4

/—

Left: Josh Rubin and Matt Spicurzi
show their art to teacher Cindy
Stegman.

Above: Josh Rubin colors in his
Beanie Baby.

n e Bonanza

A West Bloomfield doctor

and third-graders

send to and cards

/-

to hospitalized kids.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

TIM FITZGERALD PHOTOGRAPHER

T

o adulth they are just beanbags, but among
those too young to remember Trolls or Cab-
bage Patch Kids, Beanie Babies are valu-
able collectors toys.
As a parent of a third-grader, Dr. Phyllis Segal of
West Bloomfield knew firsthand the allure of these
trendy toys. A psychiatrist, she decided to share the
Beanie Baby fun with hospitalized youngsters by
distributing them to Children's Hospital of Michi-
gan, Kingswood and Aurora hospitals and
Hawthorne Center.
Through the McDonald's restaurant at Eight Mile
and Greenfield, Dr. Segal purchased, with her own
funds, over 600 Beanie Babies. Because of the high
demand for the toys, which are included with Mc-
Donald's Happy Meals, Dr. Segal had to make spe-
cial arrangements with the franchise owner, buying
only 150 Beanie Babies at a time.
Dr. Segal enlisted the support of her son, Michael,
and his classmates in teacher Cindy Stegman's third-
grade room at Doherty Elementary. With the cud-
dly, bean-filled creatures scattered around the room
for inspiration, the third-gi-aders created cards and
artwork to accompany the frifi g fl

-

Below: Ms. Stegman's third-
graders work on their Beanie
Baby pictures.