Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

speakup

CRAWFORD, Texas - So close and yet so far: Tiny Crawford is sort of like a bridesmaid at arm's length from Jenna Bush's wedding today.

The Associated Press Photo

WEDDING DAY: This May 2006 file photo released by The White House shows Jenna Bush with Henry Hager. They will be married today before about 200 guests at the family's 640-hectare secluded ranch.

The action is at President George W. Bush's 640-hectare ranch, 11 kilometres outside this one-stoplight town.

The more than 200 Bush family and friends invited to the nuptials might never even set foot downtown.

"It's a private ceremony. It's an exciting time for the Bush family," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Friday. "They're all beginning to converge here in Texas and in Crawford and I know the president and Mrs. Bush are really looking forward to this weekend."

With no hotels in town, local Crawford residents are more likely to welcome tourists who just want to say they were here when Jenna married her longtime boyfriend, Henry Hager.

The locals don't seem to mind.

"It's amazing how many people just want to be in the area," said Marilyn Judy, president of the Crawford Chamber of Commerce. She recounted a call from a woman in Dallas, a two-hour drive from Crawford.

"I asked 'Oh, are you going to be going to the wedding?'" Judy asked. The woman replied: "No, I just want to be in town when it's happening.'"

Some businesses, like The Yellow Rose, are doing a brisk business selling coffee mugs with the couple's photo inside a red heart.