CRITTERS COMFORT FOR KIDS; FIRM DONATES TOYS TO HONOR SLAIN MOM.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

In one of the largest donations ever to the District Attorney's Victim Services Division, a Santa Monica company presented 2,000 of its trademark Grabbit toys in memory of murder victim Sherri Dally.

Grabbit President Lauren Joy Sand decided to make the donation while working on a television screenplay about Dally, a mother of two who was murdered by her husband and his longtime lover.

``I have come to know Sherri Dally through the loving eyes of her family and the memories of her close friends and community,'' Sand said. ``I have learned of her devotion.''

Dally's mother, Karlyne Guess, said the stuffed animals, valued at $42,000, would have made her daughter beam with pride knowing that she'd inspired others to reach out to children in time of need.

``I think (Sherri) would have thought this is wonderful,'' Guess said during a presentation of the toys to District Attorney Michael Bradbury.

``She always hated to see children in distress. That's what this is - giving love from Sherri in the form of a little Grabbit. I can just feel her. Every time they give one of those away, she's going to put her arms around that little child.''

Dally, a Ventura homemaker and day-care-center operator, was abducted from a shopping center in May 1996 and brutally murdered. Her husband, Michael Dally, and his lover, Diana Haun, were convicted of murder and are both serving life sentences.

Victim's advocates with the District Attorney's Office will give the toys to children in crisis. Some of the toys featuring the big-eared bunny will also be donated to Catholic Charities' Christmas toy drive, which is scrambling to overcome a shortfall in donations.

``We like to think of Grabbit as Smokey the Bear for the new millennium,'' said Sand, who regularly attended Michael Dally's trial last spring.

``Today's children have so many other things to worry about: drive-by shootings, gang violence, violence in the home, earthquakes, all these things,'' she said. ``And a lot of times, they're not prepared because parents shelter them. They don't want to scare them. Actually that does a disservice to a child. You have to empower them to know that they can take care of themselves.

``So Grabbit is there to educate them on how to take care of themselves in unexpected situations.''

Sherri Dally's two sons, Devon, 10, and Max, 9, were not on hand during the presentation in their mother's memory. But the boys, who live with their paternal grandparents in Ventura, are doing well, despite the loss of both their parents, according to Guess, who described them as ``happy little boys.''

The boys, who believe their father is innocent, visit him in prison every month and write every week.

``There's definitely been a lot of healing. And they're adjusting to their new life well,'' said Hannah Murray, Michael Dally's niece, who testified against him during his trial. ``Both families' goal is just that the boys grow up with as much love and support as possible. And everyone's trying to make up for them losing both their parents.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color--Ran in Simi Edition only) Grabbit stuffed animals surround a picture of Sherri Dally, a mother of two who was murdered by her husband and his longtime lover.

(2--Color in Simi Edition only) Millie Hicks, a D.A.'s Office assistant for victim services, arranges boxes filled with stuffed animals in the Hall of Justice in Ventura.

(3--Color--Ran in Simi Edition only) Karlyne Guess, right, mother of Sherri Dally, hugs Lauren Joy Sand, president of Grabbit Toy Co., on Monday in Ventura.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Special to the Daily News