“Super Mario” Fires Up Covid Birthdays

Because of the Covid-19 lockdown, Matteo Santell couldn’t invite his friends over for his seventh birthday party. But a visitor did show up, with a ​“Super Mario” surprise.

The visitor was Russ Lyman. Lyman dressed up as a Mario Brother and pulled into the driveway at the Santell family’s Townsend Avenue home in a tricked-out 2006 Toyota Scion xA that looked like it could have come straight out of a Nintendo screen.

Lyman, a 38-year-old video-game fanatic, has been making a lot of these ​“birthday drive-ups” lately in between his day job as a cake decorator at the Milford Costco. He has turned his two passions — car shows and video games — into a sideline bringing cheer to kids’ birthday parties during the pandemic.

“Once coronavirus hit, a lot of kids couldn’t have birthday parties and people were posting on Facebook pages of their kid’s drive-by birthday parties with the honking and homemade signs,” said Lyman. ​“Then I thought, ​‘Hey my car totally stands out. I should start doing this because I want the kids to smile.’”

Lyman has designed Nintendo-themed cars for a decade.

A member of a nationwide ​“Scikotics” club, he bought his first Toyota Scion brand new in 2006. Four years later he applied a Mario fireball graphic. He changed the design in April 2017 to a Mario and Luigi ​“fire and ice” theme with a design by a freelance artist named Tom Ryan, whom he met at a video game convention.

In 2018 he crashed the car on black ice after snowstorms hit the state. He bought another 2006 Toyota Scion a year later and triple-toned the colors red, white and blue. Ryan designed a new Mario Bros. look for the car. That’s the Scion Lyman began bringing to parties after the coronavirus hit.

Word about Lyman’s appearances spread online. It wasn’t long before he received a request to travel to Monroe, N.Y. to pop in on parties. His largest followings consist predominantly on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, where he has posted his adventures at conventions, car shows, and now coronavirus birthday parties.

“I work similar to Uber Eats, where I charge by distance,” said Lyman. ​“Fifteen dollars to West Haven and New Haven, $20 to Milford and Wallingford, and $60 to Bristol and Amston.”

When he arrives at a party, Lyman honks the horn, then pushes a button to play Super Mario Bros. effects that he installed into his car.

The kids get a kick out of it. He remains in the car as kids come up to pose with him to take pictures.

Matteo Santell and his 5‑year old cousin Sorren Meisner were excited when Lyman showed up at their party. Sorren said that he was most impressed with the ride’s glow-in the dark steering wheel.

“The only thing that Mario was missing today was being pixelated,” said Matteo.

Santell’s aunt, Johnna Meisner, joined in a three-car caravan to accompany Lyman to the party. Meisner said the family decided to keep a short guest list to enforce social distancing guidelines. She added that Lyman’s performance stole the show as he was the only themed car in the drive-by.

“I thought Mario was a lot of fun,” said Meisner. ​“It was a really great surprise for Matteo’s birthday. With the quarantine, kids aren’t having as much fun as they should be so it was cool to have him come by and cheer up my nephew.”

Geronimo and Ronda Santell said their son has always loved Mario Kart. So they knew he would get a kick out of Lyman’s vehicle.

“We can’t give hugs today and the cousins can’t play as much as they’d like to, but it is what it is,” said Geronimo Santell. ​“Our family knows how to get inventive. We’ve done a lot of Zooming and Facetiming to celebrate. My son gets shy in the public eye, but I know that he really appreciates it.”

Kids like Matteo and Sorren are the reason Lyman has kept the party rolling even while facing speed bumps along the way. The car’s transmission blew. Some $1,500 later, part of it donated from the ​“West Haven the way it is” Facebook group, the Mario Kart was back on the road once again.

“I had been saving the money from prior parties to pay for previous repairs anyways,” said Lyman. ​“I couldn’t let down all of these kids with birthdays coming up. I really enjoy being in the car and showing it off to people. It’s a bonus to make a child’s birthday that much better by showing up.”

Lyman said he has plans to develop the sideline into a solid, part-time gig even after social distancing guidelines end.

“I was thinking when this all blows over, I may be able to get out of the car more and interact with the kids, and we can play some of the games together,” said Lyman. ​“I can bring my switch and we can do Mario Kart, and spend a good hour at the party rather than just driving by and chatting for a few minutes.”
Find out more about Russ Lyman’s birthday drive-ups here.