A North Idaho challenge

I'm going to say this once: If you or the area you're living in is not known for something, then you shouldn't be allowed to set a world record at/in such.

Case in point, recently a group of 5,834 people got together to break the Guinness world record for the largest snowball fight - and they did, beating the old record of 5,400 set in South Korea in 2010.

An impressive achievement, to be sure. Getting nearly six thousand souls to show up for anything is quite an accomplishment, but the chance to be a part of a world record adds a little incentive.

So where do you think this feat whizzing white-balls occurred? Hmm, you say ... Alaska? Nope. Michigan? Try again. Ohio? Not even close. New Hampshire? No, no, you're just getting colder ...

How about Seattle? Yep, that's right. A fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County was set up recently, and 30 truckloads of snow was brought in so the supporters could have at it.

Now I'm all for fundraisers, and I'm sure the event, which raised $50,000 for the cause, accomplished its goals, but c'mon - Seattle and snow? Hmmm ...

Not that it never snows in Seattle, but really, The Emerald City is known for rain, not snow.

Seattle should have gone for the largest crowd with slickers and umbrellas belting out 'Singing in the Rain.'

Or they could have gone for a group groan, stating in unison, 'We miss our Sonics, and we'll try not to be so apathetic when the Kings come to town.'

But back to topic. How do you feel about this, North Idaho? Are we going to allow a city, in close proximity and not known for snowfall, to best us at something we obviously could do best?

It would be easy. We could have the whole city just go outside at 1 p.m. on a Sunday (hopefully the sun is out) and make a snowball and fire it toward the nearest neighbor. We could easily double that record, if the folks at Guinness wanted to verify it by helicopter.

While we are at it, what other Guinness records could we easily break around here?

Hmm ....

* Most guns bought per day per capita? A lock.

* Most Spokane residents at an Idaho event? That'd be Fourth of July at City Park. Again, another lock, and easy to count. We'll just spray iridescent paint over all people in cars coming off the freeway at Northwest Boulevard that day. We'll tell them it's a fundraiser and it's not optional.

* Most controversial park. One word: McEuen.

* Most cigarettes, booze and gas bought by non-residents in a single day. Again, we have our Spokane brethren to thank for this one. The problem is, the record will probably be broken the following weekend by the same group of individuals. Guinness will get tired of all the verifications.

I'm sure there's more, and we'll probably have to fight Guinness to ensure that our North Idaho records have worldwide relevance, but that's easily achieved.

We'll just buy 'em a pint - or four - of Guinness.

Jerry Hitchcock is a former amateur snowball sniper and current copy editor for The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, or via email at jhitchcock@cdapress.com