Looking to make good use of Monday’s snowfall, organizers on social media have proposed the second annual “Jim Meyer” classic snowball fight at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Buckley Park.
Last year, Durango resident Jim Meyer called for a community snowball fight on Facebook after the season’s first big storm on Jan. 13. About 25 people battled it out in the city park between 12th and 13th streets on Main Avenue.
“I started this whole mess,” Meyer joked Monday. “I was just looking for something to get everyone outside and do something fun together. We played capture the flag and football. It was a blast.”
On Monday, residents took to social media once again to rally Durangoans to a snowball fight Tuesday afternoon.
“Me and my wife will go up and represent Farmington,” Steve Valerio posted on Durango Colorado On-Line Garage Sale. “Whoooop whhoooop! Let the games begin.”
However, snowballers could violate a city ordinance that prohibits throwing snowballs, which the code considers to be a “missile.”
According to Sec. 18-34, it is illegal “to throw or cast any stone or other missile within any city park, playground or recreational facility except in areas set aside for the playing of games in which missiles are customarily thrown, and then only to the extent customary in playing such games.”
Durango Police spokeswoman Rita Warfield said the department wouldn’t normally intervene if people were just playing in the snow, but because it’s technically an organized event, it violates city code.
“We would have to see it or have to be called there before we would do anything,” Warfield said. “(The ordinance) was intended for things that would injure people. We would have to enforce it if we knew about it.”
Meyer wasn’t concerned that DPD would break up the fun in Buckley Park. Officers showed up last year and “They pulled up, looked and laughed, and moved on.”
Meyer pointed to the amazing opportunity he and others had to meet new friends while enjoying the winter weather.
“A lot of people, you knew their names from Facebook, and you got to put a face to the name,” he said. “And then hit them in the face with a snowball.”
Asked if he would attend his namesake snowball classic on Tuesday, Meyer said he wouldn’t miss it.
“I’ve got a title to defend.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
