The new owners of the Blu Bair are Ryan and Liz Bair, far left, and Mike and Jill Swehla, right side of the photo.

It had been almost 17 months since Delavan had a bar open for business. But, on Oct. 24, the former Johnny M’s Tavern opened with a new name and new owners.

Mike and Jill Swehla of Bass Lake along with Ryan and Liz Bair of Mapleton are the new owners of the bar now named Blu Bair.

“Blu was my nickname and we put that together with Ryan and Liz’s last name,” Mike says.

When asked who had the idea to get into the bar business, Liz was quick to point to one person.

“Mike talked all three of us into it,” she says with a laugh.

The two couples have been friends for a long time. Jill and Liz went to school together while Mike and Ryan coached youth sports together. They have also all enjoyed the sport of curling together.

“I have always been intrigued by the thought of owning a bar,” Mike comments. “So, when the opportunity presented itself, I wanted to seize the chance to make it happen.”

The foursome was able to get into the establishment in early September.

“One of the first things we had to do was take a good look at things and decide what we wanted to change,” Mike explains.

One of the changes the foursome decided to make was updating the floor.

“We did all of the work ourselves,” he shares. “We used the adjoining community room for our work room.”

They also revamped the outside of the bar, the back of the bar and have done a great deal of painting.

“We also put in a new fryer and a new prep table,” Mike states. “And, we did lots of cleaning.”

The new owners also have plans to revamp the Community Room.

“We want to make it available for parties,” Mike mentions. “It is on our list of things to get done.”

As would be expected, there are many different beers available at the bar including IPAs.

“We also offer wine, liquor and seltzers,” Mike comments.

Currently, frozen pizza and fried foods are available for customers who desire a bite to eat while hanging out at the bar.

“We will be offering homemade pizzas very soon,” Mike offers.

Some in the group did have some experience in owning a bar.

“My husband and I were part-owners of the Knotty Bar and Grill in Elysian at one time,” Liz notes.

Until earlier this year, Mike had owned and operated Swehla Trucking and a repair shop in Easton and Jill had been a part of that operation.

Ryan installs and stains hardwood floors while Liz works for Crop Risk Services out of Illinois.

Their current roles in their new joint venture are still, as of right now, undefined.

“The four of us are here at the bar quite often right now making sure all is working,” Mike explains. “We plan on being visible owners. We all enjoy being around people and getting to know new people.”

The bar offers both on sale and off sale liquor and is open seven days a week.

“We are open 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday,” Mike comments. “On Friday and Saturday we stay open until 1 a.m.”

The foursome is also thankful to have Trudy Schwab as the bar manager.

“She is great,” Liz notes. “We are also fortunate to have some former employees back working for the bar and we have hired some new people also.”

Pull tabs and e-tabs will be available at the bar and every Sunday there will be a meat raffle.

“The meat will come from the Country Butcher Shop in Easton which is owned by Jill’s brother,” Mike says. “Meat raffles are really popular and this will be high quality fresh meat that will be in the raffle.”

The bar opened too late in the year to be part of the local pool and dart leagues, but the group is hoping to join those leagues next year.

“Things have been going quite well,” Mike comments. “We plan on having a grand opening later in November.”

For now, the new group of owners is just trying to ensure everything is running smoothly so patrons can enjoy relaxing at the bar.

“At the end of the day we just wanted to get the bar back open,” Mike adds. “The town and the area need it and we are so thankful for those people who stopped in during our first week. We look forward to meeting and serving more new people.”