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Volunteer of the Year recognized at Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce annual meeting

November 28, 2022 by Jason Sethre Leave a Comment

Board members recognize the 2022 Volunteer of the Year recipient, Steve “Springy” Volkart at the annual Spring Valley Area Chamber of Commerce meeting on November 16, 2022. Left to right: Board Member Greg Brooks, Chamber Vice President Angie Gensmer, Board Member Cheyanne Kolling, Steve “Springy” Volkart, Chamber Treasurer Leslie Schmidt, Chamber President Stacey Rath, and Board Member Cody Koebke.
Photo by Jason Sethre

The annual Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting was held at the Five Wynds Event Centre in Spring Valley, Minn., on Wednesday, November 16.

With more than 30 local business people and community leaders present, there was a special presentation made by Chamber President Stacey Rath.

Rath opened with, “What does Spring Valley mean to me? I have lived in this town for most of my life, born here at old Spring Valley hospital, confirmed at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, played sports here, and graduated the Class of 1992 – the last graduating class of Spring Valley, married here, had my husband’s funeral here, and raised three amazing children while working at Kuehn Motors (now Midwest Sales) for 23 years. Been on the Chamber for 22 years, worked and been on the Kingsland Athletic Booster Club for 20 years, and Ag Days committee. People ask me all the time, ‘Don’t you ever say no, and why do you do all of this stuff?’

“I have one answer. I love Spring Valley. I love the people of this town, and the businesses that support this town. I have had many ups and downs in my life, but I will say I have always had one constant and it’s Spring Valley. I can live here, work here, raise my kids here, and know they are safe. Go to church here, and in reality there isn’t much you can’t do here and it’s all because of you. It’s the people and businesses that keep our town going,” shared Rath.

Steve “Springy” Volkart was recognized at the 2022 Volunteer of the Year with his family present. Pictured left to right, back row: Springy, Wendy Volkart (Steve’s wife), sons Travis and Tyler, daughter Tallue Benard and her husband Greg Bernard. Left to right, front row: Grandchildren Kyree Volkart, Kaisen Volkart, Breklyn Benard, and Hadley Bernard.
Photo by Jason Sethre

“When you look at Spring Valley, it isn’t just a Main Street. It’s a Tracker Industries on the West side of town. It’s a Hyland Motors on the East side of town. It’s a school and Good Earth Village on the North side of town. It’s a Hardware Hank on the South side. We continue to grow every year. We remain prosperous and we support each other,” Rath continued. “We can start with Tracker Industries that is constantly growing. Matt’s Body Shop that is adding on as we speak. Penz Chevrolet is building a brand new site. The new site of the Spring Valley Veterinary Clinic. Midwest Sales is adding a car wash and service center. O’Reilly’s is going in the old Ace Hardware building. Minnwest Bank is moving into the old Kwik Trip. And, a new brewery is going into the old veterinary clinic building.”

Toward the conclusion of Stacey Rath’s presentation, she highlighted one individual who has been a tremendous representative of the Spring Valley community.

“On that note, speaking of good people and someone that also loves Spring Valley, I want to recognize a man who has given his heart to Spring Valley. If a kid needs a fishing pole, all they have to do is go to the bait shop and he will set them up,” praised Rath.

The Spring Valley resident recognized as the 2022 Volunteer of the Year is Steve “Springy” Volkart.

As Rath indicated, “Springy is such an asset to Spring Valley. He is kind and caring, and is always willing to help out when asked. And, he wants no recognition or attention for his kindness. He is a great supporter of Ag Days, the Spring Valley Chamber and other organizations. During Ag Days, he has his kids fishing contest that is a huge success, his bobber race that is always a great turnout, and he is always willing to donate to a good cause. The S & S Bait Shop is such a huge asset to our community. It is the to go place for information. It is the local hangout for young and old. People enjoy going there because of Springy.”

For more than 36 years, Springy has owned and operated S & S Bait Shop, overlooking Spring Valley Creek on the south end of the downtown area. Along with owning the town’s bait shop, Springy also works at Sunshine Foods in Spring Valley, Minn.

The Spring Valley Area Chamber of Commerce initiated the Volunteer of the Year award recognition in 2017.

The list of recipients includes: Joe and Patty O’Connell (2017), Rita Harter (2018), David Phillips (2019), No recipient due to COVID for 2020, and Cody Koebke and Justin Mlinar (2021).

According to Rath, the criteria for Volunteer of the Year award recognition “is any active community member that shares their time and talents with making our Spring Valley community a great place to live.”

Spring Valley business leaders continue to coordinate events and projects that help bring the community together. To learn more about the Spring Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, please visit https://springvalleychamberofcommerce.com/.

Filed Under: Government, News Tagged With: Spring Valley


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Fillmore County Journal
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Contact Your Legislators

Governor - TIM WALZ
Office of the Governor
130 State Capital
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

800-657-3717 | 651-201-3400
mn.gov/governor/

U.S. Representative - JIM HAGEDORN
District 1
hagedorn.house.gov

U.S. Senator - AMY KLOBUCHAR
www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public
507-288-5321 | 888-224-9043

U.S. Senator - TINA SMITH
www.smith.senate.gov
507-288-2003

State Representative - GREG DAVIDS
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651-296-9278
rep.greg.davids@house.mn

State Senator - JEREMY MILLER
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651-296-5649
sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn

Government this week

Wednesday, February 1

•Fountain City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

Thursday, February 2

•Houston School Board, High School Library, 6 p.m.

Monday, February 6

•Houston Planning Commission/EDA, City Hall, 5:30 p.m.

•Kingsland School Board, Work Session, Elementary Conference 

Room, 6 p.m.

•Lanesboro City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•Preston City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•LeRoy City Council, Community Center, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 7

•Fillmore County Commissioners, Courthouse, 9 a.m.

•Houston County Commissioners, Courthouse, 9 a.m.

•Ostrander City Council, Community Center, 6:30 p.m.

•Rushford Village City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, February 8

•Canton City Council, Town Hall, 6 pm.

•Mabel City Council, Community Center, 6 p.m.

•Peterson City Council, City hall, 6 p.m.

•Chatfield School Board, Forum Room, 7 p.m.

•Lanesboro School Board, Forum Room, 7 p.m.

Monday, February 13

•Whalan City Council, City Hall, 5 p.m.

•Caledonia City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•Grand Meadow City Council, Community Center, 6 p.m.

•Houston City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•Spring Valley City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

•Rushford City Council, City Hall, 6:30 p.m.

•Chatfield City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

•Wykoff City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

*Schedule subject to change.

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