PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — During Philadelphia Eagles season, an extra serving of church music is in the air outside Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington.
The reason is 71-year-old Sue Spilecki, a longtime native of Wilmington who was a physical education teacher, driver’s education teacher, athletic director and referee.
She’s a fan of sports and of her beloved Philadelphia sports teams, including the Eagles. Her father, who worked for DuPont, would take his family up to Philadelphia to see the teams play.
“What do I love about the Birds?” Spilecki asks rhetorically. “Gosh, they just seem to be so enthusiastic and they work so hard and they really support each other.”
It’s like the folks who attend or go by Spilecki’s church. They support her and her rendition of “Fly Eagles Fly” which she plays on the church tower chimes.
She is not scheduled to play the chimes during church every week, but when she is and it’s a game day, the start of the season or a big game, she will add the fight song to her list of music.
Exactly when she started doing this isn’t clear, but what is evident is that people love it.
“People got a kick out of it, and started asking for it,” Spilecki said. “They would say, 'You know, today's a big game. You better play that fight song to bring them some good luck.'"
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Spilecki learned how to play the chimes at her church in high school. She says she read music from playing piano and also play the handbells in two handbell choirs.
The sports-enthused musician has a passion for her church, whose sanctuary was built in 1910, and for the community it creates. During the early parts of the COVID-19 pandemic, she would go to the church to practice, then played for an hour during food donations in their parking lot on Sunday mornings. It would draw attention to the cause.
“We started getting feedback from the neighborhood that they were looking forward to hearing the church bells on Sunday mornings, because nobody could go to church,” she said. “But this was a way to remember that it was Sunday for one thing, and it was helping people.”
The practice also helped her stay sharp for when things reopened.
Spilecki also said Westminster is First Lady Jill Biden’s church, but she doesn’t know if the Bidens are aware of her fight song talents.
As far as this weekend is concerned, Spilecki plans to play the song Sunday morning ahead of the Eagles’ NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers. She has loved this team’s attitude and how they met their expectations and kept setting the bar higher.
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She believes if everyone’s healthy and they play at their level, they’ll be unstoppable.
Will her rendition of “Fly Eagles Fly” help? She believes it will set the right vibe.
“Yes,” she said. “I think it’s good luck because anything that ramps up the energy and the enthusiasm for our team is going to be good luck for them.”
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