In 1978, when teams building Interstate 90 from the east and from the west finally met in Blue Earth, Minn., the completion of the longest four-lane road in the United States was noted with gold-colored cement.

Hmm-hmm-hmm, thought Paul Hedburg, who owned a radio station in Blue Earth. Why not also erect a Jolly Green Giant to note the feat, as well as to honor the Minnesota River Valley from which Green Giant harvested peas and niblets and such?

So he raised money from local businesses for a 55-foot fiberglass giant, giving travelers a reason to take exit 119, go south on Hwy. 169, right on Fairgrounds Road, then left on Giant Drive.

But there's another giant in the state, this one welcoming travelers heading south on Hwy. 169 to "the valley of the Jolly Green Giant" around Le Sueur, where the Minnesota Valley Canning Co. was founded in 1903, later becoming Green Giant. (The Green Giant Room at the Le Sueur Museum, 709 N. 2nd St., is devoted to the company.)

This giant actually is a billboard. Local lore has it that the sight of a green head and shoulders rising from the tree tops -- especially ominous from the south when you see only the giant's silhouette against the sky -- has freaked out more than a few people.

Heh-heh-heh.