THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501170117
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
There's a new doll club in Norfolk and already its members are making their presence felt through community service.
The Doll Dreamers of Tidewater, founded in September 1994, are making cloth dolls to be donated to the Norfolk paramedics for use on rescue calls involving children, explains club president Caroline ``Pip'' Pipke. Such dolls can be just what the doctor ordered to calm a frightened, sick or injured child. After the call the child is permitted to keep the doll.
``The paramedics use 450 dolls a year,'' said Doris Young, the club's first vice president. ``We hope to give them at least a couple hundred. We probably have 50 right now. We have one lady who made 20 herself and brought them to us.''
The first dolls are to be presented to Capt. Dennis Hodge of the training division of Norfolk's Department of Fire and Paramedical Services this month. Club members have christened the dolls, made of cloth cut from a pattern and sewn together with cotton stuffing material inside, Doll Dreamers Companions. All materials going into the dolls are non-toxic, Young adds. There are no small pieces, either, such as buttons or pins, ensuring that the dolls are completely safe for the youngest children who may receive them.
``We use them to calm children in fire and trauma situations,'' Hodge said. ``Ten percent of our calls are pediatric or child related. We've even used them with some of the elderly. It has a soothing effect and gives them something to focus on. A lot of commercial products may not be child safe; we appreciate their efforts in making these dolls for us.''
The Doll Dreamers are a dedicated lot. At this month's meeting, 18 of the 21 charter members were present, and the rest were accounted for. The meetings frequently include a speaker sharing information about doll-making techniques or doll history in addition to doll-making projects.
``Our club is devoted to doll-making, education and history,'' Pipke said. ``This includes repairing dolls and collecting them.''
In addition to the cloth-doll project for the paramedics, the club is making anatomically correct porcelain dolls to be given to the city's Division of Social Services and the new Child Abuse Center of Hampton Roads, which works closely with the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. The dolls are useful in investigating suspected cases of child abuse and sexual abuse, explained club parliamentarian Lexie Zoss, who works in the Division of Social Services. Presentation of the porcelain dolls is planned for late February. MEMO: The Doll Dreamers meet at 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month
at Bill's Ceramic & Doll Studio, 6618 E. Virginia Beach Blvd. in
Norfolk. Dues are $30 a year. Persons interested may attend a meeting
or call second vice president Darlene Shearer at 466-7460 for more
information.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Doll Dreamers of Tidewater members Jackie Stidham, left, and Susanne
Wilson, right, work on dolls that are being given to Norfolk
paramedics.
KEYWORDS: DOLLS by CNB