As winter gets underway, some states are trying to bring some levity to the cold, dark season by holding contests that raise awareness of snowplows, but nobody tops Minnesota when it comes to snowplow-naming contests. Minnesotans were invited to submit their creative and unique winter names for 8 of Minnesota’s DOT snowplows, one for each district. Last year, out of the more than 22,000 names entered, the top 3 winners were: Betty Whiteout, CTRL Salt Delete and The Big Leplowski. Mike Henderson, the resident who won the contest said he really liked the movie The Big Lebowski. “So, you put ‘snowplow’ and ‘Lebowski’ together and you get ‘Leplowski,’” said Henderson. Officials believe that by naming the snowplows, people are more likely to recognize them on the roadways and understand to steer clear of them when they’re out doing their job. Other names that were submitted last year include Scoop Dogg, Plowasaurus Rex and Edward Blizzardhands.
