Benny family celebrates mural with community, Cobargo schoolkids

A new mural commemorating the Benny family of Cobargo adorns the wall of the village butcher that carries their name, greeting motorists as they arrive in the village from the south.

The artwork by Dan Maginnity, aka BYRD, depicts several generations of Bennys and their long-running history with the butchery, along with imagery of the surrounding countryside.

For many years the Benny family had admired the Silo Art Trail Mural concept and considered something similar for the blank canvas on the side of the Benny's Butchery.

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The butchery was among the shops that were still standing after the ferocious 2019/20 New Year's Even bushfire that devastated so much of Cobargo's main street.

As the village began finding its feet again, the Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund and the Benny family saw the perfect opportunity to create a talking piece, injecting colour and generating tourism dollars.

Following the model of the silo art trail, the idea was to create an artwork for the town that would celebrate its uniqueness and encourage interaction and social conversations.

The Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund generously reviewed the Benny family's application and awarded a grant to fund the project.

BYRD completed the work last month and on Thursday, members of the Benny family hosted a barbecue on site to celebrate with the community.

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In another move to engage the community through the CCBRF grant to the Benny family, BYRD hosted workshops with the children at Cobargo Public School ahead of the barbecue, showing them the art of spray painting and stencil work.

The schoolchildren loved creating colourful spray-painted cockatoos with their own personal touches.

The mural features the following family members from left to right:

Barry Benny: 1942 -

Ronald "Cobber" Benny: 1917-2015

Shirley Benny: 1941-2019

Fred Benny: 1890-1983

Betty "Doreen" Benny: 1921-2009

Fred Benny bought into the butcher shop back in 1903 and became the sole proprietor in 1932.

Cobber Benny - Fred Benny's son - and his wife Doreen took over the business in 1935 and, in turn, Fred's grandson Barry Benny and his wife Shirley took control in 1983. They operated the business up until their retirement in 2004.

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Benny's Butchery remained in the immediate family for over 101 years and three generations, resulting in some 190 years of continuous service to the people of Cobargo and district.

The building featured in the mural is the original slaughter house and dates back to approximately 1903. It still stands today, located near the showground.

The vehicle featured is the truck that transported the meat from the slaughter house to the shop. The image used is from a parade conducted in Cobargo and the landscape is the view from the Benny's Farm on Bermagui Cobargo Rd looking back towards Cobargo.

Today the shop's name still stands with David Boyle owning and operating the refurbished Butchery. David was an apprentice under Barry Benny.