Mary Ann Morgan and Julie Price, along with Mary Ann’s husband Dr Barry Dawson, will soon become the licencees of the small town’s icon, taking over from current owners Leigh McArdle and Barb Garvey.

For both women, the venture is a bit of a return to their roots, having grown up in the hamlet together.

Ms Morgan is the daughter of Judy Phelan – who still lives in Colbo - and the late Mick Morgan, while Ms Price is the daughter of the late Norm and Maureen Wright.

Related: Two women save the Colbinabbin pub

Mick and Norm were local identities, stalwarts and life members of the town’s football club.

Both women have other family in the town too, including Julie’s son and her brand new granddaughter, whose birth announcement coincided with the pub move.

“A pub and a bub!” she said.

For Mary Ann, the decision to move into the pub business started when she saw the sale notice on the fence.

“It’s always sort of been a little hidden desire,” she said.

Mary Ann and Julie grew up close friend and while they hadn’t been in regular contact in recent decades, Mary Ann had heard Julie was interested so gave her a call.

“It was pretty uncanny, really,” Julie said.

Mary Ann said that as soon as they spoke, she knew it would work.

Investing in the pub was an investment in the community, Mary Ann said.

She said she was concerned about the decline of country towns, and saw the hotel and the general store as the last markers of survival in a small community.

“I think the pub, in some ways, is a bit of a barometer for the town,” she said, adding that it generated business and hope.

The local pub also played an important social role, Mary Ann said, being a place were people could come together and socialise, enjoy a meal and a drink.

“It’s the hub of the town. It’s where all the news breaks, it seems to be where people gather… There’s not many shops there, not much going on socially aside from the footy and the church,” Julie said.

“The pub keeps the town alive.”

With a background in health, Mary Ann said supporting the mental wellbeing of people in turn supported the wellbeing of the community as a whole.

While having only a slight interest in football, she sponsors Colbinabbin’s club as a way of giving to the community.

Her interest in the survival of small country towns stems from childhood.

“I think it’s because of the upbringing I had, and it was a wonderful place to grow up,” Mary Ann said.

The pub has stood in the town for more than 100 years, but its future looked to be under threat several years ago after the then-publican left and the liquor licence went.

For threes months, Colbinabbin had no pub serving drinks.

But then Barb and Leigh stepped up.

The Colbinabbin Football Netball Club has thanked the two women for their sponsorship support over the years, as well as their “tireless work” they have provided for the club.

Leigh said their experience running the hotel had been a positive one, and thanked the community for their support.

She also wished the incoming licensees good luck.

Julie has moved back to the area and will manage the pub, while Mary Ann splits her time between her legal practice in Melbourne and a property in the area.

They believe they will take on the running of the pub from about Easter, but before then, Julie will spend time with Barb and Leigh to learn the ropes.

Barry, who recently retired from his job as an obstetrician and gynaecologist, is likely to lend his hand to working behind the bar – and, Mary Ann jokes, will be helpful should anyone go into labour in the pub.

While he doesn’t hail from Colbo, he started his life in the Wimmera town of Murtoa.

The new owners hope to restore the original building and refurbish the first floor to what it once was, and one day, add a function area.

With the town absent of any sort of community house, Julie said it was hoped the pub would be more than a watering hole, a community place instead.

She hopes to see such initiatives as a community book swap based at the pub, in the interests of shaping it into a place for all.

Mary Ann said she also wanted to work with the broader wine region and tap into tourism potential, making Colbinabbin a place where people would stop off while in the area.

Julie added the hotel had three accommodation units, so it would be good to increase the use of them.

She said the pub hoped to continue a strong relationship with the football netball team.

More music, she said, and more dining space were also on the cards.

Julie said the prospect was exciting of taking on the pub was exciting, if somewhat daunting, but both she and Mary Ann were driven people.

“We want to do it well – not just from the business perspective, but it will be good for the town,” she said, adding they were confident the community would support the endeavour.

Mary Ann said she was buoyed by the positive response from the community to the news so far.

“If it invigorates the community, we’ve done something,” she said.