Tourism Season Kicks into High Gear in Owensboro, Ky.

Byline: Keith Lawrence

Jul. 7--For the next three weeks or so, traffic is likely to be a little heavier on Frederica Street. And the wait at the more popular restaurants is likely to be a little longer.

July is Owensboro's busiest month for tourism. Three national events are expected to bring more than 15,000 people to town this month.

"It's really already started," Jan Kinsey, operations manager of the Executive Inn Rivermont, the city's largest hotel, said last week. "We're almost full this weekend, just from the Fourth of July activities and family reunions."

But things start in earnest Wednesday, when the first of an anticipated 10,000-plus Southern gospel music fans begin arriving for Kentucky CrabbFest, formerly known as the Crabb Family Homecoming.

The Ohio County Southern gospel group has added an extra night to the event this year. It starts …