The 77 year-old grew up on a nearby family property and although he is now retired in Benalla he has a lifetime bond with the village and its pub.

"I had to come to the pub to have a beer and see it open," Mr Driver said.

The former Albury Grammar School boarder worked behind the bar in his early 20s with then owner Neville Lodge going to bed at 8pm or 9pm and leaving him to oversee the till.

"This was the lifeblood of the community," Mr Driver said.

But in November 2014, the pub was left with just its facade upright after an inferno destroyed its rooms and treasured memorabilia.

Work on a $1.4 million rebuild began in April last year after Neville Lodge's sons Michael and Paul entered a joint venture with land owners, brothers Charlie and Bob White.

The facade has been retained after replastering and erecting nine-metre interior steel beams, which sink two metres into the ground, to strengthen it.

"The old place was a lot lower with a metre or so height, this is three to four metres high because I wanted it to be a lot more open," Michael Lodge said.

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"The feedback I've got from 1000 people so far has been all positive, I think I've only had negative comment that 'it's not as good as the old place'.

"At least 50 people have come up to me and shook my hand and said 'thanks for doing it'."

The hotel is eight metres wider and 4.5 metres deeper.

The bulk of clientele on Sunday were those heading home from the Deniliquin Ute Muster, Griffith trio Jordan Tuohy, James Schmetzer and Katie Morris Rawson.

Mr Schmetzer, wearing a hat with a swag of muster tags, first came to the hotel as a 10 year-old with his family.

"It's bloody good," he said of the revived pub.

"I can come here now and have a beer, instead of a soft drink."

And what of the famous stickers, which have been seen around the world?

Mr Lodge said the trademark for the stickers was obtained by another party and legal action was likely to be required to regain it.

"So we've decided to buy them anyway (from the rights holder) and are giving them away free with stubby holders (which sell for $10)," he said.

Incidentally, Paul Lodge, who owns a stockbroking business in Melbourne, was initiator of the stickers in the mid-1970s.

"The first ones we had were not that good, when the first rain came along they would fall off cars so we had to make them stronger," Michael Lodge said.

Mr Driver has been a sticker devotee for more than 20 years, making sure one is on the rear of each of his five cars over that period.

"That's what makes it world famous, they've been seen in America and Europe and everywhere," he said.

As for the pub and the owners' work, Mr Driver noted while it may not have the old character, "they've done everything to give it a wonderful new life for the future".

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