2021 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE
Premier’s Award for Contribution to the Community | DARREN MARTELLO
What does the award mean to you? Oh I just had no idea. I didn’t even think that THA or people or Peter Gutwein knew the things that I do! We sponsor every single local sporting team, we do our Clean the Coast event which is huge. We fill a whole skip bin every year with rubbish off the beach and come back and have a barbeque and beers and we’re educating people on things like minimising plastic use and people are starting to reliase their impact. And community events we like being involved in. But yes the award is very humbling. How did the clean the Coast Event come about? I actually stole the event off a big corporate company who did a one off thing interstate so my daughter and I got it going locally. It's a bloody awesome event. We've been going 4 years, and every body feel really proud about making a difference. It's a geat clean, green event... with beers involved!
THE BRIDPORT HOTEL has been Darren Martello’s ‘hospitality home’ for the best part of 30 years. Martello and his wife have breathed life into the local institution and empowered meaningful change in the community through the ‘Clean our Coast’ annual event, recognising and reducing the significant impact humans are having on the local foreshore. Darren is just about to embark on a new hospitality adventure, managing the Furneaux Tavern on Flinders Island after selling the Bridport hotel last month. Throughout his 26 years in the industry, Darren has always maintained his sense of humour, his love for the industry and it’s people, and a willingness to help anyone he can. Darren is as humble as they come, and a deserving winner of the Premier’s Award for Contribution to the Community at the 2021 THA Awards for Excellence. THA Membership Manager Nick Roney caught up with Darren following the event. How’d you get started in Tasmanian hospitality? “I came over here to play football originally, went back and forth to Melbourne a bit and around a few venues in Launceston but I’ve been in and out of the Bridport Hotel for the best part of 30 years. When I was managing the Cock’n’Bull we thought we should get a venue of our own and we looked at a lot of pubs around Tassie, Bridport Hotel was on the market and we just thought that it felt like home”. What has changed over your time at the Bridport Hotel? Oh Bridport itself has changed, its become a lot busier . The main thing that has made it busier is the traffic from Barnbougle, the amount of people that brings to Bridport, its just crazy and wonderful for the pub. What has changed is people now more and more want Tasmanian produce and now Tassie is quite trendy. People want to come here, they want paddock to plate, they want local wine and local seafood, and we’ve evolved with that.
What does the future hold for Clean our Coast? I'll still be running it! I've had JB from Lion reach out and want to get on board, so it's just going to get bigger and better. We'd love to hear from any other corporates that would like to be involved. We use the pub hotel for the beers and barbeque after, we want to make it so big that we use the village green for celebrations! To express your support contact nick@tha.asn.au
THA HOSPITALITY—REVIEW: AUGUST 2021 | 18
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