Weather doesn’t stop Geneva Cancer Auction

Despite the weather conditions, a great group of people filled Geneva Bar & Grill Friday, Jan. 12 to continue the 2024 Geneva Cancer Auction.

 

Jamie Hagen welcomed everyone before he put the first items up for bid. Many people took home an assortment of great foods including homemade cakes, bars, candies, breads, pies, deviled eggs, meat and cheese trays, beef sticks, dips, pickles (including some whiskey pickles), pickled fish, caramel corn and Chex mix to name a few, along with dozens of farm fresh eggs.

 

Sue Hill again had some pickles at the auction. Sue's mother started donating the pickles and now Sue is continuing the tradition. The auction also had a great variety of cheesecakes that are donated every year by the "Iowa Girls" and the auction also had some Geneva Cancer cookbooks.

 

The auction also had "Jell-o shots," along with some "rum chada" pudding pops, and an assortment of wines.

 

Several area food establishments donated an assortment of items that many people were able to enjoy while they were still hot. There was a great variety of pizzas, as well as a T-Bone steak, two walleye and two chicken alfredo dinners from George's.

 

The auction included 40th-anniversary cutting boards made by Todd Eide, cutting boards from Gary Anderson, homemade fishing poles by Dave Seykora, flower arrangements, wall hangings and homemade quilts and blankets. A quilt donated by Karen Quam was created from jeans and bib overalls worn by her husband Steve.

 

There was a child’s size fire truck that had a large bear at the steering wheel donated by Sandy Jensen at Farmers Insurance, and a great many T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, tools and cleaning supplies, a money tree, and many gift certificates from area establishments and from the Steele County Times.

 

Tony Foster donated three great pieces of metal wall art.

 

A Spiderman piggy bank was donated and taken around the bar for people to add cash. A 55-inch television from Sorenson's was also put up for bids.

 

Two and-a-half hogs were included, one from Nielsen Farms, the other from Klemmensen's, a large cooler of liquor, a couple shovels, and a few tool sets, a lawn chair, a couple of dog beds, a large eagle picture, and the list goes on and on.

 

Steve Pence, a former resident of the area, donated autographed baseballs. There were several Minnesota Twins and Vikings items too, including a jersey signed by Eric Kendrick. There was a Budweiser sign that included a replica of the Minnesota Twins jersey that was donated by Bleachers, a Budweiser coat, and a neon Coors Light beer sign.

 

At 3 p.m., the farm portion of the auction was held and a total of 17 items went up for bids.

Two more cancer fundraising events presented the amount raised from their events. One of the events was the Yaunt 2 Ranch Rodeo event which is held in July each year. The rodeo lost a dear friend, Steve Quam, in May 2020, and they continue to honor Steve during the rodeo each year. They held a raffle which included a wheelbarrow full of "booze." They also have a concession stand during the event every year. This year's rodeo had about 50-60 riders, which made up 15 teams, who pay entry fees, which also helps raise money.  

 

Over the years, most of the people who won money donated the funds back in Quam's honor, so now the group gives a belt buckle to the person who wins the different events instead, and as a result, they were able to donate $10,250 to the Geneva Cancer Auction.  

 

The auction also had a horseshoe coat rack donated in memory of Rick Johnson, and Karen Briggs donated a gun holster in memory of Phil Briggs.

 

D.J. Burns wanted to put two 30-minute airplanes rides for two in a Cessna 172 up for bid, which was well received.

 

DeeAnn Randall, representing the annual local motorcycle cancer run, presented a check in the amount of $2,500.

 

Jugs of apple pie schnapps were given in memory of Matt Felt. Denise Briggs donated a race car in memory of her dad, Phil Briggs, to be auctioned in April. There was a gift certificate to Dean's Smoke Shack in memory of Roger Swearingen. Jessica Wayne shared thoughts about her sister, Trisha, who passed away two years ago. There were two pieces of jewelry in memory of Trisha on the auction block.

 

Auctioneers Jim Manges, Tracy Holland, Jamie Hagen and Johnny Kraling again offered their services.

 

The auction crew then started shaking up the tub that contained all 2024 Geneva cancer raffle tickets and drew out the winning tickets. The first prize, $200, was won by Marilyne Donahue, the $300 prize went to Barb Christensen, the $500 prize was awarded to Lonnie Grunzke and the $1,000 grand prize was awarded to Terry Smith.

 

At 12:45 Sunday afternoon, it was announced during the Eagles Cancer Telethon from Rochester that $166,000 had been turned in by the Geneva community for cancer research.

 

Donations were made in memory of several people from our area, including Steve Wayne, Marjean Thompson, Verona Winegar, Megan Wayne Cooper, Evie Christensen, and Jerry Suttrdedeer. Donations were made by Senior Court organization, the Glenville American Legion, the Maple Island Park Association and the NRHEG Student Council.

 

It was also noted that the Blooming Prairie cancer group donated $120,000 this year to the Eagles Cancer Telethon, and the Lyle cancer organization raised $230,777.

 

As stated last week, there are no hands so small that they can't make a difference in the world, and we are again thankful for the many hands that helped to make the annual Geneva Cancer Auction a success