Bradford County is home to some real New Orleans Saints fans

A lot of people who were watching the Super Bowl in Bradford County on Sunday are fans of football teams from Pennsylvania or New York state, but rooted for the New Orleans Saints or the Indianapolis Colts during their face-off in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

But at the Candlelite Lounge in Athens, there were several long-time Saints fans, including a gas industry worker from New Orleans, the couple who owns the bar, and a previous owner of the bar.

Beth Ann Waltman of Sayre, who has co-owned the bar since 2006, said she became a New Orleans Saints fan after visiting New Orleans in the early 1990s.

She has a New Orleans Saints logo tattooed on her shoulder to prove it.

"I love it there (New Orleans)," she said. "It's the friendliest place on earth!"

Before traveling to New Orleans, she used to watch football on television with her husband, Andy, but never was a fan of any particular team.

She said her husband wanted to give her a Christmas present after she became a die-hard Saints fan, but the only thing he could find was a New Orleans Saints trash can at the Arnot Mall in Elmira, N.Y.

"I have a photo of me holding the trash can on Christmas morning, smiling like an idiot!" she said.

Andy Waltman said he became a New Orleans Saints fan a year or two after his wife. He said he switched to the Saints after the Los Angeles Rams moved to Saint Louis.

The Waltmans said that when they purchased the Candlelite Lounge in 2006, they had no idea that a previous owner of the bar, John Lucy of Sayre, had also been a New Orleans Saints fan.

Lucy, who had owned the bar from 1978 to 1980 and who was watching the Super Bowl at the Candlelite Lounge on Sunday, said he became a Saints fan after Fred Cox, the kicker for his favorite team - the Minnesota Vikings - lost a Super Bowl game in the early 1970s.

It's a "happy co-incidence" that the current and previous owners of the bar are New Orleans Saints fans, Beth Ann Waltman said.

"They'll be more New Orleans fans around here after tonight!" she said.

Lucy said that around three months ago, he met a New Orleans resident working in the gas industry in Bradford County - Eric Foster - and brought him over to the Candelite Lounge.

Lucy said he wanted Foster to meet the owners of the bar because they are hard-core New Orleans Saints fans.

Foster, who was watching the Super Bowl at the Candlelite Lounge, said he has been rooting for the Saints since he was a child.

When the Saints were behind by 10 points in the first half of Sunday's game, Foster said they would win the Super Bowl, as they have a knack for doing well in the second half of football games. "They are a second-half team," he said.

"This is history being made," he said during the first half, as the Saints had never been in the Super Bowl before, he said.

Foster's prediction was right, as the Saints won the Super Bowl 31 to 17.

At PJ's bar in Towanda, Raymond Searfoss of Ulster was also rooting for New Orleans, although he is normally a New York Giants fan.

"I'd like to see them win, because they've never been in a Super Bowl before, and because they are having a good year," Searfoss said.

Sitting next to Searfoss was Tim Young, who was rooting for the Colts.

Young, who is from Long Island, is also a Giants fan, but said he was rooting for the Colts because their quarterback, Peyton Manning, is the older brother of the Giants' quarterback, Eli Manning, and because the Manning brothers show a lot of support for each other.

Young said he is working in Pennsylvania as a field geologist in the gas industry.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com

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