Smith Lake Hat Company opened for business in the summer of 2023 with the idea of creating a staple source for quality custom headwear for the lake community.  They started simply with what they felt was the best symbolic beacon advertisement for Smith Lake Culture:  "the hat."  Our team first began to see the hats on Instagram, then Facebook, and soon we found them in a local store.  

Young owner and entrepreneur Jase Glasscock is excited to give the local market something new to check out in their shopping experience.  He has taken all the proper steps to be sure that his brand is one you'll be proud to wear.  He formed his LLC, procured the development of the first logo, selection of products and materials, and has started with a logo developed for the first run for 2023.  He tells us he is leaving the door open to change up the look and feel of his logo and designs to keep up with changes in styles and fashion as the passage of time requires and as he feels necessary.

The company seeks to grow from hats to other apparel items.  Since our team first began watching them online in summer 2023, they have already gone from offering the traditional baseball style hat with open weave back and front leather patch with embroidery on the sides, to a summer straw surfer-style hat, then to heavier materials for the fall and winter season for warmth, and have even added another straw "gambler" hat, as well as a hat for the ladies, and a line of sunglasses we have recently found on the website.

The company is excited to provide a branded experience of Smith Lake culture with fashionable headwear styles that exude a pride of the lake for locals and visitors alike. Their hats will include patches (leather patches, color leather patches, etc.), embroidery, print and even some new styles of PVC.  You'll have to watch as they slowly roll out the lines over time.

​They intend to provide the highest quality end product for their customers. They take great pride in every hat that ships out or sells in a local retail store.  At current, you can find them not only online to order for shipping, but also at the following retail stores:

• The Lake House Store - Arley, AL
• Sweatmon's Produce - Crane Hill, AL

Join in to support this ambitious new local company.  Find all the contact information below, and be sure to follow them on both Facebook and Instagram to keep up with company news and merchandise announcements.  ​

NOTE:  THIS BLOG WILL BE UPDATED ANNUALLY - SO AS SOON AS DATES BEGIN TO FIRM UP FOR A GIVEN YEAR, CHECK BACK IN!  

Get ready to have some fun this year on Smith Lake for the 4th of July.  Most folks are planning a very long weekend due to the holiday falling on Tuesday.  Many expect an influx of friends and family to entertain all weekend.  There is plenty to do all around the large tri-county lake area.  

Every Independence Day on Smith Lake is special, rain or shine. We're always praying for summer storms to hold back for the weekend's events.  If it's perfect weather, you'll see fireworks big and small all around the lake the entire holiday weekend.  Just enjoy viewing small celebrations from the water as you boat home carefully and slowly along the lake area after a long day of fun in the sun.  If there is prolonged inclement weather in the evenings, most of the main annual events will either reschedule or cancel. 

There are several big fireworks shows that have been reported so far, see the list below this blog.  

• "OFF WATER" = fireworks are not along a shoreline or visible from water
• "ON WATER" = the event is on the shoreline and can best be viewed by boat at a safe distance.  

Check back to this list to see if any dates are rescheduled due to weather.  If a favorite event near you cancels, watch to see if they revise plans, try out another event nearby on another day, or just thoroughly enjoy your own private celebration including plenty of red-white-and-blue decor (check our Amazon store for ideas in Home Decor).  Be sure to stock up on sparklers & fireworks, outdoor games, floats and towables, watersports equipment, backyard grill-out items, boating essentials, a charcuterie board for s'mores, and a homemade ice cream churn and all the toppings.  Stock up on ALL the favorites of summertime.  Then simply kick back and enjoy the fun, laughter, experiences, and daily wind-downs by the fire pit - MAKE MEMORIES!  Also, visit the Smith Lake #spotsonsmith checklist on the map by Sue Clements to see some of our favorite spots on the lake while out boating.  No matter how you celebrate, the weekend is truly a favorite for all who spend it on Smith Lake.
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​Check out our LOCAL INFO listings for everything from restaurants to shopping and so much more.  Our Cullman, Walker & Winston County areas welcome you with wide open arms, and would love to have you spend some time shopping locally for your weekend of entertaining.  Have questions?  Reach out!  

Be sure to "@" mention us on social media OR send in photos of the events you attend.  Let us know if you want us to post the photos on social media or if you’d like to be in the blog or magazine.  Join the our Facebook Group "Smith Lake Community" to keep up with what's going on around the lake in case impromptu events pop up.  

​Be safe, have a blessed holiday and enjoy!  

(Please let us know well ahead of any other events that need to be added to the list for the entire weekend and remember to keep us updated as time nears based on weather or other factors.  Thank you!)

(You can find other local area events on our CALENDAR page.  Please let us know of any other events to add.

Latest update to this blog:  7/1/23.  ​

​Get your boat ready – it’s almost spring!
 
Groundhog Day 2023 brought news we lake lovers did not want to hear for the upcoming boating season… 6 more weeks of winter?!  BUT… that also means it allows 6 more weeks to prepare boats/marine vessels for spring break and beyond!  
 
Now is the time, before spring, to put boats in the shop for servicing, maintenance and upgrades before local shops are overloaded, resulting in sometimes serious delays to your boating season.  Also, maintaining and servicing a boat annually protects your investment, and upgrades can substantially help resale value.  

See a list of suggestions below (in alphabetical order):

7.  MARINE AUDIO/VIDEO - Upgrade the entire boat's A/V system if it is not performing on its limited stock system, or if the system is older and needing a few upgrades or component additions.  Perhaps everything is functioning fine, and the system just needs some tuning, repairs or refurb.  Be sure to use professionals who understand the nuances between name brands of equipment and how to get the most sound bang for your buck.  A company we recommend who has over 35 years experience in high end professional audio is MasterPro Audio with experience not just in marine audio and basic 12V, but also for commercial/home/worship/sports venues, entertainment venues, etc.  Ask to hear their demo boat system, on the water from a very far distance - you'll be shocked at what their patented tower speakers and component system are capable of - clean, clear high performance sound ready to energize your day on the lake.
 
8.  MARINE FLOORING - whether it's carpet, engineered marine flooring for an entire boat, or just pieces for a back platform, gunwales, or just to artfully replace a torn or damaged section, the following local companies can help get your boat looking the best - Duskin Point Marina, MasterPro Audio, and Russell Marine - Smith Lake.

9.  MECHANICAL SERVICE for BOATS & TRAILERS - schedule to get your boat serviced, tuned up, de-winterized and ready to take on the season.  Local companies we suggest:  Duskin Point Marina, Nelson Marine & Cycle Services, Russell Marine - Smith Lake.

​10.  TOWING SERVICE - get your annual membership NOW and boat worry free all year.  Contact Captain Terry Russeau of TowBoatUS Smith Lake.

11.  UPHOLSTERY - repairs or new - contact Bama Detailing or MasterPro Audio.
 
12.  WATERSPORTS EQUIPMENT - new equipment or rentals - try local shops like Lakeside Gear, Pine Valley Outdoor Living, Russell Marine - Smith Lake and Triple Creek Marina.   ​

Once you've got the boat tuned up, spruced up, fully loaded and ready to go, check out our other informational blogs to make sure you are fully prepared for the best boating season every year.  Check back on our blog often!

For more businesses in categories you are looking for, try our Business Listing - Alphabetical, and our Business Listing by Category, and check out more information in our LOCAL INFO tab.  

Latest update to this blog:  2/2/23.  
​

A favorite time of year for all those who LAKE is Boat Show Season - occurring at the beginning of every year, usually in January, sometimes into March.  For us, it means SPRING is just around the corner.  The lake area begins to be in high gear for the next boating season as soon as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve!  It's certainly the case for us.

Most of the folks in our area enjoy attending several boat shows each year.  Favorite shows are within about a 3 hour driving range.  Attending shows allows a fun reason to get out and go visit another city, reconnect with other boating friends aka "your lake people," and getting excited for a new season by checking out the vendors - favorite boat brands, marinas, lake life brands and lake-oriented businesses.  

Attached is a list of 2023 boat shows you might like to attend - in order by date.  All shows are a short drive from the lake area.  (we'll try to update this listing each year as soon as we get confirmed info, but also keep the contact information at hand so that you know how to reach out annually for additional information, vendor apps, vendor lists, floorplans/maps and tickets.)

Access:  First of all you have to get here.  Traveling to the lake is quick and easy:
Cullman - access the Cullman County side of the lake primarily off I-65 from Exits 299 (to Hwy 69), 304 (to Hwy 437, Hwy 438 & Hwy 222) & 309 (to Hwy 278)
Walker - enter the Walker side from I-22 into Jasper and through Curry AL
Winston -  the Winston side can be accessed through Cullman and Walker, both head into Arley, AL (The Heart of Smith Lake), or through Hwy 278 on the far northwest side from the Double Springs, AL area.  

For reference, distances are:
from the popular 299 Exit from I65 are:  about 40 minutes to Birmingham AL (40 miles), about 1 hour to Huntsville AL (60 miles), and about 2 hours & 20 mins to Nashville, TN (150 miles)​.  

Once you have an address of where you want to go, everything is accessible via GPS, but keep in mind that most of the lake is still very rural, so traveling around can be tricky.  There are still some dirt/gravel roads in the area, as well as some hard pack roads.  If you're veering off main highways and don't have a 4-wheel-drive, just be mindful of road conditions in inclement weather.

Activities:  there are so many activities to enjoy on Smith Lake.  We'll list a few of our favorites below.  

• Boating - all types of motor operated or man powered vehicles (i.e. cabin cruisers, wakeboard boats, wakesurf boats, pontoons, jet boats, fishing boats, kayaks, canoes, jet-skis, even sailboats in designated areas, etc.).  Check our list of boat ramps if you're not sure where to launch or recover your boat.  The landings we highly recommend for newbies are located at Smith Lake Park, The Dam, Duskin Point Marina, and Duncan Bridge Marina.  Looking for a marina to purchase a boat - try Russell Marine-Smith Lake and Duskin Point Marina, they're happy to help you - see our list of marinas in the area.  Looking to rent a boat - try Duskin Point Marina - see our listing of rentals.  
• Watersports - enjoy anything you like such as wakeboarding, wakesurfing, wakeskating, waterskiing, slalom, kneeboarding, barefooting, hydrofoiling, wakefoiling, surf foiling, efoiling  tubing, stand-up paddle boarding (SUP), etc. (and be sure to check out local watersports shop Lakeside Gear @lakesidegear for great pricing on special orders delivered locally to your door and Pine Valley Outdoor Living @pvoutdoorliving for rentals of lots of watersports equipment and recreational equipment.)
• Fishing - enjoy angling on the reservoir or fly fishing below the reservoir on the peaceful waters of the Black Warrior River.  You will find the lake area provides great fishing.  Common catches are:  Crappie, Bream, Striped Bass, Spotted Bass, White and Largemouth Bass;  Channel & Flathead Catfish, and there are Rainbow Trout provided in the area below the dam for those who love fly-fishing - be sure to check out lessons at well-known Riverside Fly Shop.  For fishing gear, we highly recommend Jasper's Pat's Archery & Outdoors.  Pat's offers equipment for all outdoor sports, from fishing, camping, hiking, hunting to watersports.  You'll find everything you need.  
• Wildlife - there are abundant common wildlife in the area such as deer, fox, raccoons, groundhogs, chipmunks, etc.  It has been reported there are small mountain lions, coyotes and small black bear in the area too, but these would be very few and far between if at all in any given season.  
• Birdwatching - gorgeous birds commonly found in the southeast are proliferate here as well as Eagles, Blue Herons, Mallard Ducks, Canadian Geese, Loons, Kingfishers, many songbirds, hummingbirds, etc...
• And there are so many more general lake activities - swimming, camping, hiking - the possibilities are simply endless.  Be sure to check out our RV campsites in the area.  
• Visiting Smith Lake Landmarks aka #spotsonsmith - find many of the favorite spots on Smith Lake through maps on our MAP page in the LOCAL INFO tab.  We often cover these favorite spots in our magazine, and soon we'll have a page dedicated to these spots.
• Also, adjoining the lake on the far northwest end is the celebrated William B. Bankhead National Forest and Sipsey Wilderness that are simply a MUST SEE.  There are facebook pages dedicated to traversing this treasured area from many different trailheads.  Its nickname is "The Land of a Thousand Waterfalls" - just a Google search or search on social media will show you just why it has that name.  A gorgeous gorge/cavern mountain area full of streams, and of course Sipsey Fork River, and an abundance of well-kept trails along natural rock, rock bluff walls, hills and some valleys at the gutter areas with not only hiking trails, but biking, horseback and riding trails as well.  The area is absolutely STUNNING.  Just "Google it," and be prepared to go down the proverbial "rabbit hole" of beautiful photography and scenery like nothing you've ever seen.
• AND... that's just ON the lake - the three counties that surround the lake offer so much more to do outside the lake area year round - such as the Jasper Main Street area in Jasper's historical downtown area, and the Cullman Warehouse District in the historical area of Cullman that lies near the old Train Depot and right beside Cullman's famous railroad tracks.  Also, there are other natural parks, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, historical sites, and incredible landmarks very close to the area.  A visit to the local Chambers of Commerce in both Cullman and Jasper, as well as area museums, offer a wealth of information about the counties that surround the lake (see links below). 

Also, check out the bottom of our blog on Lewis Smith Dam and Powerhouse for information about visiting the Alabama Power Company Lewis Smith Dam and Powerhouse.  

If you would like more information about our area, we encourage you to check with the local Chamber of Commerce for each city/county and/or the tourism boards in those areas.  In true southern style and hospitality, they will all graciously provide even more detailed and factual information about their specific areas.  

• Cullman Area - Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce and Cullman Parks, Recreation and Tourism
• ​​Walker Area - The Chamber of Commerce of Walker County
• Winston Area - Haleyville Area Chamber of Commerce

We have gathered these facts from numerous sources for the benefit of our community, so please feel free to offer any edits.  Call/text us at 256-708-7679 or email us at thelakesidelife@gmail.com

This tip is primarily for all our advertising businesses in the Smith Lake Alabama area, but is a good tutorial for anyone who is not aware of how the "@" and "#" features work on social media and particularly as it concerns your advertising/marketing perks. Quick descriptions of what each does:

"@" (mention) feature - this activates a live link for Facebook/Instagram users to click and go directly to the "@" mentioned business page, and additionally (which is most important for our advertisers) produces a notification to the "@" linked page/user (our marketing team) that you want them to see a post and/or act on a post.

"#" (hashtag) feature - does not link or send a notification to anyone or any page - but is simply a "search" feature for both Facebook and Instagram (& Twitter).

We encourage our Smith Lake advertising businesses to join our main page The Lakeside Life - Smith Lake Alabama, and our Facebook Groups, Smith Lake Community and Smith Lake Small Businesses @smithlakebiz as your company page(s), not just as an individual person; otherwise your company cannot be properly linked/tagged, and your company is not being auto-notified by Facebook (or Instagram) when recommendations for you are being made by our team through our pages, or by members or customers who try to "@" mention/link your company for others to find you quickly.  Not joining as your company page causes others to not easily discover your company with a simple click. If you are not a member of a page as your company page, when an "@" tag for you is attempted, it will show as simply grayed-out/not highlighted indicating Facebook (or Instagram) is not auto-notifying you, so you never know that you were recommended or mentioned in a post or comment and readers of the comment were unable to connect quickly.

Also, if you are one of our print advertising businesses who wish to take advantage of FREE reposts on our social media, please use the "@" (mention) feature - again it activates the link and produces a notification to the linked page/user (i.e our marketing team) so we know to check out your post and repost it on our social media.. The "#" (hashtag) feature does not notify our marketing team; therefore you will miss out on free reposts.  It's so important for businesses not to miss out on FREE social media help - so please simply use "@" mention, it only takes a nanosecond. 

If you have any questions or need help with social media, please connect with us, we're here for you and ready to help - remember for certain levels of advertising, reposting is a complimentary feature of your print package (provided you use the "@" mention feature to us properly, so use in a caption, comment, or on a photo.

Please do not miss out on our help and assistance. If you need additional social media services, we can connect you with a great team of reputable LOCAL resources for every level - all very affordable. We caution businesses to be very careful of any person(s) who represent themselves as social media or marketing businesses but are actually only targeting your accounts to gain access to and capture your database of follower/customers/connections for personal gain. This can be very damaging to your business.  This type of parasitic behavior has been going on, and it is unfortunate that we have seen local businesses fall prey to being used and targeted this way. It is not wise to give out passwords to your business social media and email accounts too easily without proper research and recommendations.  Call/text us, and we'll help.

Just reach out and ask when you have questions, we're here to help by phone or email. Thank you!