Fighting cancer is a team sport.

It takes Minnesota’s Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves and Wild.

It takes Donald Driver and Kent Hrbek.

It takes Betty Fisher and Teresa Slowinski, too.

The latter duo may not be as famous as Driver, the Green Bay Packers All-Pro running back, or Hrbek, the Twins’ Hall of Fame first baseman, but they have an important role, too, in fighting cancer.

The world will see how important this weekend when the 2009 Lyle Area Cancer Auction is held Friday night and Saturday at American Legion Post No. 105.

A year ago, volunteers went over the $1-million mark in funds raised for cancer research.

Do the math: $1-Million divided by 29 auctions equals $34,000 a year.

That would be good enough for most fundraising organizations, but not the zealous people at Lyle and Carpenter, Iowa.

For the last five years, the average is more than $100,000 each January, when the auction is held.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Betty Fisher, one of the many volunteers, helping to make the LACA so successful.

Fisher’s “unbelievable” accolade aptly describes the weekend.

Volunteer auctioneers, start the bidding Friday night and don’t stop until they run out of wind along about midnight.

Then, the auctioneers return to action late Saturday morning.

They will not stop until the last item is sold, which could be midnight or early Sunday morning.

After a few hours of sleep, the volunteers will pile into cars and head to Rochester for an appearance on the KTTC Channel 10 5th District Eagles Cancer Telethon telecast.

Sometime after 3 p.m., they will march out onto the stage in their official blue denim LACA shirts and present a six-figure check to the hosts.

The Mayo Clinic Cancer Research Unit, Children Cancer Research Unit at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Hormel Institute in Austin will all share the proceeds raised by the 5th District Eagles and their volunteers throughout southern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa.

Faye Strouf’s canned pickles will be one of the reasons. Chuck Berg’s wood carving, too.

Winter storms and blizzards haven’t stopped the fundraising frenzy in Lyle.

Neither have football playoff games.

A sour economy isn’t expected to stop it this year.

“I was really surprised at how many items we got for the auction,” Fisher said. “Because the economy is so sour, I thought the donations might me down, but they’re not. We’ve got as many as we’ve ever head.”

Fisher isn’t the only LACA volunteer partial to exaggeration when describing the weekend’s events.

“Wow!” said Teresa Slowinski, “You wouldn’t even believe the awesome items that we have coming this weekend.”

“We have a Green Bay Packers’ NFL football signed by Donald Driver with a letter of authenticity,” Slowinski said. “Several lower lever Twins tickets and much more sports memorabilia.”

Fisher is in charge of the solicitations of sports-related items, including Timberwolves and Wild tickets and 12 tickets to Twins baseball games.

Fisher was able to obtain 2 new books written and signed by Hrbek, the Twins’ All-Star first baseman entitled “Tales From the Dugout.”

There’s more.

“We have a vest autographed by several country western artists along with T-shirts and photos,” Slowinski continued reading from her list.

There are also special one-of-a-kind items that are sure to touch the hearts of bidders.

“We have a limited number of copies of a special DVD that was put together specifically for the Lyle Area Cancer Auction,” she said.

The DVD features Jeff Ramaker’s original song and is edited by Jerry Sampson.

But the LACA auction wouldn’t be its usual crazy self without some other “very special items.”

“We have some favorite traditional items such as the unbelievable item coming from the talented hands of Chuck Berg’s Wood Classics, the 12-pack from our beloved Sharon Kaput, and the incredible trip to Canada,” Slowinski said.

Sharon Kaput is the former Silver Bullet Saloon manager who donated a 12-pack of beer and then tragically died of cancer. When the next auction arrived, the buyer of the original 12-pack returned it for bidding once again. Each year thereafter, the item has been returned and rebid.

Berg’s wood creations always bring top dollar and create a bidding war among family and friends.

Mrs. Strouf’s caned pickles, as well as other homemade breads and pies have bidders jostling for the right to claim them as their own.

Throughout the evening, there will be reports of the other fundraising events held during the year to raise money for cancer research.

“We will hear presentations from the first annual Crop for a Cure, Kids Care 2, the Ramakers’ Haunted Barn, Cans for Cancer, the Deer Creek 50/50, and the Half Way to Cancer Bash to name a few,” Slowinski said.

It’s hard to know when to be at the Legion Post and adjoining city garage this weekend, but Slowinski has a suggestion.

“Despite an extremely packed city building; you will be able to hear a pin drop about 10:05 p.m. Saturday night when they draw the winner for the 2008 Harley Davidson Softail Rocker Classic motorcycle,” she predicted.

The motorcycle raffle is one of the most popular single events of the year-long cancer research fundraising effort.

“This is not even the tip of the iceberg for wonderful items that are coming in for this week’s auction,” the volunteer said. “For more details people will just have to be there Friday and Saturday.”

“Unbelievable”, “awesome” and “wonderful” sound like exaggerations, but Fisher and Slowinski say they’re not.

“There’s the Locks of Love, a wine tasting, Progressive Hair will be there for haircuts, there will be a massage therapist, and ‘The Beast’, a life-size race car simulator, will be back,” Slowinski said.

Volunteers at Carpenter, Iowa are also an important part of the LACA fundraising success; particularly a pool tournament held last weekend at the Carpenter Community Center.

“We are anxiously waiting to hear the big announcement from the ninth annual Lucille Johnson Pool Tournament committee after their conclusion of another successful weekend,” Slowinski teased, stopping short of telling how much was raised.

It all sounds like exaggeration unless it falls on the ears of a victim of cancer.

Then, not enough can be said about raising money for cancer research.