Jolly Green Giant statue welcomes visitors to Minnesota

Blue Earth, Minn., promises newcomers an interesting quality of life combination: “Small City, GIANT Living.”

Could that claim be related to a towering statue of the Jolly Green Giant who watches over the community of about 4,000 residents? You bet.

Over the years, there’s been a bit of a dagnabbit tug-of-war tussle between the towns of Blue Earth and Le Sueur, located about 70 miles apart, over which municipality has the right to claim the Jolly Green Giant as its own.

The Green Giant Company got its start in Le Sueur in 1903, when a local cannery opened. Hence, Le Sueur claims to be the gateway to the Minnesota River Valley and the true home of the “Jolly Green Giant” tending his garden of delicious vegetables.

Technically, Blue Earth is also located within the boundaries of the “Valley.” Its first cannery opened in 1926.

Both the Le Sueur and Blue Earth canneries, over time, became part of the Green Giant Company, which was formed in 1950. After Pillsbury acquired Green Giant in 1979, it began to consolidate canning operations. The Le Sueur factory was closed in 1995.

The canning facility in Blue Earth was spared, however. It continues to operate today, now as a unit of Seneca Foods Corporation of Marion, N.Y., but still processing on contract some Green Giant product lines.

An entrepreneur in Blue Earth seized an opportunity in the 1970s to erect a colossal, 55-foot tall fiberglass statue of the Green Giant in Blue Earth.

The statue was the idea of Paul Hedberg, owner of the local radio station (KBEW) in Blue Earth. His “Welcome Travelers” segment featured interviews with motorists who were passing through town on their westward journey to scenic landmarks such as the Black Hills and Yellowstone National Park.

At the end of each interview, Hedberg presented his guests with cans of peas and corn from Blue Earth’s Green Giant canning plant.

Hedberg had no trouble raising $50,000 in private funds to have the Green Giant statue built as an investment in tourism for the town. Could the town get it built before the opening of Interstate 90?.

I-90 is reportedly the “longest road in America,” stretching 3,081 miles from Boston to Seattle. Its east and west paving crews met just outside of Blue Earth, and a big ceremony was held on Sept. 17, 1978.

To mark the occasion, the connecting roadway slab was made of gold-tinted concrete – a “Golden Stripe” – as a nod to the Golden Spike that joined the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.

Miss America Susan Perkins Botsford participated in the I-90 dedication, while the new statue of the Jolly Green Giant observed, suspended from a large crane. “With straps under his armpits, the Green Giant offered his approving smile,” Hedberg said. “It was a spectacular piece of publicity for Blue Earth.”

In 1979, the 4-ton statue was given a permanent home in a Blue Earth city park, mounted on an 8-foot pedestal.

Heidi Van Heel of the MinnPost news service observed: “The Giant’s feet are 6-feet long; that’s the equivalent of size 78 shoes.”

Every Christmas season Santa still visits the Giant, lifted up in a bucket truck to put a long red scarf around his neck to keep the Giant warm for the winter. The Blue Earth Area Chamber of Commerce has video of the ritual on its Facebook page.

The Blue Earth Fire Department also gives the Giant a bath at least once a year. Only in America!