SIDNEY — Snow in Ohio can be a pain, but with the Ohio Department of Transportation Paint the Plow Competition, winter is made a little brighter, and safer.
School districts from around ODOT District 7 are given a chance to design and paint a mural on an ODOT plow blade. The blades may be displayed in local parades, festivals and county fairs in coming months. They will also be attached to plow trucks during the winter months to use on roadways near the school districts in which they were painted. The painted blades aim to promote safety and raise public awareness about ODOT’s snow and ice operations.
Fourteen schools competed in the third annual competition, with 13 competing last year, and nine the year before that.
This year’s winner was Miami East High School, who painted a large viking on the plow for their school mascot, The Vikings.
Upcoming seniors Maggie Bergman and Arika McCuistion said they got together with their art teachers and made the design happen.
“We just thought the viking head would really stick out and look kind of mean coming down the road,” Bergman said.
“We wanted it to look tough and strong,” McCuistion said. Like it was going to battle, Bergman chimed in.
Each of the six counties in ODOT’s district chose a winner, then out of the top six the district chose the winner, said Deputy Director of ODOT District 7 Randy Chevalley.
“ODOT’s got some big trucks and some big plows and we do a big job every winter. We just think this is a way to get some of the public involved in understanding what we do,” Chevalley said.
The first runner-up was Wapakoneta Schools with their Don’t Crowd the Plow message, and third place went to Sidney Middle School with their winter theme. The other finalists were East Dayton Christian School, Mississinawa Valley Schools, and Riverside Elementary School.
Sidney Middle School got a retired art teacher from the district involved who helped bring their winter theme idea to life.
Last year the winner was Jackson Center High School.
