City Of Duluth Putting A New Spin On ‘Name A Snowplow’ Contest

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has been doing the "Name a Snowplow" thing for a number of years now. The popularity of this voting contest has been immensely popular, with MNDOT reporting more than 32,500 votes in last year's campaign.

The trend has grown beyond Minnesota, with cities in Minnesota and even other states trying their own version of the popular name-picking contest.

The City of Duluth is now jumping on the craze, offering some uniquely Duluth elements to add a local spin to this trendy idea in the inaugural year of their own plow naming campaign. That includes a very Duluth-themed prize package.

Here's what you need to know about the Duluth Name a Snowplow contest:

What is the voting timeline?

Officials with the City of Duluth began taking name suggestions on Monday, October 7. Residents can submit name ideas through October 21, which is when the public submission period ends.

From there, staff with the CIty of Duluth will narrow down the list of submissions to a top 10 from October 22-25. The top 10 list will be shared on October 28, which is when voting will open to select the winner from the 10 finalists.

Voting will run from October 28 through November 4 through the CIty of Duluth's website. After voting closes, the results will be calculated and a winner will be notified on November 11 with a public announcement to follow.

The newly-named plow will make its grand debut at the Christmas City of the North parade on November 22.

Who can participate in the naming contest? What are the rules?

You do need to be a Duluth resident to submit a name suggestion, and only one name per person will be accepted via their submission website.

Names must be under 25 characters in length and no more than three words. They also must be appropriate, not containing profanity or objectionable language.

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Politically-inspired names will not be considered, name suggestions cannot include a person's name or any trademarked names, slogans, etc. from things like TV shows, movies, companies, or celebrities.

If the same name suggestion is submitted by multiple people, the first person to submit that name will be considered the individual eligible to win the prize associated with the contest.

What is the prize?

Unlike the MNDOT contest, there actually is a prize (of sorts) for this Duluth snowplow naming contest. That's one of the new twists to this otherwise familiar contest. That, and an opportunity to be more local and less "Plowy McPlow Face" with the creative names.

While the prize isn't a pile of cash or a key to the city, it is a neat little prize package.

The winner will get their photo taken with the newly-named plow and the plow crew, the opportunity to ride in the Christmas City of the North parade this November in the plow truck, and "unlimited bragging rights" as the City of Duluth's website says.

If you want to see the full rules and make your submission, you can do so here!