Kids (and kids at heart) love a good snowball fight. None of us think twice before hurling a ball of fluffy white snow. However, if you live in Wausau, you should. According to a decades-old ban, throwing snowballs is actually illegal in the town. Luckily, Wausau officials are considering wiping the outdated law from the books. Take a look:
Last month, Wausau received some unwarranted media attention when it was mistakenly reported that the city recently passed a law banning snowballs.
Bobak Ha’Eri/Wikimedia
While the snowball ban wasn’t recently passed, the city does have such a law on the books.
Jason/Flickr
The fact that Wausau has such a law to begin with is ironic since it’s probably one of the best places for a snowball fight.
Amy Meredith/Flickr
The city averages about 56” of snow a year, which is double the national average!
Amy Meredith/Flickr
Passed in 1962, the law prohibits the throwing of projectiles and goes on to specifically list snowballs among other banned projectiles, such as rocks and arrows.
trains planes automobiles/Flickr
Though the law has been on the books for decades, it’s rarely enforced. In the past 15 years, only two people have been cited for throwing snowballs – and that’s because they were throwing them at moving cars.
Amanda Fultz/Flickr
Luckily, the city has been a good sport about all the recent media attention and has even announced plans to decriminalize snowball fights at the next City Council meeting.
Joe Gratz/Flickr
And to prove that Wausau loves a good snowball fight just as much as the rest of us, the city recently released a video of the Wausau police and mayor poking fun at the ordinance and even tossing a few snowballs themselves. Check it out:
Bobak Ha’Eri/Wikimedia
Jason/Flickr
Amy Meredith/Flickr
trains planes automobiles/Flickr
Amanda Fultz/Flickr
Joe Gratz/Flickr
So, did you know about Wausau’s decades-old ban on snowballs? Tell us in the comments section.
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Address: Wausau, WI, USA
