Donna was born and raised in Benton Harbor, Michigan. She and her husband, Carl,
have been married for 46 years, and have lived on the same farm for thirty-six years. They have five grown
children and twelve grandchildren.
For twenty seven years she owned and operated a ceramics studio, retiring in 1997 to make bears full-time.
Donna started her journey into the Teddy Bear World, as a collector, with over seven hundred of them.
Her home has more teddy bears than most shoppes. She loves "bear talk"
and sharing stories with exibitors and collectors that she meets at bear shows.
In 1993, she entered the bear world as a designer and the creator of her own line of Teddies,
thus "Bainbridge Bears" was born. Two of her bears,
Harrison and Hattie Harrison are Golden Teddy Award Winners. This is an honor for any artist!
Donna has great fun creating sweet bear faces and then scouring antique and second-hand
stores for just the right complementary accessories. A bear, of course, must look it's best!
"It's a wonderful life, loving what you do and truely enjoying it," she says.
I discovered Donna, through a dear friend, Kay Preston, owner of Tea Time Teddies . Sadly, Kay
passed away on Christmas Day 2000. The artist bears from her shoppe have come to live in my
shoppe until they find homes. I owe Kay for finding more talented artists to add to my collection, and
shall continue to carry these bears!.
Donna's bears grab your heart, as you will see on the next page....
The Teddy Bear
Shoppe Of The Poconos
