by Pablo Angulo-Gonzalez
Note: The Water Taxi blog “The Wheelhouse” was started in early 2022 to share the experiences and perspectives of our crew, which we believe serve as front-line “ambassadors” for the Oklahoma City community. Our guests count on us to interpret and explain the past and present of our city and state, and within this blog, we hope to provide the same service to you, our readers. Besides sharing stories about some of our industry partners and attractions in Bricktown, downtown Oklahoma City and beyond, we will also introduce you to some of our crew members. Today’s entry tells the story of one of our team, retired Oklahoma City Fire Department, Major Mitch Brown.
Mitch Brown loves his job. In 2021, he became a Bricktown Water Taxi Ambassador, a perfect job for – as he describes himself – an “Oklahoma City guy all the way.” His role at Water Taxi enables him to brag a bit about his hometown.
After spending some years in Wichita Falls, Texas, his family moved back to Oklahoma City when he was only a 2-year-old boy. He grew up in the capital of Oklahoma, where he found a true passion for wrestling early on in life.
Mitch began wrestling when he was just six years old, and today, you can find his name on the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. His talent got him to the podium as a state high school champion after years of training and competing.
Mitch also became an Oklahoma City firefighter, and served the community in that manner for 26 years, later retiring as major.
After finishing school, Mitch began coaching for various high schools in Oklahoma, winning Assistant Coach of the Year 7 times.
“I have either wrestled, coached or officiated for over 50 years. So yeah, wrestling has been a
lifelong passion.” He also coached for Oklahoma City University, and officiated in both wrestling and football.
Nowadays,
Nowadays, Mitch still referees wrestling matches and was recently honored with the 2019 Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of
Fame.
Mitch is, first and foremost, a family man. He’s been married for almost 18 years and has two teenage children, who he loves profoundly. Mitch likes more than a few things about being a Bricktown Water Taxi Ambassador.
“I’m a talker, so I enjoy visiting with people, he said. “I like staying out on the dock, checking people in and finding out where they’re from. I’m always interested in other people’s backgrounds. It’s honestly
as enjoyable as anything to me.”
He also likes his co-workers, the positive working environment, and how managers and co-workers all cheer for each other and want the best for everyone. “They have a great team spirit here,” he said, praising how the operation is being run and managed.
At the helm, he’s usually wearing a Water Taxi ballcap and a friendly smile. His favorite segment is the area around Chickasaw Plaza and the Centennial Land Run Monument on the South End of the canal.
“I like to tell the story of how Oklahoma became a state and how Oklahoma City got so big.”
One of his most memorable experiences on the canal happened last season. He was giving his regular tour when we met a woman from Pennsylvania who was on her way to Duncan, Oklahoma, to be seen by experts about her leg amputations. Mitch and she bonded over a life-saving story where a firefighter saved the woman’s life by pulling her out of a car.
“I’ll remember her more than everybody else I’ve met,” he said while showing a photo of them together at the dock.
Mitch loves OKC and has accumulated many experiences of the city and its development through the decades. As a wrestler, coach, and retired firefighter, he can share remarkable stories and knowledge about the city, which saw him grow up and become the wise-yet-friendly “people person” he is.
You can catch his tours on the Bricktown Canal multiple times a week.
