Blizzard of Oz, Sir Snows-a-Lot: Calgary reveals names for snow plow fleet
The City of Calgary has announced new names for its snow plow fleet, following a callout for moniker suggestions from local students late last year.
Calgary is the first municipality in Canada to give names to its fleet of snow plows. Students from kindergarten to Grade 9 were invited to come up with ideas throughout the month of November 2021, and the chosen submissions have now been announced.
“We’ve realized our snow plows need names if they’re going to help us keep our City’s streets safe this winter!” reads a Facebook post from the City of Calgary asking for submissions.
The City said in a media release that students from the Calgary School Board, the Calgary Catholic School District, private schools, and home schools took part in the contest, and that they received almost 1,700 submissions.
“We’d like to thank our students of all ages who helped us name our snow plows. We saw so many unique names, and while we couldn’t use them all, we can tell that the kids in our city are creative and have many interests,” said Chris McGeachy, spokesperson for City of Calgary Roads.
The City noted that it received a wide array of names, from favourite relatives or pets, to celebrities, characters, and sayings from favourite TV shows and movies, along with the Indigenous words for “chinook” and “snow,” and some French and German terms, too.
It even received some Calgary-centric names, such as “Marda Scoop” and “Calgary Plower.”
“We’ve selected some of the most creative and popular names submitted and you should see them plowing a street near you soon,” said the City.
The City has chosen 78 names from the submissions, including “Plowy McPlowface,” “Mr. Plow,” “Blizzard of Oz,” “Sir Snows-a-Lot,” and “Frosty the Snowplow.” A complete list of the new monikers can be found on the City’s website, and winning names will be displayed on the sides of equipment using magnetic decals.
The new names can also be seen on the City’s live snow plow map.