Dr. George Cousin of New Iberia, left, hands a microphone to his former Scoutmaster, Paul Schwing, Saturday morning during a ceremony honoring Schwing at Bouligny Plaza. Schwing was Boy Scout Troop 133’s Scoutmaster from 1953 to 1988. Watching during the event feting Schwing are Iberia Parish President Larry Richard, seated, right, and New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt, seated, second from right.

   Former and current Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, local officials and others marched along Main Street, behind a vintage fire truck, in a dream-come-true Saturday morning for Paul Schwing.

   The parade started at Paul’s Flower and Plant Shop on the 100 block of Weeks Street and ended at Bouligny Plaza, where Schwing, 89, was recognized for serving nearly four decades as Scoutmaster of Troop 133. Some of his former Boy Scouts, many who earned the rank of Eagle Scout, were on hand for the salute to Schwing, including master of ceremonies Dr. George Cousin of New Iberia.

“The whole idea of a parade has been Mr. Paul’s idea for years. He told people that over and over again. Pat Castille and Tave Lamperez put it together,” Cousin said after the event.

Schwing meant so much to every boy who put on a Boy Scout uniform in Troop 133, he said, then and now, so many years later.

“He’s a great guy, just a mentor for so many people,” said Cousin, who has had a family medicine practice here since 1984.

“One thing about Paul, he was very consistent in his approach to life, his values. He never wavered,” said the local doctor who got his Eagle Scout badge in 1970. “In those days, you trusted people. You see those things as desirable and you engage someone who has those values consistently as a role model as a kid. The 12 points of the Scout Law … you can look at those and pick any one you want — Paul had them all.”

Following the parade, Schwing, seated in a wheelchair/walker and accompanied by caregiver Roschell Francis, and the men, women and children took their places between the gazebo and Bayou Teche. Girl Scout Troop 2274 members led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance, then sang the National Anthem. Later, just before the benediction, they sang God Bless America.

The Civil War reenactment group 18th LA 114th NY VD under the direction of Cory Bonin was part of the ceremony. Also on hand were Bennie Schovajsa, president of the Iberia Veterans Association, Leslie Landry, former treasurer of the association, New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt, a Boy Scout in Troop 133 during Schwing’s tenure, and Iberia Parish President Larry Richard.

Schwing, affectionately known and respected in the community as the “Mayor of Main Street,” took the microphone from Cousin and spoke to the crowd seated near the gazebo on a cool February morning. He talked about the three national jamborees he attended, a very cold camporee and a search for some lost boys with a happy ending.

The Mayor of Main Street also thanked the many adults who assisted him while he was Scoutmaster from 1953-1988 with Troop 133. He emphasized his appreciation and gratitude.

Cousin vividly recalled the lone national jamboree he went to with Schwing.

“I can remember to this day the summer of ‘69, Neil Armstrong on the moon,” he said about the astronaut who went into the heavens on Apollo 11 and became the first man to walk on the moon in July 1969. “Everybody says, ‘Where were you when …?’ I was sitting in an open air auditorium on the side of a mountain watching Neil Armstrong on a big screen. Mr. Paul was there.”

Castille, 54, who works in maintenance at the McIlhenny Co., also proudly remembered his days as a Boy Scout in Troop 133. He became the troop’s 10th Scoutmaster in 2007.

“He was the leader when I joined Scouting in the early 1970s. He’s been my Scoutmaster my whole life and a great friend and mentor of mine all my life,” said the man who earned the Eagle Scout rank in 1979. “He’s a great citizen, a great role model. That’s why when he calls in the middle of the day or night, I’m going. He’s meant that much to me.”

Naturally, he said, Schwing influenced the lives of so many young men.

“He has been the go-to man who shaped the leaders of today,” he said.

That’s why there was a parade.

“Mr. Paul always wanted to have a parade. In November it started taking shape. We met on Wednesdays. We got everything cleared with the city. It was just a whole bunch of people,” he said about preparations. “I thought it was great. The turnout was good. I think it was well received.”

Margaret Castille, his wife, said, “I look forward to the next one. I think it’ll be better next year.”

Schovajsa, noting he was a Webelo Scout leader in Houston and that Landry was a former Boy Scout, said, “Oh, it was beautiful, beautiful. I’m sure Mr. Paul enjoyed it.”