Winnipeg’s snowplows have been given new names chosen by thousands of voters in the city’s first-ever naming contest for the equipment.
Winnipeggers of all ages were invited to submit ideas for names for 12 heavy machines — six graders and six loaders. The city also asked classrooms to submit ideas for a team name for a group of walk-behind push-plows.
It’s a tradition that appears to have started in 2006 in Scotland, where schoolchildren were invited to submit ideas for names for plows, or gritters, as they’re known in the U.K., the BBC reported in 2018.
Winnipeg’s 12 winning names are:
The winners were invited to the announcement to receive custom name plates printed as keepsakes.
“It was fun to just do something here that’s really enjoyable and a bit more lighthearted,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said at the news conference Tuesday.
“When people voted, they really voted — over 13,000 votes came on the names that were submitted.”
The city also asked classrooms to submit ideas for team names for a group of walk-behind push-plows, for a chance to win a pizza party with Gillingham at city hall.
The winning entry, Brrrrr-ger Kings, came from Ms. Tugby’s class at Van Belleghem School.
That name was a way to honour Winnipeg’s snow-clearing crews, who should “be treated like royalty for working hard in the cold,” Gillingham said.
The snow-clearing equipment will keep the new names until the next contest, the mayor said.
