Smith Lake, things have changed!

Lewis Smith Lake-Smith Lake

Like any other vacation or recreational location Smith Lake has changed! Our family had the opportunity to experience Smith Lake before it was on the map. My grandfather, my grandfather’s brother, my father, and 2 of his sisters all had trailers (not even a doublewide) on the lake back in the ’60s! Yes, in the 1960s, my father rode my mother to the dam while pregnant with me to see if the bouncing would help her go into labor, things were different back then! I gave up my passy in that lake, I was told it would be good for a mother fish to have for her babies, we call that littering now but again, life was different.

It is hard to remember any Saturday, June-August when I wasn’t swimming in that lake with about 11 other cousins. My grandfather and his brother would sit on a picnic table and watch swim, the ironic thing is neither of them could swim! We stayed in the water until our ski belts were waterlogged and our legs felt like noodles. Goodness, things have changed over the years. We caught frogs, filled jar after jar with lightning bugs, walked the dirt roads, and even played in a nearby cemetery. We weren’t destructive just curious. It was the best of times.

We had a wooden boat named, Terri! I believe there was a pontoon but not like a tritoon, I don’t believe luxury boats were on the lake back then. When it was time to get the boat in they would tie the boat trailer to a cable to would carry it up the hill to the off-water boathouse, you don’t see those anymore. You had to stay back in case the cable snapped, the sound of the winch slowing turning was a sound of my childhood.

Smith Lake has changed in the last 60 years and so have I! I was born in 63 and Smith Lake filled up in December of 1961, see I was raided on this lake.

Jumping to summer 2023 we just celebrated another holiday at the lake, we are now a few doors down from where the original spot was located, we have a house that my parents build with 5 bedrooms. One for them and one for my 3 siblings and myself. The rule has been you figure out where your kids will sleep but gave you all a bedroom.  Now 3^rd generation cousins are doing the same thing, making memories of a lifetime. We celebrated Memorial Day just like my father, a World War II veteran, would want us to do; food, family, and friends. That is what has NOT changed at Smith Lake.

I look forward to sharing my life experiences through the years while playing on and in this treasure, we have right here in Cullman County, Lewis Smith Lake!