I'm looking at the calendar for June and can't help shaking my head. I know what's coming. Not only will we have hotter weather with the beginning of summer, but there are some huge special events scheduled for the Houston area that will almost certainly bring a lot more DWI arrests.
To get things going, of course, there's Memorial Day weekend. While Memorial Day itself is observed on Monday, May 27, lots of activities are happening during the weekend:
- The Astros are playing the Colorado Rockies at Minute Maid Park.
- Soccer lovers have Memorial Day Cup Houston 2013 on Saturday and Sunday.
- And the Memorial Weekend Music Festival will fill the Reliant Arena.
That's naming just a few events, but they all have one thing in common: a lot of sports fans and music lovers will quench their thirst with a few icy beers — and then some of them will get behind the wheel and drive home.
Let's look ahead to June:
- The Caribbean Heritage Month Festival occurs the first Saturday of the month on June 1 — native music, cultural dancing, and authentic foods — a good time for lots of people.
- June 19 brings the 'Juneteenth' African-American heritage celebration (the 19th was the historic day Texas found out about President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation) to the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park where crowds will enjoy blues, gospel and jazz.
- And there's Pride Houston on June 22, which is the biggest LGBT event in the Southwest, drawing about 1,000 Houston Pride Parade participants and about 150,000 spectators.
Again, the combination of what will surely be hot Houston temperatures with thirsty crowds tells me my phone is likely to ring more often when some people decide — incorrectly — that they are OK to climb behind the wheel after a day (or a night) of chilling out with some nice chilly brews. The sight of flashing lights in your rear-view mirror would sure put a chill on an otherwise fun event.
