DUNMORE, Pa. — PennDOT trucks parked in the stockpile yard in Dunmore look a little more colorful than usual. PennDOT puts on the Paint the Plow initiative each year, and 11 school districts from Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Pike Counties participate in the competition within the PennDOT district based in Dunmore.
"It's a great opportunity for them to showcase their artistic talents while we also get to broadcast a safety message to everyone," said PennDOT official Liz Fabri.
This year's theme is "seatbelts are always in season," to remind drivers that seatbelts save lives and should be worn year-round.
A group of students from Dunmore High School explained their design.
"We wanted to do something different from last year, so we went with a beach-inspired theme," said senior Anna Belko.
"It's winter and everybody during the winter wants to be somewhere warm and feel warm, so we used the beach to express warmth, even though we have ice and snow," said senior Grace Burrell.
Hanover Area's design won Judge's Pick with their depiction of all four seasons.
Dunmore won Fan Favorite with their convertible-driving buck wishing for summer weather.
"I thought they were pretty nice, pretty neat. I still like ours the best, the beach theme, but the ones with the four seasons, I also liked those ones," said Dunmore senior Cailey Waters.
"It means a lot to us as a small community because we don't have that many people. To know that not only our district but other districts really supported us and thought we did a great job was nice to see," said Dunmore senior Alexa Marone.
The painted plows will be making rounds in the communities of the students who painted them this winter.