personal swamp stories, and Guidry's well-known live performances have been replaced by a Waylon Thibodeaux soundtrack.
"I do everything that Black does except play guitar and sing," Gaston said. "If I start singing, people are going to walk off the boat and into the middle of the swamp, and I don't want that to happen."
As the new owner of a swamp tour business, Gaston has come a long way from when he used to be somewhat of an attraction for local tour guides.
"I used to live a few houses from Annie Miller in the early '80s and she knew me well because I was always hunting and fishing," Gaston said. "When she'd see me come down the bayou, she'd get on her mic and she would tell everybody — I don't what she would tell them, but she'd tell them something — and they all would stand up and run to the side with their cameras and I'd always hold up some fish, ducks, deer, whatever I had."
For the 38 years Gaston worked in the oil industry, his time in the swamp was limited to weekends and holidays.
"When I wasn't working, I was always at my camp. I was always hunting or fishing, taking customers out and entertaining them," he said. "I loved doing that, and this is kind of similar to that."
About seven years ago, he was looking for a change.
"After the oil spill, the oilfield went down, and I almost lost everything I had," Gaston said. "I've been praying ever since for God to bless me with something else, another type of work, something that's not oilfield-related, and he led me to Mr. Black."
Gaston said it was his dream to own a swamp tour where he could make visitors see and feel the way he does when he's surrounded by "God's most beautiful creation."
"It's an awesome opportunity to show people from all over the world how blessed we are," he said. "When people see the passion in me and the love I have for the wildlife and the ecosystem and the environment, when people see that in me, it kind of makes them love it too."
Gaston said he originally went to Guidry for advice about the swamp tour business, but he then learned Guidry was willing to sell.
Guidry, 75, said that since leaving the swamp tours he has stayed busy traveling, singing and playing guitar and discussing Cajun heritage in interviews.
While he'll miss the swamp tours, Guidry said he plans to stay involved in the local tourism and hospitality industry and to promote the area, including through films and commercials.
"I don't actually want to call it retired. I'll call it unemployed," he said. "I'm looking for something to do everyday."
Gaston said he worked with Guidry for more than a year to learn the names of plants and trees and to make sure the tour's alligators, including 13-foot "T-Boy," warmed up to a new caller.
"He had several people that offered him a lot more money than he sold it to me for, and he turned them down," Gaston said. "I said 'Mr. Black, why you didn't take it?' He said 'It's not about the money. It's about making sure the right person gets my business.' I had tears in my eyes when he said that because it meant a lot to me for this man to think that much of me."
Guidry said he hopes Gaston follows in his footsteps in promoting the area like he followed the lead of Annie Miller, who founded Louisiana's first swamp-boat business. Her legacy is also carried on through Annie Miller's Son's Swamp and Marsh Tours in Bayou Black.
Guidry said his advice to Gaston is to build on what is already there but to add his own flavor to the tour.
"That's what it's about, making it a little better," he said.
Gaston agreed.
"The biggest thing is that I don't want people to think I'm trying to fill Black Guidry's shoes. Nobody will ever fill that man's shoes. He is a living legend down here," Gaston said. "All I'm going to do is take what he taught me and take what I know and put it together and do the best tour I can possibly do."
– by AP/ Reporter Meredith Burns with The Courier
