INUVIK - Clutching a Kleenex in one hand to wipe away the tears, Melanie Swain made sure she shared a hug and affectionate conversation with each of the 60 to 70 friends and colleagues gathered at the Eskimo Inn bar Friday night to wish her well.

While making the rounds two latecomers arrived and she immediately darted across the room to hug them, and the tears began to pour again.

Melanie Swain gets a hug from her friend Deb Karst on Aug. 28, at her going-away party held at the Eskimo Inn. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

That's Melanie, say her closest friends. It's that innate warmth which explains why so many are sad to see her leave on Sunday for Edmonton to pursue a new career.

"Everybody in that room will say this, that she makes everybody feel like they are her best friend," said Donna Rice, who is truly one of Melanie's best friends and attended Friday's party. "She just has this wonderful, positive, engaging personality, which is a very great and rare quality to have."

Donna was one of Melanie's closest friends since she arrived here more than four years ago. Both from Newfoundland, they quickly established a close bond. Deanna Tobin, a former colleague of Swain's, also joined forces with the group, being from Newfoundland, to form the "Newfie" mafia. She also showed up to the farewell party.

"We just shared our experiences in Inuvik, the highs and the lows," said Tobin. "She was just always there."

Though she had her inner circle of friends, Swain reached out to the community. She sat on both the Inuvik Youth Centre and the End of the Road Music Festival boards and volunteered with many initiatives.

"That's just the type of person she is," said Rice. "She would look to help people and not look for anything in return."

She also met her future husband Jim Kinney here. The pair will marry in December and of course the Newfie mafia will be there to help them celebrate.

Fresh out of university, Swain was encouraged to come here from a friend living in Tuktoyaktuk. She was employed as manager of trade and investment for the territorial government in the Inuvik region.

It appears her time here had quite the effect on her.

"It's changed my life completely a total 180," she said. "I met my partner for life. I've met so many friends that I know I'll have forever. I've had a great experience work wise. Inuvik's been the best experience of my life.

"I feel happy about the future but I feel sad that I'm going to leave all these wonderful people that I met and worked and volunteered with."

One of the more touching moments she can remember in Inuvik actually came earlier in the day with her colleagues.

"We took the afternoon off to take a walk in the park," she said. "They had a beautiful barbecue and a lovely cake for me. We took photographs of the fall colours. It was the one afternoon since I started working there that we took an afternoon off of work. It made me really happy. It was a special moment."

As Swain carries on, Rice has no doubt she'll have the same effect on the lives she'll touch down the road.

"She's so optimistic; she's so positive. There's never a dull moment. I've never seen her down. Even tonight, when she's leaving."

But then again, Edmonton is just a flight away.

"I will definitely come back to visit," she said. "I'll be back in November some time. It's so emotional."