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Geddes, N.Y. — One day, Mike Fynn hopes it will be the “Walmart Supercenter of cannabis” in Central New York.
In the meantime, his Flynnstoned Ranch is operating as a temporary outlet for legal weed sales during the New York State Fair (and just half mile from the fairgrounds).
Marijuana sales and information are available in a large building on property that once was part of the Pope’s Grove Golf Course, at 683 State Fair Blvd. It’s open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day through Labor Day, the end of the 2023 fair.
“Pretty convenient, isn’t it?” said Rick Culver of Syracuse, who stopped by to pick up some THC-laced gummies on Thursday, the second day of the fair. “Heard about it on the news. And, yes, look, it’s really here.”
During the fair, shuttle buses will operate between the marijuana sales location and the fairgrounds (at Gate 4). Marijuana sales are not allowed on the fairgrounds this year. The fair this year has moved all designated smoking/vaping areas, for cannabis and tobacco, to new locations outside the fair gates.
In addition to FlynnStoned, the temporary outlet features New York state cannabis growers Ravens View Genetics, Ananda Farms, Chessworth Farms, Jane’s Garden, 508 Canna, B30 Farms, Star Lit420, G-Flower and Hindsight Farms, and marijuana product processors Northeast Botanicals, NYHO Labs and Gen V Labs (Ayrloom / Beak & Skiff).
Altogether, you can find just about every sort of product, including flower, edibles, tinctures, vapes, topicals, and drinks.
The Flynnstoned outlet on State Fair Boulevard is part of a new state program called the Cannabis Growers Showcase. It’s intended to provide temporary sales locations that offer more opportunities for New York cannabis farmers and processors to sell their products.
Joann Kudrewiecz owner of Ravens View Genetics of Delaware County. She has a stand inside the temporary cannabis growers showcase at Flynnstoned Ranch, 683 State Fair Blvd. in Geddes. (Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)
The state’s Cannabis Control Board this summer authorized the showcases as the statewide roll-out of legal marijuana shops, or dispensaries, continues to be hampered by delays. The most recent came through a temporary court injunction prohibiting the opening of new shops. There are currently just 23 dispensaries operating across New York state.
“This is a great opportunity for people who haven’t been able to get to a dispensary to come see all the things we have,” said Joann Kudrewiecz, owner of Ravens View Genetics, a licensed marijuana grower in Delaware County. “It’s great to be able to increase our visibility.”
Flynn said he’s not sure he’ll make money on the showcase near the fair this year, but he’s hoping it will call attention to his plan for the big new permanent dispensary in Geddes, which will be his second legal outlet in Central New York.
Flynn opened his first, Flynnstoned Cannabis Co. in Armory Square, in June. It is the Syracuse area’s first (and so far only) licensed dispensary, and, for now, the largest anywhere in the state. Several other people have licenses for Central New York but have not yet opened.
Last fall, Flynn bought the former Pope’s Grove golf course with a plan to turn it into a restaurant/brewery operation. The golf course closed at the time of the sale.
The sale included the building off State Fair Boulevard, which once housed golf carts “and lots of old golf cart parts,” Flynn said. There also 50 acres of former golf course property, which Flynn still hopes might be home to a “destination restaurant” of some kind in the future.
Flynn is already working to get all the local and state approvals to turn the State Fair Boulvard site into the permanent dispensary he’s calling Flynnstoned Ranch.
“It may be a little slow and small right now,” he said. “But this is the start of something big.”
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.