Meet the Mayor

“I’d like to meet the mayor. Have you seen her?” The store clerk behind the counter at Nagley’s general store shrugged. “No, but you might check outside. She likes to roam around.”

Having been told that Talkeetna’s mayor was a cat named Aurora, I had put meeting her on my list of must-do’s while on our 40th Anniversary adventure to Alaska. By Sunday night, we’d been there two days and I’d yet to catch even a glimpse of her. I really wanted to meet the mayor.

But, we had two more days left before moving on to Anchorage, and our youngest daughter was with us until the next afternoon. She and I had plans to go dry land mushing, so the elusive Aurora would have to wait.

Monday morning, Youngest and I caught the shuttle to AK Sled Dogs, the kennels owned by six-time Iditarod champion, Dallas Seavey. When we stepped out of the van, we entered the world of sled dog racing. Dogs lounged on the porch, in the break room, and in kennels. Once they saw us, it seemed as if every one of the forty-plus working dogs in the kennels was jumping on the end of the lead barking, “Pick me! Pick me!”

First, we got a quick introduction to the kennels and their history. Dallas’ dad, Mitch, is a three-time Iditarod champion himself, and Dallas’ granddad raced in the first two Iditarods. Our guide told us that she is training for her first Iditarod race coming up in March. While their trophies were on display, their focus was all on their dogs.

Youngest and I met our four-dog team and got a quick lesson on how to handle a summer sled. There are four things to remember:

1-Keep an eye on the sled ahead of you, not on the dogs. They’ll run. All you have to do is steer and stay alert.
2-Stay on the brake, those puppies love to run. You need to keep a team-length distance between you and the team ahead.
3-Stay in the middle of the trail. The dogs like to hug the sides and you don’t want to take a tumble into the brush.
4-Set the anchor when you stop the sled. The dogs love to run and if you don’t set the brake, they may go without you.
Did I say they love to run? They do. And it’s a lot of fun to ride with them.

After about forty-five minutes on the trail, taking turns steering, we got to meet the rest of the dogs on site. We were free to stop and meet any of them, but one dog, Whopper, and a group of his team-mates especially got my attention.

Whopper and three other dogs were in rehab due to a sledding accident last winter on the snow-covered Denali Highway. They were out with Dallas, training for the Iditarod, and a drunk driver on a snowmobile plowed into them. Two of the fifteen-dog team died onsite. Dallas called a friend, who is a trauma vet, and she rushed to triage and treat the remaining injured dogs. Several were given IV’s and treated immediately, one was air-lifted to Anchorage for emergency surgery, and Whopper’s back left leg had to be amputated at the scene.

All the dogs in rehab from the accident are doing well and integrating back into life at the kennel. The day we visited, Whopper was happy to meet us. If you follow Dallas Seavey Racing on Instagram, you can see videos and pictures of Whopper and the rest of his teammates back in harness and loving being able to enjoy shorter sprints. Whopper even gets to mentor puppies as they begin their training and are paired with older dogs to learn the basics.

We ended the tour visiting an Iditarod hut set up like the ones in the race. Inside were: Dallas’ hand-made sled (made of hockey sticks), pictures, the race route map, a cot, and a drop bag of supplies like the ones air-dropped along the route prior to the race. We also got to play with the latest litter of puppies. If you’re interested, there are lots of puppy pictures on the IG account too.

Back in Talkeetna, we ate lunch at Talkeetna Spinach Bread—put that one on your list if you go—and Youngest left to go home. The rest of the afternoon, we did the historic walking tour, went to Conscious Coffee, and took regular detours by Nagley’s to try to meet the mayor. She was still evading her fans.

Technically, since Talkeetna is unincorporated, there is no official mayor. And according to the Talkeetna Historical Society, Aurora is not—and never has been—the mayor. The story is that in the late nineties, the residents wanted to choose an unofficial mayor. Many of the residents decided to write in the popular feline resident of Nagley’s store, an orange manx-mix named Stubbs as their vote. Mr. Stubbs did not actually receive a majority vote, but the story became popular and he unofficially became known as the mayor of Talkeetna.

He remained in office until his death in 2017. While he died of old age, he had a few close calls during his lifetime, including a local dog’s attempt to assassinate him (see The Cat Mayor of Talkeetna at Atlasobscura.com) New owners of Nagley’s store decided to designate Denali, one of a litter of kittens living at the store, as the new mayor for commercial purposes. Denali passed away in 2022 and his sister, Aurora, succeeded him. Today, Aurora is the unofficial serving “mayor” of Talkeetna—but only if you ask the people behind the counter of Nagley’s store. The Talkeetna Historical Society will give you the actual account and there’s even a children’s book, The Cat Who Ruled the Town by May Nakamura, for sale at the museum.

A few weeks before we visited, Youngest and a friend were lucky enough to find Aurora happily chasing butterflies behind Nagley’s. They even got to spend some quality time with her. I, however, continued trying to meet the mayor until Tuesday evening. Our train was scheduled to depart Talkeetna Depot at 5:50 pm. I say scheduled, but that is another story for Part 3. Meantime, if you need me, I’ll be wandering the streets of Talkeetna until our train arrives.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty…

Blessings!

Sources:

Barbara Ludwig at Talkeetna Historical Society

The Cat Mayor of Talkeetna at atlasobscura.com

The Blue Tarp podcast at ktna.org

Read Part 1 Welcome to Alaska https://auburn.momcollective.com/travel/welcome-to-alaska/

Read Part 3 Can You Say Adventure? https://auburn.momcollective.com/love-marriage/can-you-say-adventure/