A couple of blown up pictures of Dillon Frankel that were displayed during his Bar Mitzvah
Eagles Continued from Page 7
like Jason Kelce during the Super Bowl parade.

Josh did not know about this beforehand, Lecia Markowitz noted.

And the Eagles certainly infl uenced the rest of the party —
even starting with the invitations, which were Eagles green and
black with an outline of the now-famous “Philly Special” play.

Th e family built an 18-foot tailgate truck to serve as the bar in-
side where bartenders served the aforementioned Eagles-themed
concoctions. Th e Eagles pep band made an appearance to lead the
265-guest crowd in the Eagles chant as a surprise and the green,
vinyl dance fl oor was made to resemble a football fi eld.

Th e theme was decided before the Eagles made it to Minneapolis,
so the outcome of the game, whatever it was, would not have been
a deterrent.

Th e Birds fl ying out victorious, however, certainly did not hurt.

“We decided before they won the Super Bowl, probably since last
fall, we were doing an Eagles theme,” Markowitz recalled, “and then
when they won we were like, this couldn’t have turned out any better.”
But while there was plenty of Eagles spirit in the room, with
photos of Josh superimposed on various Sports Illustrated cov-
ers alongside blown-up versions of those featuring Eagles play-
ers, plus photos interspersed of him and his family from various
games and, of course, the Super Bowl, Markowitz noted the party
— as fun as it was — was not the most important part of the day.

It was an especially emotional day, as it was the Bar Mitzvah for
their youngest son, she said.

8 OCTOBER 25, 2018
PHOTOS PROVIDED
“Having all our friends and family together — how many times in
your life is everyone you love in the same room together?” she said.

Th e Markowitzes were not the only ones to bleed green during
a special occasion.

In fact, fans taking their enthusiasm for the team all the way to
their Bar Mitzvah or even a wedding is part of a larger trend.

“Absolutely,” confi rmed Stephanie Fitzpatrick, director of talent
and emcee at EBE Entertainment. “It’s been a huge trend as of late.”
She recalled Jennifer Metts and Craig Adams’ recent wedding,
which, while not Eagles-themed, featured themed drinks and an
Eagles ice sculpture, and the crowd joining together for the
Eagles chant.

Th e chant and the team’s fi ght song along with other nota-
ble songs like Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares,” which the
Eagles came out to during the Super Bowl, have defi nitely been
played more at events, she said. Th eir bands have all learned the
songs and the DJs have them at the ready.

“It really wakes the entire room up and gets everybody in the
spirit, which is really nice,” she said. “If people weren’t ready to
party before, they’ll defi nitely be ready aft er this. It’s a huge crowd
participation moment.”
Th e timing of the Super Bowl and Dillon Frankel’s Bar Mitzvah
was pretty signifi cant, noted his mother, Stacy.

Dillon was born six days aft er the Eagles’ unsuccessful attempt
at taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2005. His Bar
Mitzvah was six days aft er they fi nally succeeded in 2018.

And Dillon was in Minnesota to see it all happen.

“It was a busy week,” Stacy Frankel said with a laugh.

SIMCHAS See Eagles, Page 10
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM