Indeed, there was a lovely young couple with the Hemlock folks at WPASCR who told me that they intend to be Dave and Carol's successors; they said jokingly that Dave "will never retire" (which I assume to mean they can't imagine him being willing to fully step away as long as he's able to involve himself), but that the long-term plan is for the business to become theirs. One of the other folks involved in Hemlock also indicated to me that they are the chosen successors. I am terrible at recalling names, and theirs unfortunately have already slipped my mind, but perhaps someone else who was at WPASCR can fill in those details.
Not sure how much it's my place to share, but there was at least one other very serious potential buyer who got quite far with negotiations but ultimately did not work out.
I too am very happy to hear that there is someone to carry on the business! Hemlock's canoes were my favorites among those I was able to try at WPASCR, and it is nice to be able to hope that they might still be available if/when I someday have new-canoe money.