Chicago’s snowplow naming contest is back for more snow puns

Residents with a love for puns and snowplows can enter the city’s second “You Name a Snowplow” contest. Previous winning names include “Mrs. O’Leary’s Plow,” “Salter Payton,” “Sears Plower,” and “Jean Baptiste Point du Shovel.” (Brian Kersey/Getty Images)

Got good holiday puns up your sleeve? Chicagoans who love winter snow management are invited to give a nickname to their neighborhood snowplow through the city’s second annual “You Name a Snowplow” contest.

Starting this week, residents can submit potential names, like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Snowplow,” until Jan. 12, 2024 or until the city receives 20,000 submissions, whichever comes first.

Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot launched the annual snowplow naming contest last year. Winning names included “Mrs. O’Leary’s Plow,” “Salter Payton,” “Sears Plower,” and “Jean Baptiste Point du Shovel.”

Sleet Home Chicago (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times (file))

Submissions can be made at www.chicagoshovels.org and are limited to 50 characters and one per resident.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation will narrow down submissions to 50 finalists and let residents vote for their favorites next month in a citywide vote. The voting period runs between Jan. 22 and Feb. 2.

The top six names will be featured on one snowplow in each of the city’s six snow districts, joining the named snowplows announced earlier this year.

Once the six winners are chosen, residents will be able to view their newly named vehicles through the city’s snowplow tracker. Those who submitted the winning names will get the chance to take a photo with the snowplow they named.

Sears Plower (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times (file))

Gloria Pittman, the deputy commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation, with Salter Payton, a snow plow that was named by a Chicagoan, during the unveiling of seven new snow plows in March. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times (file))