Online auction of yeti dolls raises funds for Carnival

The handcrafted yeti dolls being auctioned off for the Whitefish Winter Carnival this year look like they’ve come to town straight from a tropical island.

Decorated in bright colors with paper mache masks with some in grass skirts and other holding spears, the dolls that are less than 20 inches tall are a direct nod to this year’s Winter Carnival theme of Survivor. The six dolls are on display in the window at McGough & Co. on Central Avenue.

Linda Ray has been handcrafting dolls for the Winter Carnival since 2013 and each year the dolls take on whatever theme is at the center of that year’s celebration. She spends about two months each fall putting together the dolls and adding tiny decorations and details to them.

Ray says this year’s yeti’s play off the Survivor theme as a nod to the TV show that places competitors often on a tropical island who then complete challenges to survive being voted off the game.

“The idea is that we’re going through the pandemic and we’re going to survive this,” she said. “Usually the competition is held in a tropical situation and so I wanted to follow that and create tiki masks with a lot of colorful decorations.”

Ray created the dolls themselves then crafted the tiny masks on the yeti’s faces and decorated them with necklaces, torches and spears, not to mention the fur that adorns the yeti characters that roam town during Carnival events.

“People know that I’m crafty and that I make the dolls every year so they often give me materials and items for the dolls,” Ray said. “Sometimes I come up with an idea at 3 a.m. and write it down knowing that I’m going to head in that direction.”

The Winter Carnival LXII amid the COVID-19 pandemic has moved to focusing on a number of challenges running through the first weekend in February that are designed to celebrate the Carnival tradition. Typically, the yeti dolls are auctioned off during the Winter Carnival Gala on the Friday night of Carnival, but this year they will be sold through on online auction running Feb. 1-5.

Each doll has a name and comes with a personal biography.

Maxwell says he’s hoping his future includes being a life coach for all who aspire to be “stinky, hairy and look good wearing white,” while a little known fact about him is that he’s a crown jewel thief.

Wilson says he is working on being the “Yeti Survival Doll of the Year” and he once was a stunt double for Tom Hanks’ sidekick in the movie “Cast Away.”

They also have a scroll that says the dolls are “a token wishing you good health, happiness and lots of wintertime fun.”

In recent years, the yeti dolls have been routinely selling for a few hundred dollars to $1,000 each with all of that going to the Winter Carnival. Ray says she’s unsure how much the dolls might bring this year since the auction has moved online, but the goal is to still support Carnival.

“I was asked to do the dolls this year even though it’s an online auction,” Ray said. “Whatever we can make to help Carnival this year is a plus. I think Whitefish will be supportive of it.”

For more information, visit https://whitefishwintercarnival.com/yeti/