The Haines Sheldon Museum’s annual fundraiser looked a little different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But organizers say the event was a huge success.

Image courtesy of Kim Chetney.

The annual Totem Trot fundraiser for the Haines Sheldon Museum had a banner year this year, and raised more money than ever. That’s in spite of restructuring the event to take pandemic safety concerns into account and organizational turmoil as the board works to restructure management.

“The support was there, even while people were in a situation that was difficult for them as well,” said Kim Chetney, who sits on the museum’s Board of Trustees.

“In light of the pandemic and our recent budget cuts, we were just overwhelmingly surprised at the support we got from the community within one month. We were able to raise $11,150.”

That’s several thousand dollars more than last year’s event.

This was the sixth year for the 5k fundraiser and sixty participants completed the course that loops around local totem poles. The course was open to racers for two weeks, so they could complete the walk, trot, or run on their own time.

Chetney credits Museum Coordinator Regi Johanos with the vision for the virtual component of the event.

“We had a couple of women walk from Massachusetts run from Massachusetts. We have people running in California. We had somebody run in Washington… I think we are going to reach outside of our borough boundaries,” Chetney said.

But she said local support was the highlight. Carvers from the Chilkat Valley shared their stories and last week the Haines Glacier Bears cross country team ran the course in Totem Trot t-shirts. MacKenzy Dryden and Luke Davis clocked the fastest times.

Chetney says the overall response gave her hope.

“While we’re filled with so much anxiety, it’s really important for us to see possibilities. This isn’t going to last forever. So if we keep our eyes on the future, which this particular event made us feel very hopeful that if this could happen—and during a pandemic, and with the budget cuts and with all the hard work we’re putting into the rebuilding of the infrastructure—we can only go up from there.”

Donations from the event will go offset museum programs and operations costs. To see the virtual component, go to totemtrot.com