Ole, Lena and Sven will plow Scandia's streets after plow naming contest
Ole, Lena and Sven will be plowing the streets of Scandia in Washington County.
The city of more than 4,000 people held a contest to name its three snowplows, and the winners were announced during Wednesday's Scandia City Council meeting.
City Council member Patti Ray came up with the idea as a "fun diversion" amid a long COVID-19 winter in Scandia, she said Wednesday when announcing the winning names.
The names will be stenciled on the side of the city's snowplows.
"When it's snowing and blowing in Scandia, please rest assured that Ole, Lena and Sven will be out in the cold working hard like the good Swedes they are," Ray said during the meeting.
The Swedish names could not be on point for Scandia, which is where the first Swedish immigrants to Minnesota settled, the city's website says.
The contest saw 200 people submit 131 unique names, with Jeff Blomseth of Scandia credited with submitting the three winning names. Ray says others submitted Ole, Lena and Sven, but Blomseth was the first.
Blomseth was honored at Wednesday's meeting, with Ray noting they don't have a prize for him but they proclaimed him the "most witty and clever among us" and said he has bragging rights as the "Master of Names" and an "unlimited amount of time."
In total, 453 people – including people from Sweden (I bet we can guess the names they voted for) and the state of Wyoming – voted for their favorite snowplow names, with Ole, Lena and Sven coming out the winners with 141 votes.
The names with the next highest vote totals include: No More Mr. Nice Guy (127 votes), Hans Snowlo (103 votes) and Snow Diggity (81 votes).
According to the Pioneer Press, Ray proposed the naming contest after learning that Scotland's 230 snowplows all have names. That's also what inspired the Minnesota Department of Transportation to hold a plow-naming contest for eight of its plows this winter.
The top vote-getter was Plowy McPlowFace (65,292 votes), causing the phrase to trend nationally on Twitter this week. The other winners are Ope, Just Gonna Plow Right Past Ya; Darth Blader; Duck, Duck, Orange Truck; F. Salt Fitzgerald; Plow Bunyan; Snowbi Wan Kenobi and The Truck Formerly Known As Plow.
