Last night Cross Creek Country Club was hoppin’ with people ready to have fun while raising money for the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History.

By the end of the night, the contestants for the “Bunny Hop: A Hare-raising Affair” had brought in $11,842 to the museum, exceeding organizers’ expectations. This didn’t include the amount raised through ticket sales. At $50 a ticket, this amount likely neared $6,500. Raising the most money, Steve Yokeley and Traci Hamilton were crowned king and queen of the “fun”raiser.

The event featured 10 local business people who have been raising money for the past few weeks in attempts to be named bunny king and queen. Each dollar they raised counted as a vote in their favor. The bunnies participating were Betty Ann Collins, Traci Hamilton, Lenise Lynch, Eleanor Powell, and Twyla Sickmiller. The hares were Ben Cooke, Aaron Routh, Terry Strickland, Dennis Williams, and Steve Yokeley.

The night’s festivities began with a cash bar and buffet dinner. After welcomes from museum leaders, radio personality Kelly Epperson presented the contestants to the crowd. The bunnies and hares each had to answer a pageant question. When asked by Epperson what her most significant accomplishment in life was, Powell said, “Being in your arms.” Steve Yokeley was asked what he would like to see happen in the world today, and his response was, “Duke to give up the national championship.” These and other responses drew hearty laughter from the crowd.

After the pageant questions, fundraiser participants had 45 minutes to continue trying to raise money while people danced on the dance floor. The contestants each had different ways of raising money. Yokeley went from table to table selling “magic carrots.” Powell took people’s pictures for $20. Some contestants got people to stick dollar bills under their bunny ears. Cooke even walked around for a while in a full bunny suit.

Matt Edwards, museum director, said the contestants weren’t given much direction in how to raise money. “They really were the ones to come up with the ideas,” he said.

Steve Yokeley said, “It’s been a lot of fun. Everybody has been really generous.”

His wife, Ann, is co-chair of the committee which planned the Bunny Hop. He said, “She didn’t make me do it ... I knew it would be a lot of fun.”

Betty Ann Collins also enjoyed participating in the fundraiser, and was surprised at the level of success everyone had in raising money.

“It’s not the best of times to fund raise, but this is a giving community,” she remarked.

Participants thought that the museum was a worthy thing to raise money for. Yokeley said, “It’s so important to Mount Airy’s tourism, trying to get more people in town.”

“It’s the only place in Surry County that collects and preserves the history of this community,” Collins said. “It is a fascinating place.”

Around 130 people came out to support the museum and its first Bunny Hop. Edwards said, “We’ve got a great turnout.”

Ann Yokeley agreed. “It’s been a great turnout. We’re going to raise a lot of money. It’s exceeded as far as donations go.”

Edwards talked about the importance of the event, explaining that money collected through fundraisers makes up around 45 percent of the operating budget of the museum each year. He said the projections for fundraisers this year were looking good.

“It’s absolutely critical to our long-term viability,” he said.

At the beginning of the event, the director remarked that the museum was already close to raising what it had anticipated from the event. “And our estimation was optimistic,” he said.

The museum originally planned to have a fundraising event in February, but bad weather changed the plans. Ann Yokeley said the committee was trying to think of interesting ideas for a fundraiser, and a bunny theme seemed to fit well with the weekend after Easter. She said the museum will probably have a similar event for the next few years.

“I think this event will grow,” she said. “We’ve had fun doing it.”

Edwards applauded the planning committee for their efforts.

“We’ve got a fantastic fundraising committee,” he said. “We were looking for something that was a little new and different, and this was a way to spice up the typical dinner dance.”

Edwards explained that instead of holding one big yearly fundraiser like the museum has done in the past, the museum plans to host a few small fundraisers throughout the year. During his “State of the Museum” address at the Bunny Hop, Edwards put a plug in for the next big fundraiser. On Aug. 6, the museum will have a “Black Tie and Blue Jeans, Denim and Pearls,” pseudo-formal event at the pavilion at Cross Creek.

He encouraged people to come to that, and he gave an update on the museum. Edwards said, “It’s been a great year. It’s been a very busy time for us.”

He said that the New Harmonies exhibit from the Smithsonian Institute has opened the museum up to a lot of new people. Last year around this time the museum had seen 600 visitors. Within the first three weeks of the New Harmonies exhibit, the museum had 2,500 visitors.

“We have had an incredibly full pallet of activities,” said Edwards. “There’s still lots of good programming coming down the pipeline because of (New Harmonies).”

Last night’s activity was dubbed a success by organizers and attendees alike. Heather Elliott, education and program director for the museum, said, “I think it’s a great event, and I’m really impressed. A lot of work went into it.”

Collins said, “I think tonight has been fun. I think there’s new life going through the museum.”

Contact Meghann Evans at mevans@mtairynews.com or 719-1952.