Just a few of the dolls donated for sale this weekend by Lynn Johnston to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Bay. Photos by Dennis Chippa.
If you are looking for a piece of Lynn Johnston’s life, this weekend may be the place to find it.
The internationally known artist is making dozens of dolls, collected from around the world over the years, available to the public for sale.
The proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Bay.
Executive Director Darlene Jamieson says the doll donation is a sort of goodbye from a longtime friend of her agency.
“Lynn Johnston has always been a supporter of ours. She just wanted to do this as a little bit of an extra, maybe a way to say goodbye to us before she leaves the community. “
A few dolls have been sold on the Agency’s Facebook page already, and garnered almost 500 dollars, which Jamieson says is actually a good deal, for the buyer.
“All the items are worth a lot more than we’re selling them for but people are being generous with their bids. It’s just that some of the items have more sentimental value, and they’re maybe not transferring into the collectible bids. But we’re very happy with how it’s going.”
This weekend, however, many of the more than fifty collectible items will be on display, and on sale, at Gulliver’s downtown.
Jamieson says the idea is to expose the great dolls to the public up close and personal.
“It’s basically make a bid and if we accept the bid you can walk away with that item from Lynn Johnston.”
Meantime, other collectibles like puppets, toys and smaller items will remain at Big Brothers Big Sisters offices on Lakeshore Drive, so those who miss out on the weekend can still purchase something.
Some of the items are considered quite valuable, and there are many unique toys and trinkets.
The collection may be the draw, but the cause is also worth the effort, as Jamieson says all money raised goes to help kids needing a Big Brother or Big Sister..
“We have thirty children on the wait list for that program and there’s expenses relating to delivery of that program. Screening adults, training everyone, even just booking interviews with the children and their parents, there’s expenses related to that. So our core program expenses are rarely covered by anything more than the fundraisers we hold throughout the year. So this will go towards supporting the matches between big and little brothers and sisters.”
Anything left over will be saved for Christmas gifts for some of the children, so nothing will go to waste.
The dolls are displayed downtown at Gulliver’s Friday from 3 to6:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 until 2.
