Fans bestowed the unusual honor on the "Golden Girls" star thousands of votes later and in two states that know all too well about wintry weather and snow.
Published Feb. 7, 2022 1:41 PM EST | Updated Feb. 7, 2022 2:40 PM EST
The honors keep rolling in for the late actress Betty White.
But this time, the legendary screen actress has been immortalized in a rather unusual fashion for a Hollywood icon.
While very befitting for a person with a last name like White, the longtime beloved TV star, who died on New Year’s Eve just two weeks shy of her 100th birthday, had a snowplow named after her in her "adopted" home state of Minnesota.
The new plow is affectionately dubbed “Betty Whiteout.”
Weeks ago, the Minnesota Department of Transportation put out a call for residents to vote for their favorite nicknames for eight new bright orange snowplows that recently joined the fleet. It was part of the state’s “Name A Snowplow” contest.
The ballots were cast, and the winning names were unveiled last week.
Betty White accepts the legend award at the TV Land Awards in Beverly Hills, California, on April 11, 2015. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
The moniker “Betty Whiteout” cleared a path to victory along with seven other runaway favorites:
2. Ctrl Salt Delete
3. The Big Leplowski
4. Plowasaurus Rex
5. Scoop Dogg
6. Blizzard of Oz
7. No More Mr. Ice Guy
8. Edward Blizzardhands
“Betty Whiteout” beat out thousands of other nicknames -- 22,000 total, including 50 finalists -- to garner 40,024 online votes of the nearly 60,000 that were cast, according to MnDOT officials.
Other finalists included Sled Zeppelin, Sir Plows-a-Lot, Catch My Drift, Lord Coldemort, C-3PSnow and William Scrape-speare.
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The tribute to White speaks to what an icon she was.
Each new snowplow will join the ranks to cover one of eight MnDOT districts across the state.
The “Betty Whiteout” snowplow is designated to serve District 8, covering parts of southwestern and central Minnesota -- unfortunately not St. Olaf Township, the oft-mentioned hometown of White’s Golden Girls character Rose Nylund or the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul), as featured in The Mary Tyler Moore Show in which White starred years earlier.
The new plow monikers will be placed on each of the snowplows.
But Minnesotans, it appears, weren't the only ones getting in on the fun. Months earlier, Michigan fans helped name one of that state's snowplows "Betty White-out" before the actress' death.
Other celebrity-inspired names they came up with include Gordie Plow, Aaron Brr, Derek Sleeter, Edgar Allen Snow and Clearopathtra.
In other news:
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