A labor of love, giving new life and meaning to those in places less fortunate.
BENNETT SPRING, MO. – So the question that has confronted more than a few Ozark families is – now that no one in family sews anymore, what’s to be done with Grandma’s old sewing machine which she absolutely cherished? They don’t want to throw it out, even if it no longer runs and yet it seems silly to hold on to it. The answer is actually a two-part one and is also based right here in the Ozarks.
The first part is called Jay Reynolds. In 1998, while recovering from knee surgery, Jay, who lives at Bennett Spring on the Laclede-Dallas County line, a few miles west of Lebanon, Mo. began working on an old sewing machine, cleaning, repairing and getting it running again. Retired from the Kansas City area, Jay and his wife, Sharron moved to Bennett Spring so he could take up his favorite hobby, trout fishing. Now at age 84, the trout fishing has gone by the wayside but Jay is still working on sewing machines of all types, sizes and ages and has been for over two decades…