Sudbury Birthday Girl Gets Car Parade During Coronavirus

SUDBURY, MA — In the age of coronavirus, a new birthday trend is sweeping the nation: car parades, where long lines of visitors drive by to greet a birthday girl or boy from a distance.

A Sudbury girl turning 12 got her own car-parade birthday on Friday, but it was a special effort between her parents, Sudbury teachers, and dozens of people from across the region.

Anna Tabasky, a Curtis Middle School student who lives with Down Syndrome, had been looking forward to a big 12th birthday celebration on April 3. Of course, coronavirus disrupted those plans.

Mom Kerri Tabasky worked with Curtis speech pathologist Lindsey Carapezza to arrange for Anna's friends to drive by in cars (a birthday luncheon Carapezza had originally planned was, of course, cancelled). On a very rainy Friday, a line of up to 50 cars from surrounding towns drove by to say happy birthday — from a safe distance.

Anna Tabasky also got to video chat with her friends. It turned out to be her biggest birthday celebration so far.

"She's just an amazing kid, and I'm really happy people showed up," Kerri Tabasky said. "Hopefully she'll remember this for a long time."

"She's just been so excited about her birthday for months and months and months," Carapezza said. "We care so deeply for all of our students in Sudbury and this was just one example of people coming together. Everybody heard about it and wanted to be a part of it."