When there’s no white in sight at Christmastime, the vanity plate on Brian Johnson’s Dodge Ram – “SNO 4ME” – draws praise from strangers.

But in the past month of near-constant snow, it’s elicited a different reaction.

“They say, ‘You’re the reason for this,'” said Johnson, 45, of Kennebunk.

The owner of Johnson Plumbing and Heating can’t say he stands by the sentiment anymore, either.

“We can’t even go snowmobiling because we’re working all the time,” he said. “There’s definitely been a thought in my mind, ‘OK, we’ve had enough snow.’ ”

From celebrating the snow to cursing the cold, hundreds of Mainers have turned to their license plates to express their feelings about winter. An Orrington driver complains on the front of a Ford Escape that it’s “2CLD4ME,” while a woman from Wiscasset has used her Volvo to deem herself “SNODIVA.”

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Unlike Johnson’s truck, Dean Perkins’ Chevy Silverado has a plate that many people can relate to this winter – “H8SNO.”

“The older I get, the less use I have for snow. It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Perkins, 48, of York said about why he bought the plate a few years ago. “Every once in a while I see people point and look.”

His is one of several variations of a similar anti-snow message, including “IH8WNTR,” which can be spotted on a Chevy Impala in the town of Washington with the standard chickadee plate and on a Pontiac Firebird in Lewiston with an antique plate.

Blair Busque, 34, of Chelsea went for even stronger language when she chose “WNTRSUX” for her BMW Z4 convertible, although apparently not violating the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ standards. The state can deny requests or recall vanity plates that are profane.

And the feedback Busque has gotten has been all positive.

“If I’m at the gas station or the lights, they’ll point and they’ll laugh or give me the thumbs up,” said Busque, who keeps the car in the garage this time of year and drives a pickup instead.

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Busque said she was looking for a fun license plate for her car – which “would probably spin out on a snowflake” – more than a way to lament winter. It was the same for Tom Jewell, 62, of Portland when he got “BLZZRD” for his white Toyota Highlander.

His previous vanity plates included “BLOOBRY” for his blue Mazda 3 and “MERLOT” for his red Nissan Maxima.

“It seems apropos this year,” Jewell said of the latest plate. “We get some chuckles out of it.”

Cold-weather business owners also use creative vanity plates to reflect their services. There’s the South Portland ice sculptor with the license plate “FROZEN” and the Solon heating company that has “YBCOLD.”

There is a Chevy in Bangor with the tags “SNWKNG.” No, it does not belong to Stephen King, the famed horror writer from the Queen City. But, the author of the license plate may have been playing off the type of truck: an Avalanche.

Similarly fitting is the Toyota from Falmouth with license plate “BRRRRRR.”

The model? A Tundra.

Click here to see a searchable database of winter-themed Maine vanity plates.

 


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