Crossing the open farmland of southwestern Minnesota, travelers are now met with an otherworldly sight: a massive head with a beard, mustache and red-striped top hat rising nearly 66 feet above the landscape. The figure, which looms over the small town of Luverne just off Interstate 90, is a nutcracker dressed to resemble Uncle Sam, and it has just claimed a remarkable distinction.
The town of Luverne now boasts the world’s tallest nutcracker, a 65-foot-7-inch statue officially named Verne the Patriot. The announcement came during a weekend ribbon-cutting ceremony where hundreds of residents and visitors gathered to celebrate the completion of what has become the town’s newest landmark. Katie Walgrave announced the name to cheers as attendees enjoyed red, white and blue cookies and slushies in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary, the inspiration for the statue’s patriotic theme.
The towering figure is nearly twice the height of the previous record holder, a 33-foot-tall nutcracker in Neuhausen, Germany. With an additional pedestal pushing the full height to nearly 75 feet above the prairie, Verne the Patriot easily dominates the landscape and is visible from the interstate. The statue features a working jaw mechanism, allowing it to crack nuts—a functional feature that distinguishes it from many other large nutcracker displays around the world.
The creation of Verne the Patriot represents years of planning and effort. A city committee came up with the idea of building the world’s tallest nutcracker to serve as a tourism draw for the small community. The pieces were crafted in Utah and assembled in Luverne over several years, with the final head and hat lifted into place by crane just three weeks before the July opening. The project cost approximately $600,000 and was funded entirely through donations and grants from the nonprofit organization Just For Nuts.
Luverne’s deep connection to nutcrackers traces back to Betty Mann, a 96-year-old local resident whose personal collection sparked the town’s identity. In January 2001, following the deaths of her husband and oldest daughter, Mann purchased her first wooden nutcracker at a Cracker Barrel gift shop. What began as a solace during grief eventually blossomed into a collection of more than 2,500 pieces. When the Rock County History Center opened in 2016, Mann donated her entire collection to the museum, hoping it would draw more visitors. Other residents and collectors have since contributed thousands more, bringing the total to over 7,500 nutcrackers—outnumbering Luverne’s roughly 5,000 residents. The collection is considered the third largest in the world and includes nutcrackers themed as firefighters, pirates, Minnesota Vikings, and countless other variations.
The giant statue has already proven its worth as a tourism magnet. Since completion in mid-June, customers at Those Blasted Things, the rock shop where the statue stands, have quadrupled. Other local businesses report similar surges in traffic and visitors, with guests arriving from across the United States and even internationally, with some traveling from as far as Wales and China.
Luverne’s leaders had been strategically seeking ways to draw travelers away from Interstate 90, which often diverts visitors to larger nearby destinations like Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A few years ago, the city hired a marketing consultant who recognized the town’s unique asset. “We’re crazy if we don’t utilize the nutcracker collection,” the consultant reportedly told Mayor Patrick Baustian, according to reports. That advice led directly to the conception of Verne the Patriot, designed by Walgrave and her family.
The statue’s impact has not gone unnoticed by residents. Local business owner Vance Walgrave, who owns Those Blasted Things with his family, described the immediate transformation: “The people coming in here were double and triple the amount of people. Just overnight, all of a sudden, we were going, did we create a monster?” The family expressed their original goal simply: “Our goal is to have something that’s different and that you won’t see anywhere else. And so that’s what we have here,” Katie Walgrave said.
Interestingly, the July unveiling seemed slightly out of season given the strong cultural association between nutcrackers and Tchaikovsky’s holiday ballet, The Nutcracker. However, in Luverne, nutcrackers are a year-round obsession. The town hosts an annual “Nutcracker Fest” every summer, and downtown features large wooden nutcracker cutouts and displays throughout the community.
John Hawkinson of Lakeville brought a poignant perspective to the celebration. After a house fire destroyed his wife Francine’s collection of nearly 300 nutcrackers, he surprised her with a trip to Luverne to experience Verne the Patriot. Many of her lost nutcrackers held deep personal meaning—including one resembling a sailor to commemorate his Navy service and matching bride and groom pieces from their marriage. “Betty started her collection as a way of dealing with grief,” Hawkinson reflected. “We came down here out of loss as well. I thought that was kind of a full circle moment.”
While the statue is not yet formally recognized by Guinness World Records, supporters are hopeful that the distinction will be official. For now, Verne the Patriot stands as a symbol of community creativity and perseverance—a quirky roadside attraction that has successfully turned a small Minnesota town into a destination worth the detour.