A nine-year-old boy has persuaded his hometown to overturn a historical law outlawing snowball fights.
The town board of Severance, Colorado voted unanimously in favour of lifting the 100-year-old local ordinance, following an impassioned plea by local schoolboy Dane Best.
Throwing snowballs has technically been outlawed in Severance – where the average temperature drops to -8C at the height of winter – since its incorporation in 1920, as part of a broader ban on throwing any form of missile within the town limits.
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Best’s mother says he undertook the unusual crusade after finding out about the ban while on a school trip, first encouraging classmates to join him in a letter-writing campaign, before deciding to make his case to the board in person.
Dressed in a button-up shirt and bow tie, Best delivered a three-minute presentation to board members in which he argued that the ordinance was archaic.
“The law was created many years ago. Today’s kids need a reason to play outside,” he said, according to the local Greeley Tribune.
“The children of Severance want the opportunity to have a snowball fight like the rest of the world.”
However, town board members did not let Best’s youth and the winsome nature of his request stop them asking the tough questions.
“If we do enact snowball fighting, have you talked to your fellow students about safety issues?” one asked.
Another board member proposed an amendment barring townspeople from throwing snowballs at over-60s.
As for what Best plans to do with his newfound freedom, “when board members asked Dane during a meeting in November who he wants to hit, he pointed directly at his little brother”, the Associated Press reports.
Moments after the board voted in favour of Best’s motion, he was escorted outside by town mayor to throw the first legal snowball in the town’s history.
However, his days of living outside the law may not be over, the Associated Press notes: “Dane has a guinea pig, which is illegal in Severance, too.”