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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 






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