Friday night, Herald reporter Jason Schoonover volunteered at the annual Lyle Area Cancer Auction. It also gave him the unique chance to tell the story from a different perspective.

Larry Ricke motioned me on stage during the Lyle Area Cancer Auction Friday night and called for me to dance and shout out a “who-ah” to get the crowd excited before announcing the fundraising progress.

Then he did again.

And again.

And again.

Those who know me will know public speaking, as well as rousing shouts of “who-ah,” are not my strong suit, but it was just one part of the job when I volunteered at the 35th Lyle Area Cancer Auction Friday night to get an inside look at the group that has raised $1.78 million to fight cancer, including $200,000 last year, the highest-raising year to date.

On a night when Lyle Area Cancer Auction organizers joked they had me do everything but take out the trash, they saved the best for last. I got to announce the auction and pledging events had raised $22,933.91 as of 9:30 a.m. Friday — well on its way to another successful year.

The auction is a rare place where small-town men have no qualms admitting many tears are shed during many tributes, but it’s also a big party filled with optimism and the hope everyone involved will one day see a world  where cancer is cured.

“It’s like the ultimate family reunion in January,” longtime volunteer Gary Ziegler said.

The auction

When I first asked Ricke, one of LAC’s co-chairs, if I could volunteer at the auction and write about my experience, he sounded thrilled with the idea. Plus, I got a sense of “you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” as Ricke laughed over the phone and reminded me he likes to tease people and put them on the spot to get them involved at the auction, but always in a way that they have fun. I suspected I’d made myself a prime target.

When I arrived at the Lyle Legion and adjoining Lyle maintenance building Friday, Ricke’s first words proved my suspicion right: “Boy, have we got a night planned for you,” he said.

The auction’s organizers ran me through a crash course of the auction over four hours of volunteering.

With Tiny Johnson being a snowbird this year, Glenn Medgaarden served as the first auctioneer of the night.

“You’re not buying something,” he told the crowd. “You’re donating to cancer.”

The crowd took his words to heart. The first item up for a bid — a sack of potatoes — sold and was donated back three times, with each return-donation earning a boisterous ring from a cowbell.

My night started clerking at the front of the stage, where I took turns writing down the item, winning bidder and highest bid total for each item sold. Though it may sound simple, picking out the final price when an auctioneer is calling for higher bids isn’t always easy. As one LAC leader told me, it’s better to slow them down and make sure you get it right.

After a stint of comfortable desk work, I then took a turn ringing, where I’d parade down the aisle carrying the gift cards, sweatshirts, ceramic figurines, model tractors and other items up for bid to show them off to bidders, which made me feel bit like a model from “The Price is Right.” But, I must admit I struggled at another key part of that job: spotting bids.

Ricke loses his voice each year from shouting “bid” or “yeah” as people make bids. But that’s not a problem I’ll share, but I certainly have a new found respect for the auction ringers. Not only do they need to be unashamed and outgoing, but they also have a knack for spotting the reserved nods and subtle waves of the bidders. As I scanned the sea of faces, I felt a little like a fisherman with fish jumping wherever I wasn’t looking. As I told one volunteer, I was lucky to see one or two every five bids.

More than auction

The auction is only part of the Lyle Area Cancer Auction story. Each year, the events held throughout the year pledge money during the auction. One of the first on Friday was Cookies for Cancer, a Lyle Elementary School student council project to sell chocolate chip cookies during school lunches to raise money to fight cancer.

“That’s my favorite, but you didn’t bring any,” Ricke said to the students.

The youngsters raised $828.27.

Crop for the Cure, a scrap booking group, exchanged high fives with Ricke when announcing they raised about $10,127.

Next, I took a stab at announcing the auction items and reading the names of the donors, which — though I’m no fan of public speaking — was a cakewalk compared to my challenges at ringing. Time flies when there’s a microphone in your hand.

After announcing, I returned to behind the scenes work for a stint in the kitchen, helping serve pork on a stick, soups, nachos, hot dogs and other foods served during the auction. Though I worked the kitchen during a bit of a slow stretch, Y Waste owner Dave Yerhart told me the kitchen is packed during peak hours on Saturday.

Yerhart, his family and several of his workers manned the kitchen, and Yerhart’s been involved with other events, like Red, White and Pink throughout the year.

“It feels good to be a part of it,” Yerhart said.

Yerhart was one of the LAC volunteers instrumental in the auction adding a credit and debit card machine. Auction leaders were already seeing the benefits Friday night, as Yerhart left the kitchen to help process a $100 credit card donation.

“It’s been a big hit,” co-chair Teresa Slowinski said.

I also got to observe the auction’s accounting team that spends much of the weekend tracking and checking the donations and bids the auction generates.

A big footprint

Ricke truly saved the best part of my crash course in volunteering for last.

First, I watched the auction pause briefly around 10 p.m. to play “Remember Then” by Jeff Ramaker and 6-Mile Grove, which many refer to as the Lyle Area Cancer Auction’s theme song, before auctioning off Sharon Kaput’s 12-pack of beer for the 15th year. Kaput first donated the 12 pack in 1999 when she spoke about her experience with cancer, but didn’t tell the crowd her cancer was terminal.

“She gave a powerful talk that night,” Ziegler said.

The 12 pack was bought and donated back to the auction 11 times that night. Kaput died the following August, and the 12 pack has returned to auction every year since.

This year, Martha Vrieze bought the 12 pack for $750 — her third time buying the 12 pack.

Ziegler pointed out a lot has changed since 1999, a year when the auction raised $15,000 and was only an auction with no additional events. The auction has since grown to raise six figures each year, with several events scattered throughout the year. The 12 pack alone has raised $8,250 since 1999.

“My oh my what a big footprint you’ve left in 15 years, my friends,” Ziegler told the crowd.

I then closed my night of volunteering by announcing the auction had already raised $22,933.91.

 Hope for a cure

After I finished volunteering, I was able to sit back and watch the auction for a bit. To elicit a bid, volunteer Gary Harrison agreed to be shot by a paintball gun Friday night. Harrison was one of the original founders of the auction 35 years ago, and described it’s formation as a spur of the moment concept.

“It just started to spiral into being this good time,” he said.

Those early years, Harrison remembers volunteers selling items before they started seeking auctioneers, and he remembers empty coat hangers selling for hundreds of dollars.

Today, he’s happy with how the event has grown.

“I can’t even describe into words how this has gone,” Harrison said.

Despite their passion for the Lyle Area Cancer Auction, volunteers like Harrison look forward to a time when it’s not necessary.

Harrison collects eagle statues and figurines and bought one made by Chuck Berg, well-respected woodworker, but donated it back to the auction, where it continues to be sold each year. Harrison hopes cancer is cured in his lifetime, so he can buy the eagle back one final time.

“My wish is the day will come that I can buy it back, and we won’t have to do this no more,” he said.