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Redcliff Home Hardware Owner Curtis Lamb holds his daughter Brinley with her stuffed animals. (CHAT News)

Two-year-old Redcliff girl gets new stuffed animal after original buried in honour of former employee

Dec 10, 2023 | 7:00 AM

A two-year-old girl from Redcliff is happy to have her favourite stuffed animal back again.

The stuffed animal is Home Hardware mascot Handy the Hound.

Brinley Lamb, the daughter of Redcliff Home Hardware owners Twyla and Curtis Lamb, had selflessly given up her stuffed animal as a thoughtful gesture.

It was buried with a long term store employee named Marina Hausauer who passed away in February.

After the stuffed animal had been given away, Brinley started to realize how much she missed it.

When her parents where looking to replace it, they found out that production of the Handy the Hound stuffed animal was discontinued.

When other Home Hardware owners heard the story, an employee from St. Jacobs, Ont., helped reunite Brinley with the stuffed animal she missed.

Curtis Lamb said the stuffie is more than just some fabric and stuffing.

“The significance and the sentimental value of the stuffie is more than just a stuffed animal,” Lamb said.

“The first one we gave away to a departed employee we lost earlier this year. We put it in her casket. She was a long time employee, Marina Hausauer, and she was very integral to this store,” Lamb added.

“[She was a] loved member of our store and there is a connection to that now. It is not just a regular stuffed animal; the representation for Brinley and Marina is essentially through that animal.”

Lamb said they were a little surprised they ended up finding the Handy the Hound stuffed animal.

Brinley was pumped and super happy the day it showed up.