Tyreek Chill? Darth Blader? Sleetwood Mac? Olathe residents help name 15 new snowplows
With a winter storm threatening to wreak havoc on roads across the Kansas City metro, Olathe residents can rest easy knowing Chuck Snowrris, Darth Blader and Sir-Plows-a-Lot are hard at work.
The city of Olathe is preparing to send its 15 new community-named snowplows out on roads as forecasts warn of perhaps more than a foot of snowfall for the metro.
For the past few years, the city has held a contest for residents to submit designs for the plows.
In November, the city took it a step further and asked residents to name the 15 new snowplows.
One of the newly named plows was even taken to Clearwater Creek Elementary to be painted by students.
On Jan. 14 the names were announced. The winners took inspiration from a wide range of beloved icons, from ’70s music legends, like Sled Zeppelin and Sleetwood Mac, to movie characters like Snowbi-Wan Kenobi and Saltzilla. Even a Kansas City Chiefs star got a nod in the naming contest.
Here are the names for all 15 plows:
- Tyreek Chill
- Snow Devil
- Darth Blader
- Snowbi-Wan Kenobi
- Copito de Nieve
- Sleetwood Mac
- Sir Plows-a-Lot
- Blizzard of Oz
- Chuck Snowrris
- Luke Snowalker
- Oh Snow U Didn’t
- Plow Bunyan
- Sled Zeppelin
- Saltzilla
- Santa Fe Scraper
“Naming the snowplows was a fun way to engage our residents in something they are very connected with,” Cody Kennedy, a spokesman for the city, said ahead of Tuesday’s winter storm.
“It’s been great to see the positive reaction.”
Residents will be able to track the vehicles working in their area through a map on the city’s website.
Many have taken to social media to express their excitement at the thought of watching Tyreek Chill or Plow Bunyan pass by their homes.
Kennedy said Olathe has city staff pretreating residential roads with salt and is prepared for workers to put in 12-hour shifts until all roads have been treated and plowed.
“As it stands currently, trash may not be impacted, but things could change if the heavier amounts of predicted snow are correct,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Night shift large trucks will begin at 7:30 p.m. and small trucks follow beginning at midnight. This process repeats until we’ve plowed all streets in Olathe.”
