Canton 2nd grader to get her moment on Broadway

This photo of 8-year-old Lucy Falcone with her grandfather Bruce Beckham will appear on the MTV plasma screen in Times Square on September 24.

Her T-shirt proclaims her a star, and on September 24, that is precisely what 8-year-old Lucy Falcone will be, as an image of her and her grandfather, Bruce Beckham, will appear on the MTV jumbo plasma screen in Times Square as part of a special video presentation promoting the “value, acceptance, and inclusion of people with Down syndrome.”

The photo of Lucy, a soon-to-be second grader at the Kennedy Elementary School, was selected from over 1,200 entries in the National Down Syndrome Society’s worldwide call for photos. The video will feature over 200 photographs — all depicting children, teens and adults with Down syndrome “working, playing and learning alongside friends and family.”

Introduced in 1999, the NDSS Times Square video kicks off National Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and “reminds the world in a big way about the gifts that people with Down syndrome bring to their communities.”

“It’s a huge slideshow,” said Beverly Beckham, Lucy’s grandmother and an award-winning columnist for the Boston Globe.

According to Beverly, this year marks the second time that Lucy will have been featured in the NDSS video, although it was a bit more of a surprise this time since Beverly entered the photo at the “last minute” and didn’t mention it to anybody until after Lucy was selected.

Of course, far more important than the recognition or the screen time is the larger message about Down syndrome that the video represents — a message that has spurred Beverly’s involvement with the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress and her commitment as a team leader in the annual Buddy Walk in Wakefield.

“It’s about language,” she said of the MDSC’s efforts. “It’s about acceptance. It’s about seeing people first and not their disability.”

And while it’s tempting to believe that Americans have reached the point of total acceptance, it was only a month ago that a national publication came under fire for insensitive remarks about people with Down syndrome — people, as Beverly is quick to point out, like her granddaughter Lucy.

The story in question, which appeared in GQ magazine’s online edition, rated Boston as the worst-dressed city in America while claiming that the city “suffers from a kind of Style Down Syndrome where a little extra ends up ruining everything.”

The “little extra,” critics believe, was a reference to the extra chromosome that people with Down syndrome are born with.

“This is a prime reason why the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress exists,” Beverly wrote in her fundraising letter for the Buddy Walk. “To refute words like this, to show the world who people with Down syndrome really are.”

It’s also the reason why Beverly, along with dozens of family members and friends, will raise thousands of dollars for this year’s walk, which is scheduled for October 9 at Lake Quannapowitt.

Over the past two years, in fact, no team has raised more money than “Team Lucy,” which collected over $24,000 in 2010 alone.

This year, the fundraising goal is a bit more modest, but it will still be a challenge as they are hoping to recruit another 40 members and collect more than $12,000 in a little over a month’s time.

For Beverly, part of the challenge of fundraising is that she has become more aware than ever of all of the causes and needs that are out there. Yet she also knows firsthand that a donation to the MDSC is worth every penny.

She sees it in programs such as Parents’ First Call, which offers support and information to anyone with children newly diagnosed with Down syndrome, or in the visit an MDSC rep made to Lucy’s school last year to provide information and answer kids’ questions about Down syndrome.

As for her granddaughter, Beverly is proud to report that Lucy is doing great and is looking forward to the start of school next week.

“The best thing about Canton — and it’s really wonderful — is that Lucy is included in her classroom,” said Beverly. “She’s not separated from it.”

At the same time, Beverly admits that most things are a challenge for Lucy — reading, writing, swinging from the monkey bars, counting, talking — but she sure is persistent.

“She tries and she tries and she tries,” said her grandmother. “Persistence and determination are the real ‘little extra’ that people with Down syndrome have.”

***

To become a member of Team Lucy and participate in the 15^th annual MDSC Buddy Walk and Family Picnic, go to www.tinyurl.com/3tahtsh. To donate to Team Lucy, go to www.tinyurl.com/4yqeqm8, or mail a check to MDSC c/o Beverly Beckham, 298 Chapman Street, Canton, MA 02021.

Share This Post

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=7659