Rossville put on its best historic garb for the Lions Den Hotel 150th anniversary celebration. Photo: Supplied.
It was uncertain whether the Lions Den Hotel would make it to its 150th birthday after Tropical Cyclone Jasper, but the community roared in resilience when the iconic venue celebrated the milestone anniversary earlier this month.
The historic pub was full of life and laughter on 17-19 October as guests ate their body weight in food and cake, and partied to local live music all day and night.
“I give everyone 110 per cent on organising the 150th celebrations,” manager Linda Paradise said.
“It was Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and there was not one minute of those three days that there was nothing happening.
“There were competitions, games, auctions, fishing, a birthday cake, and music from 12 o’clock right through to when we closed at nighttime.”
After the weekend-long party was over and locals retreated for a much-needed rest, Ms Paradise reflected on what it took to keep the hotel alive after the flooding disaster of December 2023.
“We were completely wiped out – all that was standing was the roof, the walls and the floor, everything was just under mud. So that was a complete rebuild for the Lions Den,” she said.
“It’s taken Judy [the owner] a lot to rebuild the hotel for the people; we just could not walk away from it because of its status as an iconic hotel and with the 150th celebrations that were coming up.
“The community all pulled together, they all came and helped and we really appreciated it. Day by day, it got cleaner and cleaner.”
