Legacy created by original owners will live on

PRESCOTT – Muddy Waters Bar & Grill, located downtown Prescott at 231 N. Broad St., celebrated an official ribbon cutting on Friday, Dec. 10 with the Prescott Area Chamber of Commerce. The restaurant and bar have been in Prescott for several years and the ribbon cutting marked a grand reopening under recent new owners.

The restaurant still features the same atmosphere, food options and drinks with some minor revisions, but is now in the hands of Mitch and Sarah Wormington and Eric Christenson. Mitch Wormington and Christenson have been long-time employees at Muddy Waters.

“Muddy Waters has been open since the spring of 2004,” Mitch Wormington said. “I started working here in 2005 so I have been here for over 16 years as an employee, and I’ve played many different roles here over the years.”

In June of this year, longtime owner Steve Mann died at age 61 after a cancer battle. Wormington was very close to Mann and hopes to keep his legacy alive.

“Steve and I became very close and he got diagnosed with cancer about four or five years ago,” Mitch Wormington said. “I had gone to him about a year before he got diagnosed and told him if he ever wanted to sell, that I had always wanted to own a bar and it had always been a dream of my wife and I. I told him I would love to take a swing at it and I didn’t ever want to drive by a place

See MUDDY WATERS Page 3

Photo courtesy of Prescott Chamber of Commerce MUDDY WATERS

From Page 1

that I love so much and see it in the hands of someone else and see it change.”

After Mann was diagnosed with cancer, he took Wormington’s word and hoped he would take over Muddy Waters.

“After he got diagnosed, he told me we should sit down and talk and so we did and everything was going great for him for a long time,” Mitch Wormington said. “About a year ago, he got a prognosis that led to us talking very seriously about me taking over for him.”

The passion that went into what Muddy Waters is today really stemmed from the vision Mann and co-owner and partner Patti Schichel created.

“He loved this place, he never complained, and he was one of the hardest working men I’ve ever met in my life and I’m so thankful for him and Patti,” Mitch Wormington said. “She is a chef, so she did all of the food and decor and Steve had a construction background and he had this vision and created this multi-level deck and he called it his ‘Taj Mahal.’” The ambiance and feel of Muddy Waters will remain, but Mitch Wormington hopes to return to some of Muddy’s roots.

“There aren’t going to be any major changes, but we used to have more live music and there was just more going on and we really want to bring that back this spring and summer,” he said.

Mitch Wormington is looking forward to what the future holds for Muddy Waters alongside his business partner Christenson.

“He is the best match for me personality wise to do this and he has been here for a very long time,” Mitch Wormington said. “He’s been here for 14 years, and I actually trained him in as a bartender, and I’ve gotten to know him over the years, and we were both very close to Steve.”

Mitch Wormington continues to praise Schichel and Mann for all the hard work they put into Muddy Waters.

“Eric, myself and my wife have so much respect and appreciation for Steve and Patti both and what they have created here and I miss him greatly and there isn’t a day that goes by where I wish I could pick up the phone and talk to him,” Mitch Wormington said. “He created this vision and I’m so honored to have this opportunity. He believed in me and so did Patti and we saw it through.”

Muddy Waters is open daily at 11 a.m. and is open until 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and until 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. They are also updating their social media pages and website. To learn more, visit muddywatersbarandgrill. biz and their Facebook page at Muddy Waters Bar and Grill.