The Moulamein Men’s Shed is helping to keep the small village alive.

The oldest town in the Riverina, members of the shed work hard to do whatever they can to keep various aspects of the town afloat.

“We don’t do the things other men’s sheds do,” said Colin Adams.

“We are largely a group of busy farmers, with a lot of members having rice or sheep to tend to.

“Instead, we do other things like collecting donations of batteries to cash in, and from that we purchase fingerlings to return to the rivers surrounding the town.

“We do this with the help of the Department of Primary Industries, and they assist, with every dollar we raised they match it with two, up to a cap. It is an application process, and we get to identify certain spots.

“This has been very successful not only for the environmental aspect, but at bringing people into the town.

Moulamein’s main drawcard is to fishermen and bird watchers.

“People come here and are delighted; they sit on the riverbank and reel in 15 fish, they are too little to keep so they throw them back, but they are really happy to come here because they know they can catch a fish.”

This work is of significant importance in an area which has suffered two black water incidents, one in 2016 and another in 2020.

Fish and water creatures were lost on a massive scale. The town also has an annual fishing competition, and a mad passion for football.

The Moulamein men’s shed also revitalised the Blue Gate; a blue timber gate symbolic of the gates that had to be opened and closed by Cobb & Co drivers on the coach route between Moulamein and Deniliquin, and various other community signs and tasks around the area.

This includes a lot of the barbecue tables around the town.

The Moulamein men’s shed is a living testament to the spirit of small towns.

With the average membership age of 75, and comprised of busy men with their own careers and obligations, they still come together to make a difference in their own little slice of heaven.