Following a medical emergency just last week, this pub on the Barrier Highway has started a fundraiser, selling Rocky Road to raise money for a defibrillator.
The Olary Hotel is located about 120km west of Broken Hill and is owned by Janne Britta, 63, and Tony Schaedel, 58.
When they purchased the pub it had been closed for five years. They spent around five months fixing up the place, before opening it up in April 2022.
“We get plenty of trucks passing through,” said Britta. “I do all the cooking and Tony does the bar – it’s a lot of work. There are some really busy days where you can do 20 hamburgers before lunch. It can be quiet and then before you know it, you’re flat out,” she said, adding that homemade rissoles, schnitzels, chicken parmigiana and hamburgers are among the most popular food options.
But on Friday, there was quite the scare. As Britta explained, “There was a bloke who couldn’t breathe at all and when I called 000, the first thing they asked was, ‘Do you have a defibrillator?’ Luckily he was fine but I realised we don’t have a defibrillator anywhere close by.
“I thought I would do a fundraiser for it as we would like to purchase one for public use to be stored on the outside of the Olary Hotel. At this stage a defibrillator will cost about $2000.”
The Olary Hotel is selling Rocky Road for $5, with all proceeds going towards the purchase of the defibrillator.
Since launching the fundraiser on Friday, Britta says they’ve already raised about $600. “It’s a good serve for $5. Hopefully more people will stop and buy some if they know it’s a fundraiser.”
With the pub being opened for just over a year now, Britta added that she and her partner have decided to put it on the market, as they prepare for their retirement.
“It’s turned out to be much busier than we expected,” she said. “We had thought it would be more of a slow and easy lifestyle so it’s become too busy for what we want to do, as we are ready to retire – and it’s just the two of us working here. It needs some younger blood.”
If they can find a buyer for their pub, the couple are hoping to relocate to Broken Hill so they can be closer to their children.