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Crawford, Texas. Photo Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller
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Crawford, Texas, became the adopted home of George W. Bush during his presidency. But the small town west of Waco has undergone some big changes since the 43rd president handed over the keys to the White House. KUT's Nathan Bernier visited Crawford recently, and spoke with some of the locals about what it's like to lose the spotlight.
June 25, 2010 · It seems like a train rolls through Crawford every half hour. It's about the most exciting thing happening these days on the three block stretch of that makes up Crawford's Main Street.
Charlotte Latting works at the Crawford General Store, selling fast food and gasoline. She points down the street to all the places that have gone out of business since the heyday of the Bush administration.
"Everything's closed! Everything!" she said. "Let's see, there was a store, a store, they're gone. This was full, now it's a church. Yeah, everything's closed."
But walking through Crawford, I felt a strong sense of nostalgia for the Bush years. Employees at the Coffee Station, another restaurant that also sells gasoline, are still wearing shirts proclaiming Crawford as the Western White House. So does the electronic scrolling text on their cash register display. The shuttered gift shops still have signs out front quoting the former president. And you can see the Bush memorabilia through the windows.gathering dust.
"But they know it's closing. They know it's gone. But they just believe in Bush so mad they wish he was still in office. Believe me," Latting explained.
Mark Shaw used to manage the Yellow Rose Gift Shop in Crawford before it shut down over a year ago.
"I supported Bush like we all did, and kind of everybody saying we miss Bush now. We just miss having our hometown hero here, he said. "It was phenomenal. Phenomenal. Everyday you'd meet somebody from another country, from another city, another state, it was really, really, really great. And we broke all the sales records, all the barriers, it was unbelievable. And it just stopped. It just stopped."
And the tourist business didn't stop just for the Yellow Rose Gift Shop. It stopped for virtually every store. There used to be six souvenir shops in Crawford. Now there's only one: The Red Bull Gift Shop.
"Caps, magnets, lapel pins, that is a million dollar bill with George W. Bush. It also has Crawford on it," said Jaime Burgess, The Red Bull's owner.
Jamie Burgess could probably get more money selling her George Bush memorabilia online. For example, a Bush-Cheney campaign bumper sticker from 2004 is $3 on eBay. Here they sell for a buck. But Burgess says she's already making enough selling local art and the odd souvenir to keep her store open. And she's fine with life in Crawford getting back to the way it was.
"The microphones, they were aggravating at times," she said. "We all used to say, 'Go down and see them, or go down there.' You know, so that part of our life went on, and we just had a few extra thousand people in town at some point in time. A part of life being a small community, we would have never been exposed to that situation. But we have memories that will last us for the rest of our lives."
The last time George W. Bush was in Crawford was about six weeks ago. It was the first time he had been seen there in almost a year. He stopped by unannounced with Secret Service agents at the Coffee Station. A lady behind the counter says the former president ordered a cheese burger with onions. | 
