Comments on: Montrose Park Birthday Parties Are Getting Out of Hand

By: gwadzilla

gwadzilla — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:46:55 +0000

it the park is respected and the space is shared…

then these parties should not be an issue

this sort of thing happens all over the city
often the party hosts allow other non guest children to join in on the fun

it is good for the community

it is nice to see people get out of their houses

By: IMGoph

IMGoph — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:58:13 +0000

let ‘em keep doing it.

but make ‘em pay for it!

c’mon, these people can clearly afford it, so make ‘em pay a couple hundred bucks. the city coffers can use the money. or the NPS’ coffers…

By: National Parks Not National Parties » We Love DC

National Parks Not National Parties » We Love DC — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:17:49 +0000

[...] Georgetown Metropolitan covered the growing incidence of kids’ parties staged at Montrose Park, part of Rock Creek [...]

By: Mari

Mari — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:05:39 +0000

No pony for you!
Yes, obnoixous displays of over doing a kids party must be curbed. Moonbounces should be limited to block parties and other community events.
I say crash those large parties, that will discourage them if the surrounding hoi polloi keep showing up.

By: OldGeorgetowner

OldGeorgetowner — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:09:43 +0000

In defense of GM –

Ten years ago, I took my son to a birthday party for the six-year old daughter of a local billionaire. There was a petting zoo with six or eight animals, a pony, a juggler, a clown who tied balloons in various shapes, a face painter, a couple strolling musicians, a popcorn machine, a snow cone machine — you get the idea.

After a while I sidled over to the old carny who was minding the llamas, etc. and asked how could I ever top this when my son’s birthday rolled around?

“That’s easy,” he said. “You get the elephant.”

True story.

By: GM

GM — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:48:41 +0000

Ouch. Well, I’ll try to dial it down.

Although all bets are off if I see a fire-breathing elephant.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:02:25 +0000

Seriously? GM was always the cream of the ‘dc neighborhood blogs’ because it seemed to manage to resist the urge to post whines about petty little items. No longer.

By: J. MacLeod

J. MacLeod — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:48:35 +0000

Just because home/car break-ins, and muggings occur in G’town doesn’t mean that other lessor topics should be ignored, but REALLY!?

Rose Park regularly is the sight of small barn yard animals and moon bounces for kiddy events, and I always enjoy the sight. The only frustrating aspect is that I want to bounce on the moon too, but am too embarassed to do so. BTW, I’ve never noticed ruined grass as a result of the moon bounce…

Don’t be a party pooper, and don’t make a big deal out of a non-issue – until you see elephants, and fire-breathing clowns.

By: GM

GM — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:26:19 +0000

Well I guess part of it for me is that I find pony rides to be terribly depressing to watch. Plus I didn’t find it that cute when the poor llamas were being yanked around on a leash by the kids. And just generally it seems like they’re pushing it too far. (Although I must say that I found the 15 foot long child-sized table to be pretty cute).

But I also agree that as of now, they’re not in and of themselves a real problem (well, except for the moon bounces, since those can really damage the grass). The real problem is if it starts happening more often and if parents start to “one-up” each other. The fact that they’ve moved from a simple pony ride to a full-blown petting zoo is what makes me worried that they’re already in “one-up” mode.

By: Michael Kessler

Michael Kessler — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:11:24 +0000

Given that some people I know in the “dog-walking” community got rounded up like a bunch of sheep two months ago (3 SUVs and a motorcycle cop descended in like they were breaking up an al Qaeda meeting), the enforcement measures are, if anything, inconsistent. (And, this happened after numerous reports had been given to the park police that a man appearing to match the description of the guy that attacked a woman on Q and 31st a few weeks prior had been frequently seen around behind Dumbarton…that report was met with the silence of crickets and blank stares).

We ran through the park with our dogs (on leashes) while that party with the fenced barnyard was going on. Prone to getting out of sorts over these things, like GM may be, my only reaction was “how cute.” It was a small parcel and relatively quiet. The problem, of course, is when lots of these things start happening or if the activity is a nuisance.