T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Maci Piatt, left, pictured during a reading with Connie Warnell of Cedar Rapids, right, is the new house psychic at Tannin Wine Bar in Marshalltown. Piatt, a 2011 MHS graduate who now resides in Ames, is booked to make monthly appearances at Tannin until the end of 2024.

When beloved longtime psychic Suzanna Stickney, who frequently graced Tannin Wine Bar with her presence over the years, passed away in June, a void was left in her absence as area residents who needed guidance or a window into their futures, for the time being, had nowhere to turn. Fortunately, Class of 2011 Marshalltown High School graduate Maci Piatt, who practices under the name Mystics by Maci, stepped up to the challenge.

Piatt, a current resident of Ames, hosted her first session at Tannin on Wednesday night, and judging by the standing room only crowd that gathered for their readings, she can expect a thriving and successful future leading the monthly events in her hometown.

She said she first became interested in the psychic world after meeting with a medium and going down a “rabbit hole,” doing her own research, using her intuition and developing her abilities. From there, she did readings for family and friends until she became more comfortable and then branched out to events in Marshalltown, Ames and Des Moines.

“It just kind of, I think, came to me, you know? I experienced over, like 80 deaths, and it just was super prominent in my life. And things just kind of started mixing, and I realized what was happening. And here we are,” she said.

Her objective as a psychic is to always be approachable and authentic while nurturing a safe environment for those who seek her advice, and Piatt has a knack for noticing physical ailments that help to put the sitters at ease.

“I have to make a lot of moral decisions on how I want to express information that’s coming forward in a way that will be most beneficial and healing for the sitter and not perpetuate any fear or anything like that because I’m just here to, you know, tap in and help and just kind of give some guidance and tell people it’s gonna be alright. They’ve got this,” she said.

Early reviews of Piatt’s work were highly positive, and visitors like Connie Warnell came all the way from Cedar Rapids to drink wine and find out what lies ahead.

“It’s always fun. It’s good,” Warnell said. “It’s just fun. I have things going on in my life, and I wanted to see if it’s really true. It was stuff that I already knew, so that was OK. So she’s good.”

Marshall County Treasurer Deann Tomlinson, who attended with a group of coworkers, said that while psychic sessions can often be lighthearted and fun, they also provide real life lessons. She recalled a past instance when Suzanna called her out for being indecisive.

“I think that I became more conscious of that, and it did help me to focus,” Tomlinson said. “I think there are very good lessons, and she brought some spiritual stuff into it too, which is always good to have… And she hit the nail on the head on some things.”

Megan Lanfier, who co-owns Tannin with her husband Gary, recalls visiting Psychic Suzanna even before they bought the business from Tom and Mary Curley, and as it turned out, she happened to be friends with Piatt’s mother. When Lanfier contacted her after Stickney’s passing, Piatt was “super excited” about the opportunity.

“She even brought me a thank you note,” Lanfier said.

Piatt, she added, has a different style from Suzanna as she incorporates Tarot cards and works more deliberately before making any declarations. The owner was also happy to report that the new psychic had provided her with a reading, and she was highly optimistic about the future of the bar.

The goal at Tannin, as Lanfier put it, is to provide something for everyone, whether that means music, trivia, bingo, painting or even psychic sessions.

“We always have something going on, and then we also have nights that are just low key nights and there’s nothing going on so you just come in with a bunch of your friends,” she said.

Mystics by Maci will appear at Tannin once a month on Wednesday nights at least until the end of 2024. Readings cost $5 for a five to 10 minute session.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.