Contest invites Winnipeggers to plow up zany names for snow-clearing vehicles

ManitobaGet your snow puns ready — Winnipeg’s first snowplow naming contest is now open for submissions.Prizes include keepsake name plates, pizza party at city hall with mayorCBC News · Posted: Nov 20, 2025 3:43 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Winnipeggers of all ages are being invited to submit ideas for names for 12 heavy machines, including six grading machines and six loaders, the city says. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)Winnipeg’s first snowplow naming contest is now open for submissions.Winnipeggers of all ages are invited to submit ideas for names for 12 heavy machines, including six grading machines and six loaders, the city said in a Thursday news release.The city is also looking to 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 idea names for their plows, or “gritters,” according to the BBC.Some of the winning names for gritters in Scotland this year are “Gritney Spears,” “Licence to Chill,” and “You’re a Blizzard, Harry,” says Scotland’s online gritter tracker.”There’s other cities that have named their snowplows, and what a fun way to just … get kids involved,” Mayor Scott Gillingham told host Marcy Markusa in a Thursday interview with CBC Manitoba’s Information Radio.Entries can be submitted online starting Thursday until Dec. 5, the city said.The top 30 entries in each category will be published on Dec. 8, before a final online vote is opened up for all Winnipeggers until Dec. 25. Winners will be notified in early January.The 12 individual winners will be invited to an announcement event in early January, where they’ll receive custom name plates printed as a keepsake.The winning classroom entry will get a pizza party at city hall with Mayor Scott Gillingham.