There's a certain kind of person who shows up to everything.
Not because they have to. Not because there's a deal to be made. But because they genuinely believe that being in the room matters and that communities get built one conversation at a time.
Brig Serman is that person in Arlington.
Serman is the founder of Advanced Integrated Marketing, but his reputation in this city runs deeper than what's on his website. He joined the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce in 2019 and took his membership seriously from day one, attending events consistently, joining the Veterans Business Council, working his way into rooms with city commissioners, state representatives, and the mayor. His whole philosophy, the one he's shared publicly more than once, is that visibility builds credibility that leads to profitability. And he's lived it.
So when Serman walked out of the 12th Annual Back the Blue Bash with a Twinstone Lonestar 6X R-2 cowboy hat from the silent auction, it felt about right.
What the Back the Blue Bash Is
For anyone unfamiliar, the Back the Blue Bash is an annual Arlington event built around recognizing and supporting local law enforcement. It is not a mixer with a charity component bolted on. It is a community event, full stop, where residents, business owners, and officers are all in the same room for the same reason.
Twelve years in, it keeps growing because Arlington keeps deciding it's worth showing up for.
That staying power means something. A lot of community events run for a few years on goodwill and good intentions, then quietly disappear when the organizing committee burns out or attendance starts to slip. The Back the Blue Bash has built something more durable than that. It has become a consistent annual fixture in Arlington, a moment where the relationship between the community and local law enforcement gets reinforced by a room full of people who are there because they mean it, not because they were obligated to show up.
Businesses donate auction items. Residents buy tickets. Community leaders participate. Officers are recognized. None of it is complicated, but the cumulative effect over twelve years is real. The people of Arlington have repeatedly made the decision that this event is worth their time and money, and that consistency says more than any single gesture could.
Brig Serman being there tracks completely. His whole approach to business and community is built around the idea that you do not build meaningful relationships from a distance. You show up, you stay engaged, and over time the people around you start to understand who you are and what you stand for. The Back the Blue Bash is exactly that kind of room. No pitching. No performing. Just people in the same city, contributing to something they believe in.
Why Twinstone Donated to the Silent Auction
Twinstone is an Arlington company. The showroom is located here. The people shaping and building these hats work here. The customers who have supported this brand since the beginning live and work in this community.
When the Back the Blue Bash comes around, contributing to it is not a marketing calculation. It is a straightforward decision. Law enforcement in Arlington shows up for this community every single day in situations that most people never have to think about. Showing up for them once a year with something tangible is a small thing in comparison, but small things done consistently add up.
There is also something to be said for the kind of participation that goes beyond writing a check. Donating an auction item means something specific is going into that room, something that carries the name and the work of the people who made it. For Twinstone, that is a cowboy hat built in Arlington, TX, by people who care about how it holds up over time. That felt like the right thing to put into a room full of people who live the Western lifestyle in North Texas rather than wear it occasionally for appearances.
The Lonestar 6X R-2 was the specific choice because it is not a display piece. It was built to be worn regularly, which is the point.
The Lonestar 6X R-2: A Fur-Felt Cowboy Hat Built for Real Use
A lot of people shopping for cowboy hats in Arlington, TX, and across Texas focus on appearance first. That makes sense. How a hat looks is part of why you buy it. But the real measure of any fur-felt cowboy hat is what it does after six months of consistent wear.
Does the felt hold its structure after repeated use? Does the sweatband stay comfortable through a full day? Does the crown keep its shape after you have worn it to dinners, shows, events, and everything in between? Does it still look like a hat someone takes care of, or does it start to look like something that got thrown in the back seat one too many times?
Those are the questions that determine whether a hat earns a permanent spot in your regular rotation or ends up hanging on a hook waiting for a specific occasion that never quite comes.
The Lonestar 6X is built from rabbit fur felt, which sits in a range that balances durability and refinement better than wool at a comparable price point. Rabbit fur felt handles moisture better than wool, responds to temperature changes without warping, and holds its shape through the kind of daily or weekly use that breaks down cheaper materials faster than most people expect when they first buy a hat. It is not entry-level material, but it is also not so precious that wearing it feels like a risk. That balance matters for a hat you are actually going to use.
The R-2 crown and brim proportions sit in a versatile range that works across different settings without looking out of place. Not aggressively wide. Not so narrow that it reads as understated. It fits comfortably in professional settings, social settings, and outdoor settings without requiring you to think too hard about whether you are wearing the right hat for the occasion. For someone like Brig Serman, who moves between business meetings, community events, and social gatherings regularly, that versatility is worth more than a more dramatic silhouette that only works in one context.
Understanding Felt Grade Before You Buy
For anyone newer to shopping for cowboy hats in Texas, the X rating system is one of the more confusing parts of the process. It is not perfectly standardized across every brand, but as a general rule it reflects the percentage of fur content in the felt and the overall quality of the materials used in construction.
A 6X fur-felt cowboy hat sits comfortably in the mid-to-upper range for everyday wear. Below that grade, you are generally looking at wool blends that perform adequately for occasional use but tend to lose their shape faster under regular conditions. A hat you wear a few times a season might not show much difference at the 4X level. A hat you wear every week will start to tell the story of that difference within the first year.
Above the 6X range, you are getting into hats built for serious longevity, where the felt quality and construction are designed to handle years of heavy use and still hold their structure. The price point climbs accordingly, and the investment makes more sense the more frequently you are putting the hat on.
Twinstone carries the Lonestar line from 6X up through higher grades for anyone who wants to go deeper on the build. The differences between grades become more apparent over years of wear rather than months, which is worth understanding before you decide where to land. If you are wearing a cowboy hat in Arlington, TX, as part of your everyday life and professional presence, the 6X is a practical and well-considered starting point. It looks the part, holds up through real use, and does not require the kind of careful handling that a significantly higher grade hat sometimes demands.
Community and Law Enforcement in Arlington
What Serman has said publicly about Chamber membership applies just as cleanly to events like the Back the Blue Bash: if you are not in the room, you are not visible, and visibility is where everything starts.
The relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve does not get built through press releases or policy statements. It gets built through consistent, low-pressure presence over time. Events like the Back the Blue Bash create the kind of space where an officer and a business owner can be in the same room without anyone being in crisis and without anyone being under pressure. People in the same city, supporting the same cause, getting to know each other in a setting where that is actually possible.
That is how twelve years happens. Arlington keeps showing up because the people in this city have decided the relationship is worth investing in repeatedly, not just once when it felt timely. There is real community fabric being built through that kind of consistency, and the businesses and residents who participate in it year after year are part of what makes Arlington function as well as it does.
Twinstone is proud to be part of that. This city has supported this brand, and showing up for the things Arlington cares about is part of how we stay connected to the community we were built inside of.
Congratulations to Brig Serman
The Lonestar 6X R-2 is a hat worth winning. More importantly, it is a hat that will actually get worn, which is the whole point of building one.
Brig Serman has spent years showing up for Arlington in rooms where it counted. The Back the Blue Bash is one more example of that. He walked in to support something worth supporting and walked out with a hat that fits the lifestyle he is already living. That is a good outcome.
Thank you to the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and every attendee who made the 12th Annual Back the Blue Bash possible. Twelve years is a real run, and it only happens because people keep deciding it is worth their time. Arlington has consistently made that decision, and it shows.
We will be back next year.
Shop the Lonestar 6X R-2 Cowboy Hat · Visit the Twinstone Showroom in Arlington
