Chris Hahn

Highways 63 detours begin June 2 for road improvements south of Spring Valley

SPRING VALLEY, Minn. – Motorists on Highway 63 will encounter detours beginning June 2 as crews make road improvements south of Spring Valley, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Construction crews will be making concrete pavement repairs on Highway 63 from Highway 16 in Spring Valley to the Iowa state line. They will patch, replace damaged concrete panels or repair or seal joints. The work takes time to remove, repair and then wait for the concrete to cure or gain sufficient strength to hold vehicle traffic.

Traffic impacts

Work on Highway 63 will begin from Spring Valley (Highway 16) to north of Highway 56. Highway 63 will be closed to thru traffic and detoured. Residents will be able to reach their homes and businesses but may have to use alternate routes at times. Work is scheduled to occur June 2 to early July.

• Detour route: Highway 16, Mower County Road 14 and Highway 56

Once the work is completed north of the Highway 56 intersection, the final 0.5-mile stretch of Highway 63 will be worked on. The section is located from the Highway 56 intersection to the Iowa state line. It is anticipated that work will begin early July and be completed late-July.

Half of that work zone will be worked on at a time with Highway 63 having a lane closure with signals directing traffic.

• When work occurs on the Highway 63 and Highway 56 intersection, Highway 56 motorists will be detoured.
  • Detour route: Highway 63 north, west on Fillmore County Road 14, south on Fillmore County Road 1, west on Mower County Road 11, south on Mower County Road 53 and south on Mower County Road 12 to reach Highway 56

Scheduled dates are approximate and subject to change.

Additional project work

Concrete pavement repairs are scheduled to occur on multiple highways from 2025 to 2026. The following are the roads that will also be worked on during 2025.

• Highway 56 from Dodge County Road 34 to West Concord (Dodge County Road 24), late summer
• Hwy 14 westbound near Dodge Center, late summer

To learn more about this project, go to MnDOT’s website where you can also sign up for email and text message updates.

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Story Courtesy of Discover Spring Valley, Published April 30, 2025 

By Dave Phillips 

Spring Valley Area Historical Society Director Kayla Czapiewski gave a preview of a new exhibit to be located at the local museum this summer during the society’s annual meeting and spring tea Sunday, April 27, at the VFW Hall.

The society also installed two officers — Linda Niemeyer, who was already on the board, and Jim Edgar — and took care of other business during the meeting.

Czapiewski said that over the past couple years the museum has received several “really cool new donations or items that we’ve added to our collection and we wanted to find a clever way to showcase or highlight them.” So, this summer, there will be a pop-up exhibit at the museum called Textiles and Toys.

The items in the exhibit, mostly from the Victorian era all come from the Spring Valley community. She presented a few of the items, some of her personal favorites, that will be on display to the people attending the tea on Sunday. The items ranged from a child’s mohair coat to a log cabin quilt from the 1850s. She promised there would many more items at the exhibit this summer.

The museum is open from Memorial Day weekend seven days a week until Labor Day with hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

President Joe Bezdicek called the annual meeting to order. Czapiewski read the minutes from the previous annual meeting, which were approved by the members present, and Vice President Julie Mlinar read the slate of officers and announced the board positions that had expiring terms.

The terms of Sally Broadwater and Niemeyer were expiring. Niemeyer agreed to run again while Edgar was nominated from the floor for the other open position. The two were elected to the board after a unanimous vote.

Czapiewski announced several upcoming events for the Historical Society, including a new event, a story hour on the second Wednesday of each month. The society is also working on new signage, a long-term project. She mentioned that the society is looking for summer tour guides and volunteers, so anyone interested can contact the museum.

For more photos and additional events and activities in Spring Valley, check out Discover Spring Valley on Facebook!

Original article published in the Mower County Independent, Thursday, April 17, 2025.   Reprinted with permission and gratitude.

By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy

The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round, then Brian subs or cranks, and then he gets back on and drives.

That’s dedication worth ceremony.

“This award exemplifies outstanding achievement and dedication to safety,” said Spring Valley Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Senior Vice Commander Ross Heusinkveld, standing before the post’s members last Tuesday evening, April 8, sharing, “I asked the superintendent at Kingsland to come up with a candidate, and Mr. (Scott) Klavetter wrote a very nice letter about Mr. Brian Miner.”

Retired Fillmore County deputy Miner attended the meeting and heard words written by Klavetter in a letter of support for the VFW to present the Minnesota VFW School Bus Driver Safety Award to him based on his devotion to the work of making the wheels on the bus go ‘round the rural rounds to convey students to school safely in all kinds of weather.

Klavetter elaborated on why he felt that Miner would be a fitting candidate for the award. “It is my honor to recommend Mr. Brian Miner for the Minnesota VFW School Bus Driver Safety Award. Mr. Miner has been a bus driver at Kingsland Public Schools throughout my eight years as a principal and superintendent in the school district. Like so many school districts across the state, recruiting and hiring enough qualified school bus drivers has been challenging at Kingsland. As a full-time sheriff’s deputy for Fillmore County Law Enforcement, Brian regularly drove school bus routes at Kingsland before and after his police shifts to help the school district as much as he could. When he retired from the police force in 2023, Mr. Miner began driving school bus full time. As his successful career in law enforcement might suggest, Mr. Miner does not drive school bus to make a living. He does it to serve his local community and support kids.”

He went on, “Whether it is getting kids to and from school safely or taking them to a basketball game and heading inside to cheer them on, Mr. Miner is always there to support our Kingsland students. He is calm, consistent, and friendly yet firm when working with children. Students respond positively to his approach, which helps limit challenging behaviors on his school bus. This quality contributes just as much to providing a safe ride to and from school as Mr. Miner’s driving record.”

Klavetter then acknowledged that Miner doesn’t simply pocket or hang up the bus keys and go home once students are delivered to the school each morning. “While he has certainly been a great bus driver, Mr. Miner’s contributions to our school community do not end with his time behind the wheel. Since his retirement from the police force, Mr. Miner has become a licensed substitute teacher and regularly fills in wherever needed inside the school. It is quite common to see Mr. Miner drive a bus full of students in to school, park his bus, teach all day, and then hop back on his bus to take students home. When he is not needed in a classroom, he can often be found in the bus garage performing routine maintenance on the vehicles to ensure they are in proper working order to transport students safely.”

The superintendent concluded by citing that “Mr. Miner’s dedication and contributions to the children and community of Kingsland are beyond measure…he provides so much more than a safe ride to school for students.” Klavetter continued, “He is a tireless advocate and champion for all kids, whatever the need might be. He would be an incredibly deserving recipient of the VFW School Bus Driver Safety Award. We are grateful to Mr. Miner for his service to Kingsland and honored to nominate him for this great award.”

Miner then stood to accept the award as Heusinkveld relayed how thankful the VFW’s membership is that he is among the dedicated Kingsland bus drivers who roll out the fleet each school day and that even when he brings the bus to a stop at the curb and then in the bus garage, Miner just might not be done yet – he could very well be called to stand in or gear up, and he certainly does so with community in mind.

Courtesy of the Mower County Independent, 135 E Main St. LeRoy, MN 55951, (507)-324-5325