February 2, 2013
There’s country hospitality, and then there’s above-and-beyond the call of duty country hospitality …
Some visitors to the South Burnett who found themselves stranded last week experienced the latter when they wound up at Hivesville.
Short of cash, and with phonelines and EFTPOS machines out, some of the travellers needed cash for fuel and food, and a place to stay.
That’s where Jane Sullivan, from the Hivesville Hotel, stepped in, supplying accommodation and lending families cash to help them out.
Most of the people whom Jane put up had been camping at Boondooma Dam when the water started to rise.
When all the beds were full, she opened up the private premises in the pub and invited them to unroll their swags there.
Jane also helped feed a bunch of hungry and tired locals who were spending their time fixing fences.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann learned of Jane’s generosity when he stopped in to visit the pub during a fact-finding tour of the shire on Thursday morning, and was astonished by her story.
“I know it was a bit of risk lending money but one family had three daughters and didn’t have any money, so you’ve got to help where you can,” Jane told southburnett.com.au today.
And her faith in humanity has been rewarded … all the money has been returned, and several of the visitors have told her they can’t wait to return to the South Burnett for their next holiday.
