By Mike Copeland

Cox News Service

WACO, Texas — The weekend of May 10 was already shaping up as a busy one before Jenna Bush announced she would be getting married that Saturday.

Now it’s becoming a perfect storm of activities that has hotels and limousines filling up and restaurant owners salivating over the potential for large, hungry crowds.

Waco will host softball tournaments and a technology convention that will attract thousands. May 11 is Mother’s Day, a huge day for restaurants, and prom season is creating demand for seating space in restaurants and fancy automobiles.

“Is there a cow in Texas? Of course, we’re full,” said Doug Huntsucker, who manages the Courtyard by Marriott.

The icing on this cake: the marriage of first daughter Jenna Bush to Henry Hager at the Bush ranch just west of Crawford. The guest list contains about 200 names, but security officials and media representatives covering the affair will cause that number to swell.

“The night before the wedding is sold out,” said Alvin Jacob, who works the front desk at the 195-room Waco Hilton.

Also creating demand: The statewide meeting of the Texas Technology Students Association. About 3,500 students, teachers and administrators will make their way to Waco.

“I’m hearing that every hotel in Waco is filled up,” said Delton Kittrell, executive director of the TTSA.

He added that Waco eateries like to see the meeting come to town.

“We eat out every meal, and most of us get there on Thursday and stay until Saturday,” Kittrell said. “The kids like fast-food places, but they also enjoy the sandwiches and games at Cricket’s. Ninfa’s is a good place for everybody, and we also go to Outback Steakhouse and Heitmiller’s. We used to love Underwood’s before it closed.”

Mike Hataway, manager of Buzzard Billy’s, said the technology convention is “a pretty big deal” that always created business when the restaurant was located near the Waco Hilton downtown.

Hataway said he believes the Cajun restaurant will see crowds at its new location on the opposite side of Lake Brazos.

“I know all the hotels are booked for the wedding,” Hataway said, adding: “The White House press guys always manage to come in two or three times when President Bush is in town.”

Gus Lopez, who manages the Gratziano’s restaurant in downtown Waco, said May 10 is shaping up to be such a monster weekend “that it’s a good time to add some extra help.”

Sue Cooper at Waco’s Tourist Information Center said the vast majority of local rooms are full, but not all.

“There are a couple of rooms here and there, but most of our major large hotels are already full,” said Cooper, who continues to get calls about room availability for the big weekend.

Liz Taylor, director of the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the technology convention alone used to put a strain on Waco’s room capacity, “but we’ve seen 300 to 400 rooms come into the marketplace the last couple of years.”

The areas of Waco, Lacy-Lakeview, Bellmead and Hewitt have 3,200 motel and hotel rooms, Taylor said.

Local limousine services say May 10 is stretching them to capacity, but the Bush wedding has nothing to do with it.

“This is prom season, and everything in Waco is booked,” said Scott Pace, owner of Emerald Coaches Limousines. He added that May 3 and May 10 are shaping up as the biggest prom nights of the season.

Everett Speas, a dispatcher at the Waco Streak, said he’ll haul two guests from the Bush ranch to Waco Regional Airport the night of May 10. All he has available is a 15-passenger van because of demand for his other vehicles, “but they told me that would be fine.”

He said he hopes other guests want to hop aboard.

With Mother’s Day weekend looming, Kyle Cox, owner of Crozier’s Flowers, said he actually is concerned about the Bush wedding and the roads that may be closed to limit access to the Crawford ranch.

Those closings could limit his access to customers, he said, “on my second-busiest delivery day of the year.”

River Bend Park on Lake Shore Drive is scheduled to host the Lone Star Shootout on May 10. Spokesman Greg Huchingson said as many as 20 teams from around the state could show up for the tournament — or it could be canceled if not enough teams commit to playing in the tournament because it would fall the day before Mother’s Day.

“We may not know anything definite until the Wednesday before that Saturday,” Huchingson said.

mcopeland@wacotrib.com

757-5736