snowball fight

Several Snowball Fights Scheduled for Sunday

By Katie Pyzyk

2014 Battle at Ballston snowball fightYou’ve probably watched everything Netflix offers, surfed the far corners of the internet, and will be ready to get off the couch. Well, you’re in luck because several snowball fights around Arlington could be the perfect way to release some pent up energy tomorrow.

The most hotly anticipated we’ve found, based on the nearly 630 people who have already responded on Facebook, will be near the Clarendon Metro station at noon on Jan. 24.

There will be another snowball fight less than a mile away in Virginia Square. That one begins at 1:00 p.m. in Quincy Park (1021 N. Quincy Street), and the organizer’s Facebook post claims the fun will keep going “until people have tired themselves out.” A similar Quincy Park snowball fight nearly two years ago attracted more than a hundred participants.

Not to be outdone, residents along Columbia Pike have posted a Facebook invite for a “neighborly” snowball fight at Penrose Square (2501 Columbia Pike). The snow flinging is set to start at noon tomorrow.

Metro will remain closed throughout the weekend and travel conditions are expected to be terrible, so it’s recommended that snowball fight attendees plan on safely walking to the events.

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Snow Much Fun: How Arlington Braved the Blizzard to Play

By Tim Regan

Snow fun on Jan. 23

Despite heavy snowfall and gusty winds, lots of locals managed to leave the house and have fun today.

From urban skiing to makeshift luges, here’s how some Arlington residents found a way to play:

Do anything fun today? What do you see out there? We want to hear from you. Tweet at us or send us an e-mail. We will provide live updates as the storm progresses today.

Snowball Fight Turns Violent Outside Carpool

By ARLnow.com

Arlington police car parked in the snow (file photo)Police had to break up a fight outside Carpool (4000 N. Fairfax Drive) over the weekend after some snowball throwing turned violent.

Police say two men in their mid-20s were chucking snowballs near the entrance to the Ballston bar early Sunday morning when a couple approached.

The male half of the couple asked twice that the men stop throwing the snowballs so he and his girlfriend could safely enter the establishment.

“[Expletive] your girlfriend, and [expletive] you,” was the reply, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

At that point, one of the suspects threw a snowball that pegged the woman in the back. The boyfriend, 30, and the snowball tosser then came face-to-face, police say, at which point the suspect “threw a haymaker” at the boyfriend. The boyfriend responded by dodging the punch, then landing a punch of his own, breaking the suspect’s nose, Sternbeck said.

The suspect’s acquaintance, who moments earlier tried and failed to break up the fight, then allegedly stepped in and attempted another wild punch. The boyfriend dodged that punch, as well, then “body slamed suspect No. 2 to the ground,” according to Sternbeck.

Shortly thereafter, Arlington police officers arrived and broke up the fight.

Neither suspect required an ambulance ride to the hospital, Sternbeck said. All parties involved declined to prosecute and were subsequently released without any charges being filed.

Pike Residents Organize Snowball Fight as Snowfall Continues

By Ethan Rothstein

Battle at Ballston snowball fight(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) As Arlington weathers yet another March snowfall, residents are organizing another March snowball fight.

Today, at 4:30 p.m., at Penrose Square — the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Barton Street — neighbors are being invited to participate in a snowball fight in what could be five or more inches of snow.

Pike resident Chris Slatt put out the call for the fight at just about noon on Twitter as a spur-of-the-moment idea. Over the phone, he told ARLnow.com that it seemed like a good opportunity for the shenanigans, considering schools, the government and many private offices are closed.

“My kids wanted to have a snowball fight, and it’s no fun with just three people,” he said.

Whereas last year’s snowball fight in Virginia Square was set up dodgeball-style and more than 100 people showed up, Slatt has no plans for anything remotely that organized. He said in the seven years he’s lived on the Pike, he’s never heard of another community-organized snowball fight.

“I have no idea what to expect,” he said. “It could be 10 people, it could be 100. No rules, just be neighborly and have fun.”

One thing attendees might expect: the rare opportunity to legally throw an object at a legislator.

Far from the frivolity, roads are getting increasingly dangerous. Route 110 at N. Marshall drive had to be briefly closed to clear an accident, and Glebe Road was closed in multiple locations for accidents, including a jackknifed ART bus.

According to scanner reports, S. Walter Reed Drive at Quincy Street was blocked at about 3:10 p.m. for a single-vehicle accident and multiple vehicles are stuck on the hill at Wilson Blvd and N. Lexington Street. Another ART bus was involved in a wreck at Washington Blvd and 3rd Street N., per the scanner.

Primary roads are being plowed as Arlington remains in Phase 2 of snow-clearing efforts, according to the county website. Residential streets will likely have to wait a while longer before plows begin to arrive.

The snow is expected to continue to fall into the evening, and Arlington will remain under a winter storm warning until 9:00 p.m.

Update at 5:00 p.m. — The snowball fight actually happened.

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Va. Square Snowball Fight Attracts Big Crowd

By Ethan Rothstein
1/16

More than a hundred people gathered in Quincy Park in Virginia Square yesterday afternoon to participate in the Battle at Ballston snowball fight.

Snowball fight organizer Danny Douglass set up a game area and held four dodgeball-style games, with more than 90 people participating in some of the matches.

Douglass said he was drinking at Wilson Tavern (2403 Wilson Blvd) Saturday night with some friends when he had the idea. Sunday night, he launched a website, created a Facebook event and got a sponsor — Wilson Tavern, naturally — and a charity for which to collection donations: Research Down Syndrome.

“We were just talking about it and thought it would be fun,” Douglass told ARLnow.com between games, for which he served as referee. “I had no idea so many people would show up. I was expecting no more than 25 or 30, just my D.C. street hockey friends. But very few people here are friends of ours.”

Douglass got help organizing — and refereeing — from his friend Robert Heintz and Wilson Tavern bar manager Conor Mattil. Mattil said he went around other Courthouse-area bars and recruited people to participate Sunday night.

“Once the charity got involved, it was more than just drunken fun,” Mattil said. “Hopefully we do this every time it snows and it will keep picking up.”

The event generated well over $100 for the charity.

Friends Manuel Cordoves and Van Dang were among the participants who heard about the snowball fight from word of mouth. Each have lived in the area for at least two years and this was the first snowball fight in which they had participated.

“It’s been a while since there was enough snow,” Dang said. “It was much more fun, and more organized, than I expected.”

“I was expecting more of a free-for-all,” Cordoves added. “It was great that so many people came out and it was so organized.”

Arlington Snowball Fight Planned

By ARLnow.com

Snowball fight 2/6/2010Some Arlington residents are trying to organize a snowball fight for a good cause.

The snowball fight will be held at Quincy Park (1021 N. Quincy Street), near the Virginia Square Metro station, at 4:00 p.m. today. Organizers are billing it as “the most epic snowball fight in the history of Arlington” and are pledging to collect donations for the Frye Foundation.

So far, 11 people have RSVPed “yes” on the snowball fight’s Facebook page. That would be about half the size of the crowd that showed up at the Clarendon Metro station for a snowball fight on Feb. 6, 2010 — the snow storm also known as “Snowmageddon.”

Organizers of today’s snowball fight, dubiously dubbed the “Battle @ Ballston,” say it’s being “sponsored” by Wilson Tavern in Courthouse, which will be hosting combatants for “post snowball fight eats and drinks.”

The Arlington snowball fight will have some competition and challenges. District residents are planning a snowball fight in Dupont Circle at 2:00 p.m. And ammunition might run low — the Capital Weather Gang says snow may be tapering off by noon.

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Clarendon Snowball Fight Recap

By ARLnow.com

The Clarendon snowball fight proceeded as planned this afternoon. Police, who were called to area for a report of people — shocker — drinking and throwing snowballs, did not interfere with the informal gathering.

Attendance was modest: about two dozen people showed up for the hastily-organized event. Half the crowd lined up on one side of the tiny park, representing points south of the Clarendon Metro. The combatants on the other side represented points north.

Sure, it wasn’t much compared to the 3,000-strong Dupont Circle snowball fight. But at least there weren’t injuries. Or people pelting passing cars with snow. Or (like during December’s U Street snowball fight) guns drawn.

Mass Snowball Fight Planned for 3:00

By ARLnow.com

Update: 2:40 PM – Police are responding to the area of the Clarendon Metro for report of people seen drinking and throwing snowballs.

Word is spreading fast on Twitter and Facebook about a snowball fight happening outside the Clarendon Metro station. It’s planned for 3:00 PM. According to this Craigslist post, there will be two teams: those who live south of the Clarendon station, and those who live north of it.