Last updated: December 29, 2014   Top stories  Community pub a
true winner  Karen Kilsby  Karen Kilsby, general manager of the
Loxton Hotel. Picture: Dean Martin. Source: The Advertiser  THE
Loxton Community Hotel Motel is thriving under the unique
community ownership model that is common to several Riverland
hotels.  In its latest expansion, the business is also helping
the Riverland tentatively spring back to life, due in part to
benefits provided by Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund.  The
104-year-old hotel employs 72 people and is one of the larger
employers in town, providing a range of benefits including
granting $70,000 to community organisations last year.  Loxton
Hotel general manager Karen Kilsby said the hotel, aided by an
$865,484 assistance grant from the fund, has embarked on an
expansion program that would otherwise have taken years to
complete.  It is already helping the hotel expand its tourism
business with visitor numbers rising.  In the fashion of other
community owned hotels in the River