The Valley
"The Valley of the Jolly Green Giant" refers to the Minnesota River valley around Le Sueur. Today, just before dropping down into the valley heading south on U.S. Route 169 an enormous wooden sign of the Jolly Green Giant, along with the Little Green Sprout, is visible with the caption "Welcome to the Valley."
60 mi further south on US 169, in the city of Blue Earth, Minnesota, stands a 55 ft fiberglass statue of the Jolly Green Giant. The statue was first unveiled in 1978 and was set on its permanent base on July 6, 1979, at 43.65056°N, -94.09611°W. The statue attracts over 10,000 visitors a year.
The statue was the idea of Paul Hedberg, the founding owner of local radio station KBEW. During weekdays in the summertime Hedberg would interview people passing through Blue Earth on U.S. Highway 169 for his popular radio program Welcome Travellers. At the end of each interview, Hedberg presented guests with a sample of the peas and corn which had been produced by the town's Green Giant canning plant, along with a sample of what passed for the blue riverbed clay that gave the town its name. A common theme arising in these interviews was a desire to "see the Green Giant."
In the late 1970s the nation's first transcontinental freeway, Interstate 90, was nearing completion; the final stretch of road to be opened was that portion surrounding Blue Earth. Hedberg was one of many civic leaders instrumental in rerouting the freeway closer to Blue Earth,[22] and saw this as an opportunity to attract new visitors to the town. Keeping in mind how the prospect of seeing the Green Giant fired the imaginations of the children who passed through Blue Earth with their parents each summer, in 1977 Hedberg contacted Thomas H. Wyman, President of Green Giant, to see if the company would allow a statue of their corporate symbol to be erected in Blue Earth to draw the attention of the steady stream of travelers who would be utilizing the new interstate. In his autobiography, The Time of My Life, Hedberg recounts how Wyman was receptive to the idea – on the condition that funds for the project were raised locally, and that the company had to give approval to the final design. After this meeting Hedberg approached several local businesses and asked each to contribute $5,000; within a week the full $50,000 had been secured.[23]
The four-ton statue was crafted by Creative Display from Sparta, Wisconsin. Work began on the statue in the spring of 1978, with a target for completion to coincide with the opening of Blue Earth's section of Interstate 90 on September 23, 1978. The statue was not delivered fully assembled – the pose Wyman approved had the Giant standing with hands on his hips, but he was then too wide to fit on a flatbed truck so his two arms were transported separately to be attached upon arrival in Blue Earth.[24] As Hedberg remembers in his autobiography, "I made arrangements with a local crane owner to display the statue temporarily at the site of the I-90 dedication: suspended from this crane, with straps under his armpits, the Giant offered his approving smile for what we’d accomplished with the Highway Administration! It was a spectacular piece of publicity for Blue Earth."[25]
The statue is mounted on a pedestal and has steps so visitors may take a picture standing directly under it. The imposing Green Giant is typically included in lists of America's unusual or notable roadside attractions,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]
Blue Earth's major summer festival is Giant Days, held annually on the weekend following the Fourth of July. In 2014, in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Green Giant statue's installation on its base, Paul Hedberg was asked to serve as Grand Marshal of the parade that culminates the festivities. Every year during Giant Days, green footsteps are painted on sidewalks throughout downtown Blue Earth, leading to local businesses.
