Voting under way for PennDOT plow decorating contest
BUTLER TWP — Public voting has begun for this year's Paint a Plow.
Every year, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's various local offices invite schools to submit student designs to be painted on their plows. Schools with approved designs get delivered a plow and have two months to return it to PennDOT with a fresh coat of paint.
This year, six Butler County schools sent in plans and painted themselves some plows.
Mike Mattis, Butler County PennDOT manager, said he's pleased with this year's artwork.
“All the schools that participated did a very good job,” Mattis said.
The festive-looking equipment is on display outside the PennDOT office, located at 349 New Castle Road in Butler.
This year's participating schools include Holy Sepulcher Catholic School, St. Luke Lutheran School, Moniteau High School, Knoch High School, Portersville Christian School and the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School.
The Vo-Tech students are two-time reigning champions in District 10, which includes Armstrong, Clarion, Jefferson, Indiana and Butler counties, winning in both 2017 and 2018.Winners are picked by a panel of District 10 administrators. This week, the public also will be able to vote on a “fan favorite” plow online. Watch the PennDOT Facebook page for a link to the survey.PennDOT invites all area schools to participate in the annual competition. The state agency runs about 42 trucks in Butler County each winter, so there are plenty more plows available for coming years if more schools want to join.Mattis said beyond just community involvement, Paint the Plow hopefully instills appreciation in the student artists of the size of a snow plow. Drivers sometimes underestimate the tools while maneuvering around plow trucks.After the contest, PennDOT puts the plows on trucks used in the vicinity of the schools that painted them.<a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D10Plow2019">Click here to vote.</a>
