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He had reasons to visit Blue Earth

By Staff | Aug 11, 2013

This time of year Blue Earth has a lot of visitors.

They come for the county fair, Giant Days, a class reunion or because they have some business here.

Or, they are just traveling down Interstate 90 and pull off because they like the name Blue Earth or because they have seen there is a giant statue of the Green Giant here and they want to see it.

And, of course, have their picture taken in front of it.

One visitor to Blue Earth, a week or so ago, had another reason.

He wanted to see the house where his grandfather had lived as a child and a young man.

His name is Dennis Deskey and he is the grandson of one of Blue Earth’s more famous former residents Donald Deskey.

We have written about Donald Deskey before, of course. In fact, it was some of our stories and columns from the past that piqued Dennis Deskey’s interest in making a stop in town where his famous grandfather was born.

For those who might still be unaware, Donald Deskey is a famous designer, artist and inventor.

His most famous pieces and designs have an Art Deco flair about them.

For instance, he designed the interior of Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Crest toothpaste tubes and hundreds of other things.

He founded a company that bears his name and still does many design projects.

And, of course, he designed a street light that was used all over New York City.

One of those now stands in the Gazebo Park in downtown Blue Earth and was dedicated just last summer.

Dennis Deskey read the Register story about that event on our website. He really wanted to come to the dedication, he says, but was not able to.

Now, he is.

He is taking about nine months off from work and traveling the country. He left his home in Seattle, Wash., and is headed eventually to South Carolina.

Stopping in Blue Earth, he says, was sort of on the way.

The younger Deskey only met his grandfather once, in New York City, sometime when he was around the age of five.

Dennis Deskey’s father is also named Donald Deskey.

In fact, both his father and grandfather are Donald S. Deskey. Dennis is Dennis S. Deskey and his brother is Derek S. Deskey.

They all use the same set of initials DSD. And the senior Donald Deskey designed many items signed with those three initials. Dennis owns several Deskey items, including a few paintings.

However, the family initials tradition is coming to an end. Dennis has no children, and Derek only has girls and did not give any a first name starting with ‘D.’

While in Blue Earth, Dennis Deskey had a chance to see the house that his grandfather grew up in, the Deskey street light in Gazebo Park and the Deskey lamp on display in the Etta C. Ross Museum.

And, of course, he got to see the statue of the Green Giant. And have his picture taken there.

Doesn’t everybody?