Matt and Kathryn Clarke take the reins of Barnawartha's Star Hotel

Corryong-born Matt Clarke and his wife Kathryn have recently become the publicans of Barnawartha's Star Hotel, which was rebuilt after being gutted by a fire in 2006, and have already made significant inroads.

The hotel, owned by Alan and Narelle Barassi, the former a nephew of football great Ron Barassi, has already been well supported in the Clarke's tenure.

"I've been a Toll courier for the last 13 years and before that I was in pubs up at Rockhampton for nine years," Mr Clarke said.

"I didn't mind Queensland, but it's good to come home.

"I'm from Corryong originally. Barnawartha's like a little Corryong now because there's so many Corryong people here."

Mr Clarke, who started as an apprentice chef at the now closed Upper Murray Resort at Walwa, didn't want to make wholesale changes to the Star Hotel, but said it was good to have the backing of the community.

His speciality, a homemade beef and Guinness pie, has already proven a hit.

"We've got the locals back on board," he said.

"The football club is back supporting us. They've been allowed back in the pub and they don't want to lose it again."

Mrs Clarke said the family was keen to move to Barnawartha as their three children had already been going to school in the town and the pub presented the perfect opportunity.

"We were looking for a house out here for a while and nothing really came up. We looked into the bottom pub at Corryong a few years ago and it fell through, but this came up and we went for it," she said.

"It's going to be a bit of a work in progress, but it's got such a good feel.

"We're definitely focused on being a family-friendly pub. We've put in a kids area with a TV, games and toys."

Attached to the pub is six motel rooms, but the Clarkes are living on-site in two of them.

Mrs Clarke said there was a need for more accommodation around the area.

"I want to get more beds in them because there's room for more. We'd like to get more families to come through," she said.

"There's been a couple of inquiries for families coming to the snow and using it as a bit of a halfway point.

"We get a few workers from Logic stay. There's not a lot of accommodation, even Wodonga struggles with accommodation."

Mr Clarke said the pub supported North East wineries with Campbells at Rutherglen and Myrtleford's Michelini Wines on board, while Alpine Cider and Billsons drinks remained popular.

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