Skip to main content

A Special Man, A Special Place



The name Panagiotis Barlas may not be familiar to you but this vision might. 



Here’s a closer look.


Photo credit Jude Aidam


Panagiotis Barlas, known as “Pano” to his family, was the Pete of Pete’s Snowballs, a fixture in Columbia summers for as long as I can remember - - and even before that. He died on June 24th. In a remembrance of his life a family member wrote:

With no more than a shirt on his back and a work ethic, Pete came to America in 1969, a country where he knew no-one and couldn’t even speak the language. He took any job he could get, working day and night to save up money to bring his family with him. He moved to Columbia and with his sweat and determination, opened Pete’s snowballs and fruit stand. His friendly demeanor, with the occasional free peach cut right from the tree, brought the community together for decades. He loved and knew every single customer on a personal level like they were family. 


Panagiotis Barlas, image from remembrance by George Barlas 


I’ve been struggling to write something that fully honors the life’s work of Mr. Barlas and acknowledges the contribution he has made to our community. In the end I found myself going back to words I’ve written before.

If anyone had asked me to choose a snowball stand to feature in the newspaper, I would have steered them to Pete's. Pete's Snowballs is a summer tradition in my neck of the woods. It sits at the intersection of Oakland Mills Road and....Oakland Mills Road. I'm not kidding. Here, in a little patch of land that time forgot and decades have not improved, Pete and his family grow produce, make honey, and sell snowballs. - - Take the Challenge, Village Green/Town², August 11, 2017

Pete's stands out from its surroundings as an island of the rural past in the sea of planned neighborhoods that is Columbia. It draws us in from Oakland Mills, Long Reach, and Owen Brown. Our world may be mostly chain restaurants and big box stores, but Pete's is pure mom-and-pop. The signs are hand-painted and imperfect. You can pick up their home-grown produce and hand crafted honey while you're there. - - People Watching, July 30, 2013

About Pete’s. We love Pete’s. I would like to claim it for Oakland Mills. Alas, it is apparently in Long Reach. Perhaps we can think of the area that houses Pete’s Snowball stand, his family home, and his garden as being in a neutral location. Like Switzerland. I guess Pete’s is too awesome to belong to just one village. - - Tuesday Topics, June 1, 2021


Image from Google Maps

Pete’s Snowballs is open for business this summer. The family is keeping it going. Go by and treat yourself to your favorite icy treat and check out the produce, too. Sit at a picnic table, shaded by trees, and marvel at this small garden oasis that somehow still exists in Columbia in 2024 because of the work of one man that we called Pete. 


Eonia i mnimi - - may his memory be eternal 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more