Former restaurant leaves a Big Scoop of memories
Staff writer
An empty lot across from Cemtral Park is where generations of Marion residents once gathered for coffee, conversation, hamburgers, and ice cream.
The last of a series of eateries there, the Big Scoop, owned for more than a decade by Amy Boudreaux and her mother, Luci Helmer, closed in 2012. But its place in the community remains for those who spent time there.
“It was very much a communal place,” Boudreaux said. “We had retired people who came in for coffee and met and socialized; high school kids coming in. It was a place of meeting.”
Boudreaux began working at Big Scoop while still in high school. When the previous owners decided to sell, she convinced her mother to buy the restaurant with her. The pair purchased it around 2000, turning it into a family-run operation.
Over the years, the restaurant became known as a reliable gathering spot for regulars. Some hung personal mugs on hooks along the wall. Others stopped in for ice cream or meals, while employees, many working their first jobs, became extended family.
“They absolutely became family,” Boudreaux said. “A lot of them we’re still close with today.”
Big Scoop also was the site of personal milestones. Boudreaux’s husband proposed to her during a Christmas morning breakfast the restaurant offered each year. An informal event that welcomed anyone who wanted fellowship during the holidays.
“It wasn’t really staff serving customers,” she said. “It was more of a community.”
When longtime coffee drinkers passed away, their mugs were moved to the top of the hanger. After the restaurant was sold, Boudreaux and her mother buried several of the cups behind the building, memorializing regulars who had become part of their lives.
“You can’t just throw them away,” she said. “They belonged to people.”
The decision to sell came as family responsibilities grew and the demands of running a restaurant took their toll.
The restaurant remained open under new ownership after it was sold, but later caught fire and eventually was torn down. Loss of the building was difficult, Boudreaux said. Its history stretched well beyond her family’s time as owners. It originally was a Dairy Queen.
“The building itself has been there for so many years,” she said. “So many people have memories of growing up and going there.”
She understands why residents continue to speak fondly of Big Scoop.
“It was high school kids’ first jobs,” she said. “It was family events, life events.”
Though she has no interest in reopening a restaurant herself, Boudreaux would welcome the return of a similar gathering place in Marion.
“It was great,” she said. “I grew up there.”