Buchanan’s 4/20 Follow-Up

by Stephanie Fain

*You must be at least 21 years old to view this content. Medical cannabis use is for certified patients only. The Buchanan Chronicle does not intend to promote cannabis use except as advised by your health professional.*

I will never forget it, the weather was confused. It was snowing, Buchanan! I hate to headline with that, but it was cold. Despite that, people were sunny setting up downtown early in the day, you just couldn’t see them, because it was snowing, and cold. We pressed on, Buchanan! I witnessed High Profile setting up a tent and 1 of 2 locations of WoodStock BBQ’s signature beetle grills in Buchanan that day. As I drove down and parked in front of Zen Leaf at 8:30 AM, I saw the first three hopeful customers standing outside of Pinnacle Emporium.

I was the 4th in line, but the 3rd ticket. It did not take long for the line to fill up down the block to McCoy Creek Tavern. The atmosphere, knowing I am among a large group of people who understand the importance and excitement of this plant for the future of medicine, feels hopeful, colorful, and smells good! There were no politics, just very excited patients and cannabis enthusiasts tossing around strain stories and sharing patient experiences. The young man who stood next to me in line explained the origins of his PTSD, it’s a hard pill to swallow and thank God he doesn’t have to swallow any more of the nasty options being shoved down his throat. “This keeps me healthy, it gives me hope.” said the patient from Ohio. I met people who had been incarcerated for this plant, smiling people who were happy to be off of pain pills, everyone had their own story and were proud to stand in that line. The first three there (that happy guy and the adorable couple beside him) drove from hours away just to celebrate with us, Chicago and Ohio. Our friend circle is getting bigger! (I stood in line hours later and actually ran into 4 more members of his family who came separately from him, described him to a t!) Which brings me to the first 420 customer I got to witness. I will call him “Happy Chicago Guy”, because this is medicine and that man walked out with a lot of it! 

I chose my items, I listened in on the deals, watched excitedly as my first 420 purchase was rung up, all the 420 penny sales were tossed in with a shirt and a gift bag full of Pinnacle fun. I filled out my tickets for each of their 3 raffles, and ran out the door so that I could try to hit all the other dispensaries as they opened up, at different times, thankfully! Did that help when it came to High Profile? NO! Packed! I couldn’t take the chance. It makes sense, being the only fully recreational dispensary in town and they are always throwing some fire deals out there… and they did smell like BBQ, their manager sounds like he’s on a CBD IV. I wanted to, but am so sorry BC readers, I could not risk it. I did speak to the ladies in the entrance space, sheltering from the light snow who were very excited to be there, took a photo of the parking lot and left. I stopped in the following week and found the atmosphere to be far more appealing with less wait. Walked out with a .01 pre-roll for being a first time customer, and took advantage of their Buy1Get1 for .01 Kiva bars. My current favorite is churro! Nice place guys!

7Engines!! Oh, you guys brighten my day! The new crisp blue and white building didn’t seem bothered by the grey skies, rather it served as a proper backdrop surrounded by its natural wooden frame. Now Open! signage still fresh from last week’s opening. Not many were expected today because they are currently working on their recreational (adult use) license, but while I was there I was offered quick and easy assistance to apply for a Medical card so that a qualified person would be able to shop medical cannabis, which is taxed lower and offers more of a selection of medications. See that guys! Keys to the kingdom! They are always nice as can be and this 420 they had 3 tiers of raffles, some VERY tasty sales, and had rented this really awesome selfie camera where I took pictures with the gregarious bud-tender, Miss Sage Dixon. That GM, Lydia, is always moving and nothing was different this day, missed her photo opportunity (she was purposely hiding, people fear me) with her coworkers, Alyssa Nelson, Assistant Manager and Justin Untner, bud-tender extraordinaire. Girl looked happy. I took a selfie in front of their open sign, I got a grab bag, my 7Engines t-shirt, and waved goodbye to my Joy. I’ll be back, Joy! Then I moved back toward the west, down to…

CannaVista, bringing the heart and mindfulness to the crowds. They are celebrating not just one day of 420, but the entire month of April by donating a portion of each Common Citizen preroll sold to help the many still stuck in the judicial system for cannabis crimes that have since been decriminalized. (I am medicating on that donation I made as you read.) Thank you, CannaVista! They had an outdoor set up ready for us with the other fabulous location of Woodstock’s BBQ (we love Woodstock’s.) They fed me, Thanks Again, CannaVista! I love this place, they are getting in CBD tea!! Stay tuned for that, I needed it and Amanda (GM) was already on it when I asked her (in her faerie wings! how amazing is this industry?). A strong finish with CannaVista with the very much loved Freddie Lynn, who you may remember from his 2 recent appearances on Jimmy Kimmel. When asked how he felt about the entire experience of going viral over being ‘Freddie, the stoner guy,’ ”That video of myself being me going viral gave me my confidence back. The love I have for this plant and its medicine gave me my confidence.” He signed my picture, it will go in a frame, my “potential lifelong friend-in-law!”(It made so much sense at the time, guys.) This guy is a treasure!

Zen Leaf always brings it with the noise, on a national level. They had some serious vendors in there and I did not really have time to look at their shop at the time, one of the brands, High Life Farms that was there being represented by the manager Brian, is now my new favorite edible brand! Thank you, Zen Leaf, for those suggestions! I’ll be back to see what goodies your store offers that the others do not. The specials looked awesome! Because I am such a newb at reporting, I didn’t take the time to stand in line to actually be a customer at most places like High profile, but also with something like COVID, I am glad I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in confined spaces (note that everyone was wearing masks and being respectful of the regulations.) I would like a closer look at them because this day wasn’t the best day to get acquainted with new dispensaries. Lines formed for a couple of different reasons. See, early on, while I took a two-hour siesta after eating Mariah’s pulled BBQ sandwich (not my fault), the POS system had gone down. I am unaware of how many dispensaries this affected, but it did put an extra inch of snow on the day. Still I saw happy faces everywhere and chatter about different places to visit.

It was back online just in time for the clock to read 4:20!

To Pinnacle! Then, Pinnacle had yet another setback. Both ATMs out of order. The online POS being down really complicated and backed up, even shut down, Pinnacle’s online ordering system, leaving the back parking lot (and this parker) without a spot to park, clear out to the bank parking lot. I spoke with Dr. Jodie Silver (license holder, expert in Culinary Medicine, Product Curator and wife to the CEO and co-founder of Pinnacle Emporiums) who explained, “The servers that power some of the more widely used POS systems in the nation, including cannabis groups, went down for 5 hours on the biggest day of legal cannabis sales ever yet in the history of the world. This was an extremely challenging situation for our staff and for any cannabis group whose POS was supported by AuthO.” (WHAT!!! For 5 hours, guys! I am so sorry to all of the staff of all of the dispensaries that were using AuthO. These guys were so pumped, and worked so hard to bring us a seamless first 420 experience, I witnessed it!)  I am so glad I made it in there though! They had Element Extractions giving out some amazing samples. I just had bought four cartridges of their live resin earlier that morning at Pinnacle and I didn’t have a clue where my battery was and there they stood… the Element Angels! Pinnacle made it up to their customers by extending their 420 sales for the entire week!

Wrap it up, girl! I am, I am! Chill brain!

Despite all the setbacks, people seemed hopeful, they seemed to know that everything was going to be alright. People in the lobby were chatting and making the best out of the situation, after all, the deals and being surrounded by like-minded people, there is just an understanding. I did hear of a singular dispute, it was shaken off. Everybody knows what is acceptable and what is not. The atmosphere this type of crowd brings anywhere changes the people around it and it immerses those willing to step inside with a kind of understanding, peace, and brotherhood that I see and feel often at church. Feels like home, Buchanan! My regrets? I did not have a medical card for 7Engines, but I will be back to work on it this week! I tapped out at Pinnacle! They got me so good!! And I got them good, well, we both got each other, right, Pinnacle? I won a t-shirt in the drawings. I got most of my glorious swag at CannaVista. This year, I think we healed with the best of them. I am thankful that I was able to experience the different businesses’ heartbeats from the same drums, celebrating this awesome gift from God. I got to hear some gossip about next year’s 4/20, met new forever friends, got to try different strains, ate some glorious food, took a nap while the AuthO POS world dove into pure chaos, and I managed to finally get a great night’s sleep. I did give away my High Life flag, I was sad about it but it is going to a place where I will be able to appreciate it as I study this glorious plant and extraction method basics at Squish Mich. just a couple doors west on the same side of the street as CannaVista. They are starting classes on May 1st, so be prepared for a report on just who Squish, Mich. is and what they do in our 5th issue of The Buchanan Chronicle!

Never stop growing, Buchanan!