Geneva Cancer Auction rakes in $165K

Did you hear about the price of eggs in Geneva?

A dozen sold on Saturday for $25; of course, it was just one dozen, and of course, it was for a good cause.

The farm-fresh eggs were among the hundreds of items auctioned off during the annual Geneva Cancer Auction, held over two weekends. This year’s event raised $165,000.

For 40 years now, the Hagen family has planned, organized and executed the fundraiser, and this year was no different.

Whitey and LeJune Hagen have passed the reins to their sons Keith, Greg and James, but the couple – married for 66 years – still watched the action at the Geneva Bar & Grill.

On Sunday, their granddaughter, Brenna Hagen, donated the proceeds from the event to the Eagles Cancer Telethon in Rochester.

In addition to the two weekends of auctions, an annual wild game feed held in December raised $30,000 toward the total.

Last year’s event raised $145,000.

The Eagles Cancer Telethon, which is the longest locally run telethon in the U.S., raised $1.018 million in less than 24 hours. The money raised supports cancer research at three local institutions: Hormel Institute for Cancer Research in Austin, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Rochester, and the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center in Minneapolis.

Geneva, a town of 400, has donated nearly $2 million over the years.