Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

And the 2024-2025 Minnesota snowplow name winners are… February 13, 2025

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(Graphic from the Minnesota Department of Transportation)

IN MINNESOTA, we’re not off to see The Wizard, but the blizzard. Or maybe we wish we were heading for the Emerald City. But the people have voted, and We’re Off to See the Blizzard topped the eight names selected for the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s annual Name a Snowplow Contest.

Polls closed last Friday with 23,400 people voting for up to eight names on a list of 50. That was narrowed from some 7,300 submissions.

A snowplow in my native southwestern Minnesota will now bear the name spun off from a line in “The Wizard of Oz” starring native Minnesotan Frances Gumm, aka Judy Garland. Her hometown of Grand Rapids (Minnesota, not Michigan) is located in MnDOT’s District 1 on the northeastern side of our state. A plow in that region will be tagged SKOL Plow, a tribute to the Scandinavian cheer chant for the Minnesota Vikings. That name came in at number seven in the polls.

Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, popular superhero characters. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Here in southeastern Minnesota, Plowbunga! will now mark one of MnDOT’s big orange snowplow trucks. Does that reference Cowabunga! of “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” fame? I think so. My girls loved those cartoon superheroes, turtles in a half shell. Plowabunga! was the third top vote-getter.

Coming in second was Snowtorious B.I.G., which totally baffled me. So I googled and found connections to snow, drugs and sweaters.

Anthony Sledwards also had me stumped. Turns out Anthony Edwards is a star basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves. That explains it. I don’t watch sports. Travel in the Twin Cities metro and you will soon see Anthony Sledwards plowing snow.

The original version of “How to Talk Minnesotan,” published in the 1980s, is a primer to Minnesota language. (Book cover sourced online)

The fifth and sixth place winners, You’re Welcome and Don’tcha Snow, honor Minnesota Speak, phrases (or versions of) spoken by Minnesotans. Don’tcha know?

Rounding out the top ten is I Came, I Thaw, I Conquered, which will go on a plow in District 7, South Central Minnesota.

So there you go. How did I do with my picks? Three of my eight choices—We’re Off to See the Blizzard, SKOL Plow and Catch My Drift (#9 and which I really really like)—finished in the top ten.

I’m not sayin’ take me to Jackpot Junction, Mystic Lake, Treasure Island or any other casino in Minnesota because I’m not that good at picking winners. But I am sayn’ this annual contest is a whole lot of fun and certainly breaks up a long Minnesota winter.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Name that Minnesota snowplow January 29, 2025

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Blowing snow reduces visibility along Rice County Road 25/197th Street East near Faribault on January 18, 2020. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

WITH THE LONG WINTERS we have here in Minnesota, we find creative ways to get through this lengthy, lingering season. That includes naming our state-owned snowplows.

It’s that time of year again when voting opens in the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Name That Snowplow Contest. Yup, we started naming our snowplows in 2020. Not all of them, of course, because MnDOT has a large fleet of big orange snowplows. Rather, eight names are selected for a snowplow in each of MnDOT’s eight districts.

The contest, and, yes, this is a contest, garnered more than 7,300 submissions for the 2024-2025 season. Guidelines called for witty, unique and Minnesota or winter-themed names. Rules banned profanity, political connections (thank you, MnDOT) and such. In other words, Minnesotans needed to exercise Minnesota Nice in suggesting snowplow names.

In a nod to Taylor Swift, a snowplow in MnDOT’s District 2 was named Taylor Drift in the 2024 contest. (Photo credit: Minnesota Department of Transportation)

MnDOT staff reviewed the submitted names and narrowed the choices to 50. How would you like that job? Now the public has until noon on Friday, February 7, to vote for up to eight names. Just like in any election, you can vote only once. But not at the ballot box. Vote online.

Scrolling through the list of names, I picked my favorites. Now, if my choices influence your picks, I offer no apologies. You can vote your conscience.

A City of Faribault truck plows snow in the winter of 2023. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2023)

I’m voting for these names, listed in alphabetical order and followed by my reasons for selecting them:

Bob Chillin’—A tribute to native son, singer, songwriter and poet Bob Dylan, who is not a complete unknown.

Catch My Drift—Just because it’s catchy and this is what snowplows do, especially on my native prairie.

Little Plow on the Prairie—A nod to author Laura Ingalls Wilder and the TV series, Little House on the Prairie, set in Walnut Grove, Minnesota (the show, not the book).

Make Snowbegone—A reference to writer Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegon and also the way many Minnesotans feel in the deep of a snowy winter.

MinneSNOWta N’ice—Obviously referring to Minnesota weather and the “Minnesota Nice” moniker tagged to Minnesotans.

SKOL Plow—Even if the Minnesota Vikings did not get to the Super Bowl (again), we remain (mostly) loyal to our team and are fond of our Scandinavian cheer chant, SKOL!

Snow Place Like Home—A clever twist on the phrase, “There’s no place like home” from The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland, Dorothy in the film, was born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

We’re Off To See the Blizzard—And, yes, that would be a spin off “We’re off to see the wizard (of Oz).” Snowplows are, indeed, sometimes off to see the blizzard.

There you go. Exercise your right to vote in a nonpartisan election. Just for fun. To vote, click here.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

And the winning snowplow names in Minnesota are… February 10, 2023

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Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation Facebook page

SORRY, TAYLOR SWIFT, but you just missed getting a version of your name printed on a snowplow in Minnesota. That’s according to results of the 2022-23 Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Name a Snowplow Contest. “Taylor Drift” came in at number nine, right behind “Sleetwood Mac,” a tribute to Fleetwood Mac, a band especially popular in the 70s and 80s. With only a 476-vote difference, I suppose Swift could call for a recount.

Topping the winners’ list is “Yer a Blizzard, Harry,” a reference to Harry Potter. The name will go on a MnDOT snowplow assigned to southwest Minnesota.

Placing second is “Blizzo,” an obvious reference to superstar singer Lizzo, who lived in Minneapolis when launching her career. “Blizzo” will, rightfully so, grace an orange snowplow truck in the Twin Cities metro.

This contest, in its third year, has become quite a hit in Minnesota with 10,400-plus names submitted, then narrowed to 60 before polls opened to online voting. Suggestions that made the ballot were chosen based on uniqueness, Minnesota-specificity and frequency of submission. Some 64,000 people voted, able to select up to eight names. The top eight names will be emblazoned on eight plows in MnDOT’s eight districts.

“Scoop! There It Is” is going on a truck in my district of southeast Minnesota.

I was happy to see “Blader Tot Hotdish” coming in at number six. That was my personal favorite, a reference to Minnesota’s iconic Tater Tot Hotdish (aka “casserole” in other regions of the country). I’ll need to travel all the way to northwest Minnesota to see that moniker on a truck.

Minnesota is not the first cold weather place to have a little winter fun with snowplow tagging. Scotland apparently started this trend in 2006 seeking names for its “gritters,” as the plows are called. The Michigan Department of Transportation, the State of Vermont Agency of Transportation, and the cities of Indianapolis and Lafayette (where my son lives), Indiana, also hold snowplow naming competitions.

With winters as long as they are in places like Minnesota, I embrace the distraction of naming snowplows. When Taylor Swift rolls into Minneapolis for her sold-out concerts in late June, all the snow drifts should be gone. She’ll rank number one among fans packing U.S. Bank Stadium, fans who have likely long forgotten that “Taylor Drift” just missed going on a Minnesota road tour.

FYI: For a complete, detailed list of voting results in the MnDOT Name a Snowplow Contest, click here.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Winter diversion: Vote for Minnesota snowplow names January 26, 2023

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Graphic credit: MnDOT website

NEWS THAT VOTING has opened for the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s “Name a Snowplow” contest came at just the right time—as two clipper systems bring more snow into a state already overwhelmed by snowfall this winter. Voting comes also as the coldest air since mid-December is about to descend, dropping temps to below zero this weekend in most parts of Minnesota.

It’s been quite the winter. So this MnDOT contest is providing a humorous mental respite from the cold and snowy reality of January in Minnesota, with three months of winter to go.

Three years ago MnDOT launched its first snowplow naming competition, inviting the public to submit names for the big orange trucks that clear our state highways of snow and ice. This year 10,000 names were submitted, which have been narrowed down to 60 choices. Online voting is open until midnight, Friday, February 3. The winning names will grace eight snowplows in MnDOT’s eight districts.

I breezed through the names, quickly choosing my top three. Participants can vote for up to eight. I chose Blader Tot Hotdish (a reference to Minnesota’s culinary delight, Tator Tot Hotdish), Orange You Glad to See Me (picked for obvious reasons) and Spirit of ‘91 (a reference to the Halloween Blizzard of 1991, a multi-day blizzard which dumped single storm record snowfalls throughout the state; three feet in Duluth).

Last year’s winners included Ctrl Salt Delete (an obvious tech reference to the salt used to de-ice roadways), Blizzard of Oz (actress Judy Garland, aka Dorothy, born as Frances Gumm in Grand Rapids, MN.) and No More Mr. Ice Guy.

And in the 2020-2021 contest, Plow Bunyan (honoring legendary Minnesota lumberjack Paul Bunyan), F. Salt Fitzgerald (Minnesota-born novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald) and Duck Duck Orange Truck (a reference to Minnesotans’ insistence that the game Duck, Duck, Goose is, indeed, Duck, Duck, Gray Duck) were among the winning names.

I love this diversion from talking solely about the weather, as we Minnesotans are inclined to do, especially in winter.

This contest also puts a positive spotlight on MnDOT, which too often delivers the bad news of road closures, crashes, road construction, impossible driving conditions and more. “Name a Snowplow” is, simply put, genius creative marketing.

FYI: To vote, click here and follow instructions to cast your ballot. I don’t see any rules requiring Minnesota residency to vote.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling