If you’re on Highway 30,

And construction makes you blue

Look for Lisa Niehoff’s road signs

To warn and entertain you!

Lisa Niehoff, of Huxley, won first place in the Department of Transportation’s “Give Us a Jingle” contest.

The DOT announced the winners of their statewide contest in a press conference on Sept. 12.

Niehoff’s rhyme is displayed on road signs in the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 30 near Colo. Her winning jingle was:

“Road work ahead

Please don’t despair

Proceed with caution

We’ll get

you there!”

Niehoff said having drivers from all over the state see her jingle “feels terrific.” However, Niehoff also said people frequently drive so fast they don’t even see the signs.

“It’s kind of sad,” she said. “It’s disappointing that people are still speeding.”

Niehoff decided to enter the contest after seeing the applications in a Casey’s gas station.

She wrote several different jingles, and she and her children submitted their favorites.

Niehoff’s entry was judged the best of 727 qualifying entries. However, Niehoff said many entries had been disqualified because the applicants entered several jingles under their own names.

The rules allowed only one entry per person.

“I enter contests a lot,” Niehoff said. “So I’ve learned to read the fine print.”

Niehoff, who is the head cook at Ballard East Elementary School in Cambridge, has been “dying to be a writer for years,” she said.

Niehoff didn’t receive any prize money, but she did receive a DOT T-shirt, a framed certificate of recognition, and a 9 inch by 2 feet miniature construction sign with her jingle on it.

The DOT’s contest was designed like the Burma-Shave advertisements which dotted highways across the country between 1925 and 1963.

The roadside jingles were effective marketing tools for the company.

The Burma-Shave rhymes were usually found on a series of six signs and contained messages about careful driving.

Niehoff said she has talked to people who remember the Burma-Shave advertisements.

“They loved traveling because they wanted to see the next signs,” she said.

The DOT contest, much like the Burma-Shave signs, was designed to alert motorists to road work and remind them to drive with caution while still providing entertainment for drivers.

Larry Crain of Cedar Rapids won second place in the contest. Tony Orozco of Mason City won third place.

They both received T-shirts and certificates of recognition. Their jingles may also be found on DOT signs across the state.