BALLDALE has been left without a hotel following the closure of the village’s historic pub.
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Last drinks were called at the Riverina watering hole on Saturday night with licensee Marie Misic deciding to close the doors on the hotel she took control of in 1996 after it was previously run by her parents.
Mrs Misic has since gone on holidays and was unavailable to speak to The Border Mail yesterday.
However, earlier this year she suggested she may shut the hotel following 10 break-ins during her time in charge.
“It’s getting to the stage where I dread coming to work,” Mrs Misic told The Border Mail in May.
“You just don’t know what you’re going to find.
“We can’t make up that lost income overnight. It takes weeks to get over a break-in.”
It is understood Mrs Misic has had the hotel on the market for the past three years.
Corowa mayor Fred Longmire, whose local is the Balldale Hotel, was at the farewell to the pub.
“It’s really sad,” Cr Longmire said.
“We’ve lost our school, we’ve lost our store and now we’ve lost our pub.
“We’ve still got the post office there, but it’s a sad day for our little town and our area but that’s the way of the world.”
Cr Longmire praised Mrs Misic’s efforts to maintain the hotel where he held his daughter’s 21st birthday and has been a patron for nearly 40 years.
“It’s been difficult for her, she’s done a great job to keep the thing going,” Cr Longmire said.
“I would say good luck to her with whatever else she’s doing in life.”
Among the events hosted by the Balldale Hotel was a celebration party for the town’s centenary in 2005.
Cr Longmire said the bar had also helped bring farmers together.
“We call it bush therapy a lot of people, especially during the drought, isolated farmers, thought they were the only ones with a problem and you could run into farmers at the pub and you would realise we’ve all got the same problems,” he said.