SOMERSET — Alex Silvia Rogers dreams of becoming famous. Outside his home on Thursday afternoon, that dream came true.
Due to the power of social media and the kindness that locked-down folks have just been dying to express, Rogers had an amazing 15th birthday party. The festivities included people the Rogers family knows. And people the Rogers family had never before seen.
They party guests accepted a widely shared social media invitation, created by stepmom Cassie Placido, to be part of a drive-by party for Alex, who has Down Syndrome. Beth Rogers, Alex’s mom, was hoping for five to 10 cars. That, she said, would have made Alex’s day. Normally Beth, her mother and Alex celebrate his birthday by going to Dave's Diner in Middleboro. COVID concerns nixed that for this year.
By 2:30 p.m., the announced drive-by party start time, a few early birds had already swung by, some just stopping and beeping, others getting out briefly. By 2:50 or so, Cassie estimated, 60 cars had joined the festivities. Some of the party-goers were friends, including 10 staff members from the Stone School in Fall River where Beth teaches.
Fascinating, though, is the fact that many of the guests were complete strangers to the Rogers. They’re people who had learned through social media (including posts on the Somerset and Swansea Facebook pages) that Alex was nice boy who had never really had a party with friends, so they decided Sullivan Avenue was the place to be mid-afternoon on Thursday, July 2, 2020. They came from Mattapoisett, from Cranston, from Norton.
There were honks and smiles and signs more than a few gift bags. Kirk George and his “Epic Movie Cars” crew turned heads when they turned off Wilbur Avenue and pulled up Sullivan Avenue. They arrived in four extraordinarily cool vehicles, a Marvel Universe car, a Herbie the Love Bug, and two Jurassic Park vehicles, the jeep and SUV. They had learned of the drive-by on social media.
“We saw this,” George said, “and we thought we’d make his day.”
Mission accomplished. The Marvel car came equipped with an Ironman helmet, which an excited Alex got to wear.
Two of Alex’s longtime pediatricians stopped by. There was one of his teachers from the South Coast Collaborative at the North Elementary School. Friends. Friends of friends. Neighbors.
Radio station Fun 107, scouring social media, picked up on the Alex celebration. While they couldn’t do a remote broadcast from Somerset, DJs Maddie Levine and Christopher "Gazelle" Arsenault honored the birthday boy on Thursday morning with a video and Tik-Tok dance.
“It just kind of blew up,” Cassie said. “Unintentionally blew up. People are sending me messages on Facebook. They’re emailing me. A high school teacher I haven’t seen in 15 years sent a card.”
This all, understandably, left Alex feeling like quite the big shot. Beth explained that her son wants to be famous, though not for selfish reasons, but because it might help him to make a lot of money so the family can donate to Boston Children’s Hospital, where he underwent two major surgeries in the early weeks of his life and has had other procedures.
Shy by nature, Alex dutifully honored mom and stepmom requests to step away from gift inventory with brothers Dylan, 17, and Jeovani, 11, and sister Hannah, 16 months, to say hi and thank you to all the guests. Cassie, claiming she absolutely is not a crier, several times caught herself sobbing for joy during roughly hourlong drive-by.
The final estimate? Maybe 80 cars in the first hour. Another 10 to 12 swung by in the ensuing few hours. Cassie said some people asked if they could come by tomorrow (Friday).
“People we don’t even know coming by. 'I’m from Mattapoisett.' People just coming in,” Beth said. “Amazing. I think the world needs this right now.”
Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.