The Central Texas town of Bremond celebrates its Polish heritage with a two-day festival this month. A milestone not to be celebrated is the state’s 16-year-plus streak of daily death on roadways.
Polski-Palooza
Bremond was a railroad boomtown when its first Polish settlers, in search of cultural, economic and religious freedoms, arrived in 1875.
The town, about 45 miles southeast of Waco, had the largest Polish population in Texas by 1900.
Their descendants established Polski Dzien, Polish Day, to celebrate their heritage. Now a two-day festival, the bash celebrates its 30th anniversary June 23–24. Lots of Polish food will be served, including kielbasa (sausage), pierogi (dumplings), golabki (cabbage rolls) and kapusta (stewed cabbage), as will zimne piwo (cold beer).
The festival also features ethnic music and dancers, and a parade, 5K run and beauty pageant.
Destructive Distractions
As you hit the road this summer, consider this:
The Texas Department of Transportation maintains a campaign called #EndTheStreakTX, aimed at stopping a deadly streak that is in its 17th year. Every day since November 7, 2000, at least one fatality has occurred on Texas roads.
The death toll is approaching 60,000 during this streak. TxDOT cites distracted driving, failure to stay in one lane, alcohol and speed as leading factors for the carnage.
Take the First Step Toward Safety: It might seem funny to watch the mayhem as texting pedestrians bump into lampposts or trip over curbs as they walk down sidewalks, but distracted walking is turning into a dangerous problem.
The National Safety Council reports that distracted walking incidents involving cellphones accounted for more than 11,100 injuries between 2000 and 2011. More than half of these injuries happen at home.
Did You Know?
The truth about walking and texting:
68 percent of those injured are women.
54 percent are 40 or younger.
Nearly 80 percent of the injuries were because of a fall.
Worth Repeating
“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation and only one bad one to lose it.”
— Benjamin Franklin, who invented the Franklin stove 275 years ago, in 1742
Nimitz Leads Midway Conquest
Months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz led the United States’ first decisive naval victory over Japan, in the Battle of Midway, 75 years ago.
U.S. Navy cryptographers in Hawaii decoded fragments of Japanese communications, and Nimitz, who was born and raised in Fredericksburg, orchestrated an attack on the Japanese fleet in the north-central Pacific Ocean. Nimitz’s namesake National Museum of the Pacific War in his hometown deems Midway, which took place June 4–7, 1942, as “the U.S. Navy’s greatest victory.”
By the Numbers: 392 Billion
Texas consumed more electricity than any other state in 2015—392 billion kilowatt-hours—according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That’s about 10 percent of total U.S. consumption and about 50 percent more than California and Florida, the next-highest consumers. Air conditioning accounts for nearly 20 percent of household energy consumption in Texas—three times the national average.
