With the oil spill causing so much chaos and uncertainty in our community over the last two months, it was so nice to have some positive news in southern Plaquemines.

Last week, the Buras Auditorium was reopened after taking heavy damage in Hurricane Katrina, almost five years ago.

I remember when I crept into its side door to look around only a few months after the storm.
The golden hardwood floors were buckled and parts rose and sunk like waves.  Light streamed in from the ceiling. Mud clumped on the floor.  There was a skinny spotted cat that meowed at me and followed me around the auditorium.

It feels like longer than five years have passed.

Maybe it feels that way because it had been quite a few years since I had been to the Buras Auditorium before that day after Katrina.

Probably the last time was for an Orange Queen Selection in the early ‘00s, or maybe it was for a wedding around the same time.  Lots of talking and laughing and dancing and drinking tako toddies.

I have earlier memories, too, memories from my childhood.

I remember dancing on the stage with a pink and white costume on to, “Don’t Mess with my Toot Toot.”

I remember being there with my grandma Josie Sercovich who used to work there.

I have other memories but I don’t think they are real. I think I was too young to actually remember them. I’ve just seen the pictures or heard the stories so many times, it come to me like a memory.

With so much time passing since I saw the auditorium in shape, I thought I would have the feeling of walking in and everything feeling small, as often happens when you revisit as an adult some place you knew as a child.
It was the opposite.  Everything seemed bigger- the ceiling higher, the main floor wider, even the balcony area seemed larger.

It actually is a little wider, Mrs. Lynda Banta explained to me.  Someone else said the ceiling looks higher because it is white now.  The ladies who worked at the Buras Auditorium before the storm and who will be there now, Mrs. Veronia Jones and Mrs. Ginger Lee, happily exclaimed that the balcony seems bigger because there are no more bleachers.  They like that because it is easier to clean now.

It was a great day to be in that auditorium with all those people.

My favorite thing I heard was from Mr. Barney Schoenberger who said, “We are being renovated ourselves by this building.”

It’s a beautiful and hopeful thought.

If you have a favorite Buras Auditorium memory you’d like to share, please write in and send pictures.

Terri A. Sercovich
terri@plaqueminesgazette.com