Almonte seniors deliver Baba dolls to residents with Alzheimer disease
Tuesday, December 13, 2005 -- Natalie Miller
They’re colourful and cuddly and have wound up in the arms of Almonte Country Haven residents who have Alzheimer disease.

Called Baba dolls, the knitted and stuffed characters were made by area seniors specifically for residents who have the neurodegenerative disease. Members of Club 61 in Almonte completed the dolls to keep alive a tradition started by local woman Ray Lamb. Ray, until her death about a year ago, made the dolls for people with Alzheimer’s who live in Ottawa. Her daughter donated the wool and unfinished dolls to Ray’s friend and ultimately they wound up in the hands of the Almonte seniors.

“It’s a bequest we want to remember her for,” says Mary Lou LaBrie, president of the seniors’ club.

“The seniors have already taken that job on.”

Club 61presented 15 dolls to Almonte Country Haven, OMNI’s long-term care home in Almonte recently. Mary Lou was anxious to see the residents’ reaction to the Baba dolls. One woman expression’s brightened when she saw the doll and another resident hugged Baba close. “It brought tears to my eyes,” says Mary Lou.

Darlene Thibault, life enrichment co-ordinator at Almonte Country Haven agrees the dolls have been well-received.

“I thought it was just a lovely idea,” she says.

“The reception was wonderful. One lady hugged it all day. They’re very soft, cuddly and colourful.”

Darlene says about 80 to 90 per cent of Almonte’s 82 residents have Alzheimer disease and dolls are being shared around the home.

Mary Lou says more dolls will be donated to area long-term care homes in the future. She says the process of making the dolls has been beneficial to her club members too. “When I first joined the club the seniors weren’t doing much,” she says, noting this is helping them develop self-worth.

The Baba dolls are strictly being made for people with Alzheimer’s, in honour of Ray’s intentions. “I think it’s going to be a worthwhile cause,” Mary Lou says.