With all of the snow we’ve had lately here on good old Long Island, as I’ve been driving around, I have noticed that one formerly widespread winter activity seems to have disappeared; throwing snowballs at cars!
When we were kids, hitting a moving target with a snowball provided all kinds of fun. First off, it was a bit of a challenge to hit a moving vehicle, especially if you were some distance from the roadway. Second, if you hit a good sized truck, you’d get a very satisfying ‘thump’ sound, particularly if the truck was empty. And third, there was always the possibility that the operator of the vehicle you’d hit might take umbrage, sometimes severe umbrage, and actually try to chase and catch you, either by stopping and pursuing you on foot, or with their vehicle.
All of these were, it seemed to my friends and I, proper reason to stand on the little mound by the New Hyde Park Road LIRR grade crossing and take our shots at the many tractor trailers, Schenck buses, and various other cars and trucks that would pass by us.
That particular location was choice because it provided you a bit of protection against being chased too often. Standing on the hill on the south side of the railroad tracks, you’d pelt the northbound traffic as it crossed the tracks. The lack of space on the side of New Hyde Park road (which is four narrow lanes, no parking nor standing on either side) prevented people from stopping on that road to chase us. There wasn’t much chance for a bus or tractor trailer to turn around once they’d crossed the tracks either, so it was a fairly ‘secure’ spot for us. Of course, occasionally you’d annoy someone so much that they’d drive up to Jericho Turnpike, make three right turns, then a left, and come back southbound on New Hyde Park road to give chase. Fortunately, we all pretty much knew one brand and model car from another, and we’d always note what we’d just hit; blue Buick Electra; red Ford Fairlane; black Dodge Polara. If we saw the exact same color and model heading south, we’d just boogie on out of there, sometimes running along the railroad right of way until we could duck into one of our yards that were next to the tracks. Then we’d casually stroll over to one of our houses and hang out for a bit until we figured the motorist had grown tired of looking for us.
Of course, while we were standing there by the railroad tracks, pelting cars, trucks, and buses with snowballs, we’d also take our shots at the LIRR trains as well. They weren’t as much fun to hit, as they were so big they were easy targets, and they didn’t make that nice deep, hollow ‘thump’ sound like a truck or bus did. But, we’d toss at the engines and the cars.
Now, I should say, we were always careful to try not to hit windows; even at that age, we realized that was not a bright idea. Of course, occasionally a snowball would get away, and we’d get a windshield or side window. Coincidentally, those seemed to be the cars whose drivers would chase us the most!

Another great spot for hitting cars was at the dead end at the east side of Colonial Avenue. This was another sort of a ‘hill’, which, at the end of the street, was a grassy area that sloped down towards Tanners Pond Road. Tanners Pond was a pretty busy road, but since it went under the LIRR tracks via a very narrow bridge at its north end, it didn’t get many trucks or buses. Still, it was a great spot, there were a lot of cars that came down Tanners Pond every day, so you didn’t have to wait long for your next target. Like the spot on New Hyde Park Road, you’d also sometimes get chased. Tanners Pond is a pretty wide road, and so there was nothing preventing a motorist from stopping their car, getting out, and chasing you. If that happened, you’d just have to hope you hadn’t hit a car with a fast runner driving it! Clever drivers could also just make a right on Fenimore Avenue, then another right on Kenmore Road, and they’d be right at the dead end cul de sac of Colonial Avenue. In that case, they’d come in from behind you, and could occasionally surprise you. Eventually, we figured out that if one of us stood down at the bottom of the hill, we could watch the cars going south on Tanners Pond, and if one that we’d hit made the right on Fenimore, we’d hotfoot it out of there before they could get to the cul de sac.
Of course, we threw snowballs at lots of stationery objects as well. Mailboxes, trees, street signs – anything and everything was a target in those days. We especially liked throwing them at the old streetlights we had in our neighborhood. These things were about 10 feet high, and were topped with a very thick, milky colored plastic fixture. They made a nice sound when you hit them, and eventually we all got pretty good at not just hitting the light fixture, but most of us could nail the approximately six inch diameter pole from a pretty good distance. To this day, I’m convinced that in addition to being out on the playground playing stickball, softball, baseball, catch, ‘error’, and all the other games we played with a ball, the snowball throwing just made my arm better and more accurate. And to this day, at least once each winter, I go outside, pack up a nice baseball sized snowball, and take aim at the street light pole next door. And, I’m happy to say, most times, I nail that thing with no more than two or three throws!
Which brings me back to my original thought, what happened to all the kids who threw snowballs at cars? I haven’t had a snowball tossed at me for several years now, and I rarely even see kids throwing snowballs at anything, including each other, these days. Of course, these days, with the thin, cheap ‘metal’ that a lot of cars are made of, hitting one with a nice, well packed snowball might actually put a ding in the metal. In that case, I have a feeling that the driver might just chase you until they actually caught you!