Carter Cherry, a 10-year-old from Powell, Ohio, is about to see his face light up on two digital screens above a restaurant in the middle of Times Square. The boy known around central Ohio as Rockstar Cherry was picked from more than 2,700 entries submitted worldwide for a photo tribute honoring people with Down syndrome, and his image will cycle through a one-hour video presentation on September 12.
According to WSYX, Carter's image will be shown on screens above the Dos Caminos restaurant in Father Duffy Square, part of a video that includes more than 500 selected photographs representing children, teens and adults with Down syndrome from all 50 states and 12 countries. The presentation is organized by the National Down Syndrome Society, which was established in 1979 and serves as the country's primary human rights and advocacy organization for people with Down syndrome, working on health resources, employment initiatives and legislative policy, according to the National Down Syndrome Society.
Carter's parents told the station that Down syndrome does not define their son, and that being a rockstar simply means bringing joy, believing you belong, and showing up as yourself. They added that people do not have to be famous to be a rockstar — a message that doubles as the origin of Carter's nickname.
A Kickoff for a Much Bigger Weekend
The Times Square video presentation is not a standalone event. It serves as the ceremonial kickoff for the 31st annual NYC Buddy Walk, held at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, a program that was created in New York in 1995 and has since grown to include more than 150 walks nationwide, per NDSS. The billboard space for the hour-long video, displayed on two screens, is donated annually by Clear Channel Outdoor, which has partnered with NDSS for years to provide the prime Manhattan advertising space, as reported by the Southern Maryland Chronicle.
The celebration extends well past Manhattan's billboards and Central Park's bandshell. Per NDSS, the weekend wraps up on September 13 with an official partnership event alongside the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, where participants receive co-branded Yankees hats and ticket packages supporting NDSS community programs. Families who cannot make the trip to New York can watch the Times Square debut live, since NDSS will livestream the presentation on its Facebook page, with the broadcast running from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Rockstar Cherry's Central Ohio Stages
Back home, Carter's rockstar persona has real venues attached to it. He performs with his uncle and brother's band at Papa Boo's, a lakeside restaurant in Thornville on Buckeye Lake, and at Campfire Brewery, a family-oriented brewery in Westerville. Both spots sit not far from Powell, the Delaware County community roughly 14 miles north of Columbus that has grown to an estimated population of 19,001 residents this year, according to World Population Review.
Delaware County remains one of Ohio's fastest-growing counties, and Powell has had other milestones of its own this year — Hoodline previously reported on a $46 million sewage plant overhaul completed in the town earlier this month. Carter's Times Square moment gives the growing suburb a very different kind of headline.
Part of a Broader National Picture
Carter's selection lands amid a wider run of stories about young people with Down syndrome finding visibility in sports, entertainment and community life. Hoodline reported in August on Naila Crow, a six-year-old in Katy, Texas, who built confidence and physical skills through an inclusive indoor youth soccer program, and separately profiled Matthew Schwab, a Wake County actor with Down syndrome who starred in the feature film Horsegirls and has spoken publicly about disability awareness following the film's premiere.
Those stories echo a broader medical and social trend. Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal condition in the United States, occurring in about 1 in every 700 live births, or roughly 6,000 infants a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Advances in medical treatment and community inclusion programs have pushed average life expectancy for people with Down syndrome from 25 years in 1983 to nearly 60 years today, per Cross River Therapy.
For now, the open question for Carter's family and neighbors is simply what it will feel like to watch a Powell kid's face cycle across a Times Square screen — whether they make the trip to Manhattan themselves or tune into the Facebook livestream from central Ohio. Either way, come September 12, Rockstar Cherry will be a very long way from Buckeye Lake.
