OXBOW - As you approach Gerry Swayze’s Oxbow home, you might think you’re entering a wildlife conservation area, until noticing sasquatches walking through it and that everything is made of wood.
If you enter his home, you might wonder if you’ve entered a zoo until realizing all the animals are stuffed. Then you might think you’re in a taxidermist’s workshop.
First impressions are deceiving. Swayze loves nature and has reproduced a lot of what he sees with wooden replicas. He has mounted a lot of what his passion for hunting has bagged. He has wooden buffaloes, moose, elk, bears, wolves and those three Sasquatches.
He has, in his stuffed collection, moose, elk, deer, fish and a fox. He sleeps under large elk antlers.
Gerry grew up in Glen Ewen and he learned to fish at a young age. He fished for catfish in the Souris River which flows south of town. School was never a highlight for him. To avoid writing exams in Grade 9, he dropped out for good. He was 14.
He went to work as a farmer for Max Gilroy. Four years later, he joined Arne Hansen Construction, building roads.
His love for animals, fishing and hunting never diminished. He always had ponies around and, even to this day, has a mare and a foal.
At 22, Swayze moved to Brandon to work as a roofer. He met Anne McLean and they began a common-law relationship. She had nine children, so he became an ‘instant dad’. They had one child together, Jerri-Anne, who has given him three granddaughters he thinks the world of. He loved those 10 children. He took them everywhere he and Anne went, except for work.
In 1990, he decided to move to Oxbow. McLean remained in Brandon, so the relationship came to an end. He started working for TNC Oilfield, mowing, blowing snow and doing maintenance work.
A significant year for Swayze came in 1990. He realized he was enjoying his drink just a little too much, so he stopped, cold turkey. Not a drop of alcohol has passed his lips since then.
He missed roofing. In 2000, he started Swayze Roofing. It continues to operate and, at the age of 68, he is still busy at it.
Swayze’s life has been filled with all kinds of adventures and experiences. For example, he went on a 14-day fishing trip to Florida and caught lots of fish, but the ones he was hoping for eluded him. He didn’t catch a marlin or a swordfish, but he did reel in others, including a great white shark.
On another occasion, he found an injured owl. He took it home and nurtured it back to health during the winter months and, come spring, it flew away. It returns often, perching itself close to Swayze, perhaps expressing its thanks for his care.
He has been making wooden animals for about 25 years. While mostly for pleasure, he has also made some for purchase.
He enjoys buying trucks. He owns 10 of them, ranging from a 1964 Mercury to a 2020 Ranger.
“I love driving something different. I don’t like driving the same thing all the time,” he said.
Swayze has about 50 chickens who give him eggs every day. He used to grow an extensive garden to provide free produce to the community, but some of the lustre was lost when he discovered someone was helping themselves and then taking the vegetables into town to sell.
As you’re leaving the Swayze homestead, you’ll notice one other interest. He has developed Blackbear Park, an eight-site campground. Unlike the first impressions that you might get when first approaching his place or entering his home, the campground is for real.
It’s been a variety-filled, unique life for Swayze.
“I’ve loved life…I wouldn’t change nuttin’,” he says.
