‘Saints, Sandestin, Saintsations. Can’t Get Any better’
By Travis Mewhirter
Daily News
Nick Saban, Gus Malzahn and Les Miles are all in town this week for the annual SEC spring coaches’ meeting, and yet, the most enviable man in Destin on Tuesday morning — or the entire state of Florida, for that matter — was an anonymous fellow wearing a Harley Davidson shirt complete with befitting silver mustache.
One moment he had been going on a routine morning walk at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, the next, he was being squeezed between 36 telegenic females in tiny white bikinis, flashing a mega-watt smile for a platoon of cameras.
Perhaps he realized it, perhaps not, but he had just walked smack into the middle of a Saintsations — the New Orleans Saints cheerleading team — calendar shoot, and walked out with a story certain to make his buddies jealous.
“The scenery is absolutely beautiful,” said Heidi W., a pro bowl selection last year now in her fifth season with the team. “It’s fun to go somewhere else and in Destin we have a lot of New Orleans Saints fans here even though it’s in Florida.”
The Saintsations don’t always make the 275-mile trip from New Orleans to Destin for their shoot — last year, for instance, they opted for a bayou in Lafitte, La. for a “sportsman’s paradise” theme — but it’s difficult to turn down the resort that has been named No. 1 on the Emerald Coast and its seven-plus miles of beach, 113-slip marina, and picturesque bay front.
That, and it’s equally beneficial when Saintsations director, Lesslee Fitzmorris Mitchell, lives in Destin.
“I think between our relationship and her being a fan of the resort, it just made this process a lot easier,” said Brooke Scholl, the resort’s marketing and public relations manager. “We have a lot of different locations and almost 1,300 accommodations…it’s a lot easier for us to accommodate the girls. They never have to leave the resort.”
The troupe of cheerleaders, who can range anywhere from ages 18-40, may be staying at one of the top vacation spots in the country, but they are hardly on much of a kick-back-and-relax vacation.
Heidi, a Louisiana native and lifelong Saints fan, was up at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. At 5:30 came time to get dolled up — makeup perfect, hair just so — and by 6 it was onto shooting, which is a process unto itself.
If a finger was out of place, let alone, God forbid, a pom, Fitzmorris Mitchell was going to let it be known.
“Put your poms up!” she said more than a few times. “You’re leaning! Turn and straighten up! Get down, second row…bring your poms up, bring your poms down.”
“It’s interesting, it varies what swimsuits look good and what girls and hair color looks better in what situation,” Heidi said. “So you just follow along and whatever they want you to do, you do.”
So it went until it was flawless. Such is how a calendar, which will sell more than 10,000 copies at $25 apiece, is made.
“With over 10,000 calendars sold, the making of the calendar, TV show, the promotional YouTube video, and our internet site, our audience exceeds well over one million,” Fitzmorris Mitchell said. “The annual calendar has become a staple of must-haves for fans.”
Neither the resort nor the Saintsations profit directly off the shoot itself; it’s a win-win public relations move for both. The Saintsations get their calendar, the resort gets its name all over the captions.
“We’ve worked with them in years past so we have a long relationship with them,” Scholl said. “Just creating that relationship for both of us is really beneficial.”
With the morning shoot about wrapped up, the Saintsations, having flashed smiles for nearly an hour of pictures during their mid-morning session, had but one more clip to film for a video.
“Saints, Sandestin, Saintsations,” rang out 36 voices in unison, “can’t get any better.”
