The Carbon County Environmental Education Center will be cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles as they make their way to the Super Bowl.

The Summit Hill center will be doing so with help from a real eagle — as in one with feathers.

Naturalist Franklin Klock — who was born an Eagles fan (as in the team) — will lead the Saturday program with help from the center’s resident bald eagle ambassador, Rennie.

Attendees will root on the Eagles while learning about eagles, he said.

“I’ve always been an Eagles fan, that definitely came first. That was born into me,” said who is the center’s eagle handler.

His father, the late Franklin Klock, was a sports writer for the former Evening Record.

“He instilled the love of The Eagles in me,” Klock explained. “He always told me, ‘Root for whoever you want but make sure you root for the home team.’”

Klock still has a photo of himself as a toddler, dressed up in an Eagles uniform with the number 9: that of former quarterback Sonny Jurgensen.

Through the years, Klock admitted, the Eagles have had their ups and downs but Klock never gave up support.

“The Eagles have a pretty colorful history as far as their skill and their luck and the lack thereof,” Klock said. “That’s what’s great about Eagles fans — win or lose they’re always still our team.”

In his role at the center, Klock knows quite a bit about eagles. And as an Eagles fan, he knows a lot about the team. He explained that the Philadelphia Eagles were formed in 1933, after Bert Bell and a group of partners bought the Frankford Yellow Jackets franchise. They renamed it “Philadelphia Eagles” to honor the avian symbol of the New Deal’s National Recovery Act. The act was meant to regulate business and stimulate the economy during the Great Depression.

In that logo, an eagle grasps a lightning bolt in one talon and a gear/cog in its other.

The first Eagles insignia was modeled after the logo — only the cog was replaced by a football in the eagle’s talons, Klock noted.

“The two are very connected,” he said.

At the pre-Super Bowl event, Klock will be joined by Rennie, who arrived at the center in 2001 after being struck by a car on Route 93 near Nesquehoning. Klock had been working at the center beginning as a volunteer in the 1990s, and later as a part- and full-time staff member.

He remembers Rennie’s story well, having been there to hold her as the center’s team treated her injuries and worked to rehabilitate her.

Unfortunately, her injuries left her unable to fly.

Another eagle — this one a golden eagle — arrived a few months earlier that year. Miss Charles had been shot in a wing while trying to migrate, and despite efforts by center staff, was also unable to fly again.

In 2018, when the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl media outlets began connecting the Eagles with the center’s eagles. Even though the center had been taking its eagles to educational events and continued to host on-site nature programs, it didn’t really “think about celebrating with our birds at that time,” said Klock.

And then two years ago, when the Eagles returned to the Super Bowl, the center decided to have a rally — just like the one they’ll have Saturday.

Klock will share a host of information on the birds and ‘da Birds at the 5 p.m. Saturday event. Attendees will hear Rennie’s story, learn about the hazards wild eagles face and how they can help them. They’ll also hear the eagle’s history as the nation’s symbol and its connection to Philadelphia.

They’ll also get to meet the center’s mascot, Ace, an unofficial relative of NFL mascot, Swoop, while they enjoy snacks and sing the Eagles’ fight song. The program is free but donations are always appreciated.

“We do want to get together. We do want to celebrate our Philadelphia Eagles and we do want to get some information out there about some of the wants and needs of eagles and the environmental center,” Klock said.

Klock is hopeful that the event will go on despite some inclement weather that might be on tap. Check the center’s Facebook for updates.

If it is canceled, Klock remains optimistic.

“If we can’t have a pep rally ahead of time, we will have a celebration party afterward,” he said.