Following in the footsteps of Minnesota, which recently named eight snowplows, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis Wednesday announced the state would hold a naming contest of its own for 20 of the 800 snowplows owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The idea originated in Scotland, where all 213 of the country’s snowplows, known as gritters, have names.

“It’s only fitting that a week after a particular large snowfall across many parts of Colorado, that we’re announcing the ‘Name That Plow’ contest, Polis said Wednesday. In honor of the contest’s Scottish origins, Polis read a poem, “Winter: A Dirge”, by Scottish poet Robert Burns.  

To start off the contest, Polis announced that one of the 20 new snowplows has already been dubbed “Unsinkable Molly,” a somewhat historically-inaccurate reference to Margaret Brown, the Denver socialite who survived the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. “She’ll do a good job clearing snow boldly and fearlessly,” Polis said.

The plows being named are new ones being added to the CDOT fleet. 

The contest is open only to elementary school kids. Entry forms can be found here and the deadline is Friday, March 26. Names can be no more than 15 characters and up to two words, and the child must have permission from a parent or guardian. Contest entries cannot include proper names nor inappropriate or profane language. Polis asked for submissions from all over the state since the CDOT snowplows operate all over the state. “The options are endless” he said.

Polis said he’s hoping for names that elevate and celebrate something that’s iconic about Colorado. He said the contest ties into another rebranding effort, new photographs for the state’s driver licenses, with one submitted by Matt Nunez of Glenwood Springs, son of the late Rep. Joe and Lily Nunez.  

Contest entries will be winnowed down to 100 by an internal CDOT team and a final list of 20 will be announced in May.

Once the plows have been named, with decals, each one can be tracked on the state’s road conditions website. 

Limiting the contest to children is likely to avoid a problem that surfaced in Minnesota, when someone submitted an “Abolish ICE” (a reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement), which was rejected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

That hasn’t stopped adults on social media from coming up with names for Colorado’s snowplows.

From Kyle Clark, 9News: “Mayor McNichol’s Folly.” It’s a reference to Mayor Bill McNichols, whose poor response to a 1982 blizzard cost him his job the following year.

From Glen Akins: “Large Plow the Size of a Small Plow.”

From several people, take-offs on Lakewood’s iconic Casa Bonita, such as Plowsa Bonita and Casa Blownita. 

Minnesota’s contest, launched in February, drew 24,000 suggestions, according to the New York Times.

The winners in Minnesota, announced Tuesday, are

• Plowy McPlowFace 
• Ope, Just Gonna Plow Right Past Ya
• Duck Duck Orange Truck 
• Plow Bunyan 
• Snowbi Wan Kenobi 
• F. Salt Fitzgerald
• Darth Blader 
• The Truck Formerly Known As Plow

A video that will be distributed to schools all over the state, narrated by Max and Everett Martinez, can be found here. Their dad is a CDOT employee who did the animation for the video.