The 39th annual Lyle Area Cancer Auction will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12, at the American Legion Post 105 in the small town on the Iowa border. A tradition since 1980, the event will end shortly after midnight, then begin again at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13, running into the early morning hours of Sunday.

Since its inception, the Lyle Area Cancer Auction has raised more than $2.6 million for cancer research.

Items to be auctioned off this year include a $5,000 gift certificate from Overby Orthodontics in Austin and many more donations. A Harley-Davidson motorcycle is being raffled off. Money can also be raised by purchasing food during the auction from its kitchen operations.

Money raised at this event, along with money raised at other cancer research fundraising events throughout the year, will be presented at the 64th annual Eagles Cancer Telethon in Rochester, which will take place Jan. 13-14.

The auction will take place in the Lyle maintenance shed, which is connected to the American Legion Post 105 by a breezeway. Food can be purchased at the American Legion.

For more information, call 507-325-4134. Post 105 is located at 112 Grove St., Lyle.

Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend

“Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend” is Jan. 13 – Jan. 15 in Minnesota. This weekend only, any Minnesota resident aged 16 or older can fish or dark-house spear without an angling or spearing license if they take a child younger than 16 fishing or spearing.

“Ice fishing is a fun way to get outdoors in the winter,” said Jeff Ledermann, angler recruitment and retention supervisor with the Minnesota Department of

Natural Resources. “This weekend is a way to encourage anglers to get out and take a kid fishing.”

According to the National Weather Service, Saturday will be mostly sunny and cold with a high near 1 degree. It will be mostly cloudy with a high of 6 degrees and a 50 percent chance of snow after noon on Sunday. Monday will be sunny and cold with a high of 0 degrees.

Before going ice fishing, the MnDNR recommends calling a local bait shop or lake resort to ask about ice conditions. Once at the fishing location, the MnDNR advises checking the thickness of the ice. Any ice under four inches thick is unsafe for ice fishing or other activities on foot. Temperature, snow cover, currents, springs and rough fish affect the relative safety of ice and ice is seldom the same thickness over a single body of water. The MnDNR recommends checking the ice at least every 150 feet.

For more information, visit dnr.state.mn.us/minnaqua/icefishing/index.html.