We’ve been quite literally snowed under by the incredible response to our first-ever Osage Beach ‘Name a Plow’ contest. Our inboxes were flooded with submission after submission, and in the end, we received nearly 250 names - not to mention the flurry of comments on social media.
Our goal was to select several locally inspired names to set ourselves apart from bigger cities that have held plow naming contests for years, and boy, did you deliver. Iconic names like The Big Leplowski, Betty WhiteOut, and CTRL SALT DELETE are beloved, and we respect that. But we want to shine a spotlight on what makes Osage Beach and Lake of the Ozarks so unique. At the same time, we had a little fun by including a few popular, non-local names to keep things interesting. After careful consideration, we’ve narrowed it down to the top 20. Now we need you to choose the top seven for our plows!
The Top 20, in no particular order:
- Ozarktic Blast
- Blizzard of LOZ
- Snowderboatin’
- Grand D’Glaizer
- Snowplace Like the Lake
- Snowtorious L.O.Z.
- Glaized Over
- Thaw Enforcement
- Snow-Bo Cop
- Scoop Dogg
- Plowin’ N Wowin’
- Plow Chicka Plow Plow
- Snow Zebra
- Magic Dragon De-Icin’ Wagon
- Snowy & the Bandit
- A-Salt & Battery
- Plower Ranger
- Plow Around & Find Out
- “OB”-Wan Kesnowbi
- Snozark Slayer
It wasn’t easy to pick just 20 finalists. We chose a couple of law enforcement-inspired submissions – Thaw Enforcement and Sno-Bo Cop (that’s the Chief’s favorite) – to include the Osage Beach Police Department in on the fun. Scoop Dogg references the famous rapper, but we think of it as a nod to our young K-9 officer, Freya, while Snow Zebra takes us back to the city’s original name, Zebra, before it became Osage Beach in 1935.
LOZ, You Wowed Us!
The Lake of the Ozarks area is filled with creative minds, and we were truly impressed by your ingenuity. We also learned you have a passion for pop culture, music and movies. We were flooded with Star Wars-inspired names like Darth Blader, Baby Snowda, and Han Snowlo.
Other movie-themed entries included Kevin McPlowister, My Fair Blady, Say Hello to My Icy Blade, Snowpocalypse Now, and Optimus Plow. Music also made a strong showing, with names like Iron Sleighden, Sled Zeppelin, The Truck Formerly Known as Plow, Snohemian Rhapsody, and Salt-N-Pepa rounding out the mix.
One of the plow drivers at Public Works, John, lobbied hard for Melton John, but we had to nix it due to the rule against naming a plow after yourself. However, John is campaigning his boss to let him create a special Melton John sign to put on his plow during his shift. If he manages to sneak it past management and onto the road, be sure to give him a Plowabunga!
The lake area’s devotion to the Kansas City Chiefs was clear, with suggestions like Patrick Snowhomes, Travis Kelsleet, and, of course, the Chiefs-adjacent Taylor Drift. And to the lone Philadelphia Eagles fan who submitted Scrapeon Barkley, well, we'll see you in the Super Bowl.
Since we opened the contest to the entire lake region, we received several excellent Bagnell Dam-themed entries, such as Snow Dam Good, About Dam Time, Bagnell Dam Blitzen, and Snow B Dam. However, we saved those for our neighbors in Lake Ozark and strongly encourage them to jump on the plow naming bandwagon (or should we say the Magic Dragon De-Icin’ Wagon?).
We also appreciated the humorous and sarcastic submissions. A local reporter suggested You Blocked My Driveway Again (do you think he's trying to tell us something?), and we received several variations of Snowy McSnowFace and Plowy McPlowFace. Some submissions took a cheekier turn, like Your Mom (to which we say: You’re Grounded), and the snarkiest of them all, Plow Around and Find Out. One person nominated his wife, Patti, but we weren’t sure if he was serious or sending her Plow Chicka Plow Plow vibes (if you ‘snow’ what we mean, ba dum tiss). We can only assume it wasn’t Patti’s husband who submitted Mrs. Snow-It-All.
Cast Your Vote
We hope you’ve had as much fun with this as we did! Now it’s time to cast your vote for your top seven favorites on our Facebook poll. Voting closes at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30. The winners will be invited to take a photo with their named plow at Osage Beach Public Works. A reminder: If a name was submitted more than once, the first person who made the submission using the form on our website will be recognized. In case of a tie during voting, the City of Osage Beach will cast the tiebreaking vote.