Saints and Stonefilms

One of the best sports stories in many, many years has to be the crowning of the New Orleans Saints as Super Bowl champs. For so long, the Saints were the little sisters of the poor of the NFL, and then the devastation of Hurricane Katrina threatened to cripple the city and the team for good. All of which made the Super Bowl victory a sweet moment for the many millions who make up Who Dat Nation.

And it reminded the Stonefilms staff of our 2007 interview with Saints owner Tom Benson. Benson was one of that year's inductees into the Texas Business Hall of Fame, and we discovered that, like so many other members of that elite group, he started his business career with absolutely nothing. Tom Benson was just another World War II veteran in the late 40s, trying to make a go in the business world; within 2 decades he was one of the most successful car dealers in Texas. Benson was approached by Louisiana's governor in 1985 to join a group of investors who were trying to keep the Saints in New Orleans. But as Benson soon discovered that the other investors weren't materializing---as he told Dad in the interview, "Hell, I was the group!"

He bought the Saints, and within two years the franchise was in the playoffs for the first time in team history. At the time of our interview, the Saints had made it all the way to the NFC championship game in 2006 and were just about to enter a new season. It was an extraordinarily busy time for Benson, and to make matters worse, he was battling a very heavy cold. But on that morning he was very gracious, and in the course of the two hours or so we spent with him it was obvious that he loved being a businessman. He talked about the simple joy of going to the dealership on a Saturday morning and meeting customers to show them the latest Chevy. And, of course, he was passionate about his Saints.

Once again, our work for the Texas Business Hall of Fame had given us amazing access to a truly remarkable figure. And two years later it has given us added insight into the great achievement of the New Orleans Saints----the beloved team that we can at last call World Champions.

Century of Success

Galveston was still reeling in 1910, an island city trying to rebuild after the devastating storm of 1900. It took people like Omero Del Papa, Sr. to bring Galveston back to life. A young Italian immigrant, Omero believed in his adopted city and was certain that better days were ahead. So he went into business with his brother-in-law, Frank Celli, starting a company called Celli & Del Papa, a distributorship that handled everything from beer and wine to olive oil and ice cream. 100 years later we are celebrating the vision of Omero Del Papa and the company that today is known as Del Papa Distributing, one of the premiere Budweiser distributorships in the country.

The folks at Del Papa wanted to find out as much as they could about the beginnings of the company. So much of the story seemed to be lost to history. Susan Elmore of Elmore Public Relations was working with the company to plan their anniversary celebration, and she happily suggested that the Stonefilms staff might be a resource for research. And that led to a year-long search into the past: digging in libraries and archives across the Gulf Coast, interviewing employees in Beaumont, Galveston, and Victoria, and scanning pages of old newspaper copy. A wonderful story emerged. Omero Del Papa, Sr. was a shrewd businessman who at the same time loved listening to opera. He worked long, punishing hours but he was devoted to his family, and his sons all followed him into the business. "It is better to have a good name than money," he often said, and his lessons in work ethic and integrity have lived long after his death in 1959.

Stonefilms crews will be on hand to document Del Papa Distributing's 100th year, and we'll keep you updated as we continue to explore the past, the present, and the future of a great American success story.