Sewing machine that linked 2 women from across the country makes it to Ontario

McLauchlan went to see the sewing machine in Fort Good Hope in early August, after shehad been contacted by the woman who bought the machine from her mother.

Therese Pierrot bought the machine from McLauchlan's motherwhen she was working in the Aklavik hospital.

Now that Pierrot has failing eyesight and may need to move to a care home in Norman Wells, she wanted to give the sewing machine to someone who would take care of it.

Pierrot's daughter helped her find McLauchlan, so they could get it back to the family that owned it before she did.

"It all happened pretty fast," said McLauchlan.

She bought the sewing machine back from Pierrot and then made a plan to fly it home.

After McLauchlan'strip to Fort Good Hope,Pierrot's son-in-law built a crate for the machine. He put it on a flight to Yellowknife, where Manitoulin Trucking picked it up.

The company trucked it to McLauchlan's front door.

"It's exactly the way it was when it left Fort Good Hope," said McLauchlan. The crate and machine weigh about 79 kilogramsaltogether.

"I was just glad to see that it arrived safely," said McLauchlan.

Now she's getting the machine cleaned up and fixed. The belt on the machine is broken and it is going to get a general inspection.

McLauchlanis going to send the shipping materials back to Fort Good Hope.

"I'm shipping back the shipping materials because things like screws and straps are valuable when you'rein a community with no roads," she said.

During her last trip to Fort Good Hope, she brought some small gifts for the family, including a mug with a picture of the sewing machine on it.

She said she will most likely send a few goodies when she mails back the construction supplies.