A reopened Mooroopna pub has a new name to go with its new look.
The Cricketers Family Hotel in Mooroopna, formerly the Cricketers Arms Hotel, reopened on Monday, July 1.
Marilyn Parker and Ricky Turner bought the business in February and have been in renovation mode to get the doors open, with the help of Peter Warburton, who is volunteering and showing them the ropes with his 25 years of experience as a publican.
Having just moved from Melbourne, Ms Parker said the new beginning was a “challenge” but also “exciting”.
“I may not have experience (behind the bar), but I’m (focusing on) community, I’ve been trying to engage everyone and bring everyone together,” she said.
“There’s still a lot that we have to do.
“It’ll be good. I’ve learned so much already.”
Ms Parker said the new name was designed to create a family hotel environment and be more “community friendly”.
After being a community development worker in Melbourne, Ms Parker said she was “very community focused” and keen to give something to Mooroopna.
“Everyone’s battling, we’ve all got to look after each other,” she said.
“You’ve got to have services in town to keep the town thriving.”
A lot of the former local patrons have been “happy to come back”.
“(People) like to come in, just sit here for a couple of hours and have a chat. They’re just happy to come back and engage with mates,” Ms Parker said.
“One guy was nearly crying when he came in, he just couldn’t believe how different it looked in here.”
Getting the bar back up and running was their main priority, but the bistro is set to open within the month, pending final touches in the kitchen.
Ms Parker said the bottle shop attached to the hotel would also be up and running soon, and they’d eventually like to get the hotel rooms back open, although it will be a while before that happens.
“Things are coming, and we’ll get more and more things as time goes on,” she said.
Since reopening, they’ve been opening at noon and closing at about 9pm, but are flexible to change depending on what the community wants.
Ms Parker said the response from the Mooroopna community had been “fantastic”, and they’d love to keep getting feedback from people so they knew how to improve.