Hey Campers. Listen to This.

You’re driving from Grand Rapids to Hardy Dam for a weekend at the campsite. Maybe you’ve got friends meeting you there. Maybe you’ve been planning this trip for weeks. Either way, you’re thinking about the Dragon Trail, the water, the forest, the escape from everything else. Here’s something you don’t know yet: the outcome of a township vote from last Tuesday is about to change what that trip looks like. Two Lakes. Two Vibes. One Decision. If you’ve spent any time around Hardy Dam, you already know the local shorthand: Croton is for floating. Hardy is where you party. Two lakes. Two vibes. One corridor that draws tens of thousands of campers, hikers, mountain bikers, and anglers every single season — people who drive hours to get here, spend money here, and call this place their escape. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 25-year-old doing the Dragon Trail for the first time, a family loading up the minivan for a long weekend at the campsite, an international traveler who found Michigan on a map and couldn’t believe what they discovered, or someone who’s been coming to Hardy Dam every summer since they were a kid. This place has a pull. And right now, something is happening here that could make it even better. Right at the edge of all of it — walking distance from Oxbow Campground, Sandy Beach, and Big Bend — sits a building that used to be Rueh’s Hardware Store. Built in 1973. Served this community for decades. Today it’s Hikers Cannabis — a vertically integrated cannabis operation with in-house extraction and product development, a 4.9 rating on Google, a loyal customer base that drives from across the region, and a vision for what this corridor could become. And on the second Tuesday of last month, that vision hit a wall. The Vote That Wasn’t The Big Prairie Township board gathered to vote on whether to approve a Designated Consumption Establishment license for Hikers Cannabis. Five board members. One question. A decision that’s been three years in the making — on top of four years of showing up before that. The result: two yes. Two no. One empty seat. So instead of a simple yes or no, the decision left the room. It left the folding chairs and the fluorescent lights of a township meeting that happens on the second Tuesday of every month — and it landed somewhere unexpected. With you. With the campers. With everyone who drives through this corridor every summer not knowing this fight has been happening for seven years. Vernon, a local plumber, voted yes. Julie, the township treasurer, voted yes. Ray Westgate, the township supervisor, and Judith Baker, a fellow board member, voted no. Not because they’re against the business. But because they believe a decision this significant belongs to the whole community. “It’s about what we want for our Dam community.” — Ray The fifth seat — Jannifer Anderson’s seat — was empty that night. Thirty Days. Two Paths. Here’s where things stand. The township meets again on June 10th. Jannifer is expected to be present. If she votes yes, this is over — Hikers wins. If not, the decision moves to a November ballot. Two paths. One destination. For Jon Stedman and Rick Post — the co-founders of Hikers — every day of delay is a cost. They’ve been active players in Michigan’s cannabis industry since the beginning. Back when “knowing where to get it” meant knowing someone who knew a guy who had a friend related to someone who might have something. They watched this industry come out of the shadows. They built something real inside it. Three years ago they started fighting for the consumption license. They haven’t stopped. The blueprints are done. The engineers are standing by. The ventilation and air circulation systems are designed to meet every CRA requirement. The investment is committed. The staff is ready. The customers are already walking through the door every summer. The only thing missing is a yes. [RICK QUOTE PLACEHOLDER — Rick to provide preferred quote here] Hikers is aggravatingly ready. Ray, Judith, and Jannifer Ray Westgate is a special education teacher. He’s been on the board for roughly a year — elected with a supportive stance toward the consumption license. Something changed after he took his seat. Judith Baker has served this community for 38 years and is still going. These aren’t people who say no carelessly. When they ask for more time, it means something. Then there’s Jannifer Anderson. Her story is more personal than politics. Jannifer supports medical cannabis. She always has. But she watched someone she cared about lose their family over recreational use. That experience shaped her. She believes recreational cannabis should come with more responsibility — not less. No designated consumption programs exist for medical patients. Doctors aren’t trained on cannabis brands or their medical applications. Jannifer sees a gap between what the law allows and what patients actually need. Rick Post sees the same gap — from the other side. “We need to use the recreational platform to help the medical patient.” — Rick Post A consumption lounge isn’t just a place to party. It’s a place where knowledgeable staff can have real conversations about real needs. It’s a safe space — legal, supervised, staffed by people who know the difference between a social experience and a medical one. Jannifer’s concern isn’t unreasonable. Neither is Rick’s answer. At some point, not yet becomes why not. Why not becomes when. When becomes too late. What Michigan Already Decided 62.1 percent of Big Prairie Township constituents — almost two thirds — voted in favor of legal cannabis. The community has already spoken. Not in a boardroom. Not in a township meeting. At the ballot box. Michigan voters answered the big question in 2018. Statewide. They said yes to legal cannabis. They said yes to the infrastructure that supports it responsibly. A Designated Consumption Establishment isn’t a loophole or an experiment. It’s exactly the kind of regulated, licensed, supervised space the law was designed to create. It keeps consumption legal. It keeps it observable. It keeps it out of tents and parking lots and gray areas where nobody wins. And here’s the number Ray, Judith, and Jannifer already know, even if it hasn’t been said out loud in these terms: Big Prairie Township is already collecting $54,017 annually from Hikers’ existing retail license. Newaygo County collects the same amount on top of that. That’s $108,034 flowing into this community every year from one license. (Source: Michigan Department of Treasury, FY2025 Adult-Use Marijuana Tax Distribution) But here’s the harder truth. Michigan cannabis revenue is declining. The per-license payout dropped from $58,228 in FY2024 to $54,017 in FY2025. Big Prairie Township needs an $800,000 fire truck. The township is required to replace aging equipment every 30 years to remain eligible for state and federal funding. The money has to come from somewhere. A consumption establishment adds another layer: entry fees, food sales tax, employment, and for every $10 a visitor spends at Hikers, an additional $18 gets injected into the local economy. In a county where tourism is already the number one industry, that math matters. Communities that said no to cannabis watch their neighbors collect six figures annually. Big Prairie Township said yes once. This is the same call. There’s an old principle in business, in sports, in any competitive endeavor: you incentivize your best player. You don’t make them wait. You don’t send them to the bench while the clock runs. You give them the ball. Hikers Cannabis is already putting points on the board for Big Prairie Township. The consumption license is the next play. What Is a Designated Consumption Establishment — And Why Does It Matter to You? Let’s back up. Because if you’ve never heard of this before, you’re not alone. Out of more than 840 licensed cannabis retailers in Michigan, only five have a Designated Consumption Establishment license. Five. Hikers would be the sixth. (Source: Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency Licensing & Statistical Reports, August 31, 2025) A DCE is a legal space where adults 21 and older can consume cannabis on premises. You can’t buy it there. You bring your own product, or you order delivery from a licensed retailer nearby. You can eat food. You can’t drink alcohol. Think of it less like a bar and more like a private club — for people who already have what they need and just want a legal, comfortable, well-designed space to use it. Getting one approved is almost impossible. You need two separate approvals: one from the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency at the state level, and one from your local municipality. The state approval is procedural. The local approval is the chokepoint. Most applicants never make it past that door. Hikers has been knocking on that door for three years. Why This Matters to You, Specifically Here’s the thing nobody tells you when you’re planning a camping trip to Hardy Dam: cannabis is completely federally illegal on Manistee National Forest land. All 538,000 acres of it. (Source: U.S. Forest Service / Controlled Substances Act) It’s also prohibited in Michigan State Parks, except in your camper or your tent. The trails, the water, the forest — all federally managed land where Michigan’s legal cannabis simply doesn’t apply. But you’re still there. Tens of thousands of campers visit this corridor every year — many of them right next door at Oxbow Campground, Sandy Beach, and Big Bend. The Dragon Trail alone — that 45-mile mountain bike and hiking loop completed in 2024 — draws riders and hikers from across the region every season. Research consistently shows cannabis users over-index on outdoor recreation. Sixty percent of cannabis-consuming exercisers rank hiking as their top activity. “My family and I camped at Sandy Shores and stopped in to Hikers. Wow. What a great place… The selection and prices were awesome.” — Tim F., verified customer review You’re already here. You’re already buying from Hikers. And until a consumption lounge opens, your legal options for where to sit down and actually consume it are: your tent, your camper, or nowhere. A licensed Hikers lounge would be the only fully legal public venue within walking distance of more than 2,000 documented county campsites — and adjacent to one of the largest federal recreation complexes in the Midwest. (Campsite figure: Newaygo County Tourism Council) What Hikers Is Actually Building Picture this. You’ve just finished a run on the Dragon Trail. Or a day out on Hardy Pond. Or you just pulled into your campsite and you’re not quite ready to call it a night. You walk into a well-lit, welcoming lounge. TVs on. Games going. Friends spread out at tables. Food trucks outside. Infused drinks in hand. Infused graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows on the table because yes — someone thought about s’mores. It’s not a dark room. It’s not a transaction. It’s a safe space. A legal, comfortable, community-facing destination designed for exactly the person you are right now: someone who worked hard to get here, wants to enjoy where they are, and deserves a place to do it right. And if you’ve never really talked openly about cannabis before — if you have questions, if you’re curious but not sure where to start — the staff at Hikers is exactly who you want to talk to. Bright, knowledgeable, genuinely happy to help. The kind of team you’d expect walking into a Meijer, a Best Buy, or an Apple Store. Whether you’re a seasoned connoisseur who knows exactly what solventless rosin is and why it matters, or someone who just wants to know what’s going to make this camping trip a little more memorable — they’ve got you. You can find them on Instagram and Facebook at @hikerscannabis before you even walk through the door. What Hikers Actually Is — Behind the Counter When you walk into Hikers Cannabis, you don’t walk into what most people picture when they hear “dispensary.” You walk into a vertically integrated cannabis operation with in-house extraction and product development. Frozen plant material comes in and is handled by an experienced extraction specialist who treats the plant with the same precision a chemist brings to a lab. The process isolates the compounds they need — the terpenes, the cannabinoids, the character of the plant itself. Out come Hikers Hash, their signature solventless rosin, and Treehuggers, their infused pre-rolls. Their products. Their standards. Built in this building, for this community. The space is clean. Buttoned-up. Professional. The operation runs like a serious retail company because it is one. This was never a side hustle. It was always a statement about what the cannabis industry could look like when you do it right — locally owned, community-rooted, and accountable to the people it serves. The consumption lounge is the next layer on top of all of that. The Month Ahead The township meets again on June 10th. Jannifer Anderson is expected to be present. Two yes votes are already locked in — Vernon and Julie. The question is which way the fifth vote goes — and whether Big Prairie Township moves forward now, or waits until November. All parties will read this. That’s okay. This story is worth telling honestly. Ray and Judith have served this community with integrity. Their caution comes from a real place. Jannifer’s concern comes from a personal place. Jon and Rick have built something worth fighting for. Their frustration comes from a real place too. Michigan already answered the big question — seven years ago, statewide, at the ballot box. Almost two thirds of this township’s own constituents answered it too. The community said yes to legal cannabis. The community said yes to the businesses that support it responsibly. Hikers has spent seven years proving they are exactly that kind of business. Hikers is aggravatingly ready. Find Hikers Cannabis at hikersmi.com and @hikerscannabis on Instagram and Facebook. Located at 6295 E. 36th Street, White Cloud, MI 49349. CRA License PC-000825.