Sir Plows-A-Lot, Darth Blader among winning names for Ohio Turnpike snowplows

Area residents can cheer on some snowplows by name as they drive past during the latest snowfall, thanks to a contest by the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission.

The agency plowed through nearly 1,000 entries from Ohioans to give fun monikers to eight vehicles at turnpike maintenance buildings, selecting the top 50 names, which were then put to a public vote on the turnpike’s website. Nearly 4,000 votes were cast during the public voting period from Nov. 21 to Dec.1.

The eight winners included:

• Snow More Mr. Ice Guy — by Sebastian Calo of Cleveland Heights. This vehicle is at the Boston Maintenance Building 6 in Richfield, Summit County.

• O-H Snow U Didn’t — by Marc Manuszak in Perrysburg. This vehicle is stationed at the Hiram Maintenance Building in Garrettsville, Portage County.

• Ah, Push It … Push It Real Good! — by Cori DeRenzis of Brookfield. This plow is at the Canfield Maintenance Building in Canfield, Mahoning County.

• Snow Force One — by Jim Bauer of Wauseon. This plow is at the Kunkle Maintenance Building in West Unity, Williams County.

• Sir Plows-A-Lot — by Tim Towner of Swanton. This vehicle is at the Swanton Maintenance Building in Swanton, Fulton County.

• Snowbi-wan Kenobi — by Rebekah Chatterjee of Toledo. This plow can be found at the Elmore Maintenance Building in Elmore, Ottawa County.

• Plowy McPlowface — by Mark Hayden of Toledo. This plow is stationed at the Castalia Maintenance Building in Bellevue, Erie County.

• Darth Blader — by Cassandra Welch of LaSalle, Mich. This plow can be found at the Amherst Maintenance Building in Amherst, Lorain County.

Each winner of the contest, which was sponsored by the Northern Ohio Buick GM Dealers, received a $100 gift card.

Ohio Turnpike commission encourages safety around snowplows

To encourage the public to vote, the turnpike commission promoted the contest through social/digital media outreach; its Customer Connection monthly newsletter, which has a circulation of nearly 500,000 email subscribers; and through its website.

"For our experienced and dedicated crews, the Name-A-Snowplow contest is an opportunity to recognize them for their hard work around the clock ensuring that turnpike customers have a safe driving experience," said Charles Cyrill, public information officer for the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission. He added this is the first year the commission has sponsored the contest.

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As well as to have fun, Cyrill said the contest was started to remind motorists about road safety, particularly around snowplows.

"For our customers, the Name-A-Snowplow contest is a reminder to ‘Don’t Crowd the Plow,” and to always drive safely on the Ohio Turnpike during the winter snow and ice season," he said.

"When the turnpike’s crew and fleet are in action, motorists should take every precaution to avoid passing snowplows and allow extra space for the plow drivers to clear the road. The safest place to be on the road is behind a snowplow."

The snowplow crews with the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission maintain 1,395 lane miles, 31 interchanges and 14 service plazas along the turnpike, which stretches across 13 counties in northern Ohio, Cyrill said. There are 15 salt storage facilities along the turnpike. Crews use an average of 65,000 tons of salt each year and 293,000 gallons of liquid chemicals per year.

"We are planning to run the contest again in 2022," Cyrill said. "The contest, a safety awareness campaign, will be launched in October 2022 to coincide with the turnpike’s 136-point safety inspection of all snowplows and equipment at eight maintenance buildings."

Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Snowplows given names such as Snow Force One in a naming competition