CRAWFORD, Texas – Not long ago, in those heady early days of the Western White House, a presidential daughter's wedding might have set loose a frenzy of anticipation here on the Central Texas prairie.

But as this close-knit town of about 750 wraps up a volatile eight-year run as home to President Bush's ranch retreat, local residents aren't twittering about Saturday's private nuptials between Jenna Bush and Henry Hager.

"Is that Saturday? Is that when it is?" asks Joe Holmes, 73, over a game of dominoes with two buddies at Masonic Lodge No. 585.

His sister-in-law, retired Crawford postmaster Joyce Holmes, said, "I don't think this is quite as exciting to the people as it used to be – but I'm sure there'll be tourists."

The wedding marks the unofficial prelude to Crawford's final summer in the national spotlight. But walk awhile around this one-stoplight town and you get the feeling that the Western White House era already is ramping down.

On Main Street, a shuttered souvenir store is topped by a Building For Sale sign. Nobody answers the door at the house where Iraq war protesters once gathered. A few life-size cardboard cutouts of Mr. Bush are fading or tattered with creases.

Menus at the town's social hub, the Coffee Station, still tout Crawford as "Home of President George W. Bush." But even there, locals sense a cycle winding down.

"It's probably hard to believe, but really we pretty much are back to normal," said waitress Fran Shelton.

In Crawford, normal means going out for family dinners and joining hands for a quiet prayer before digging into cheeseburgers, chicken fried steak and fried jalapeños.

It's a place where old friends while away mornings playing dominoes, and teenage boys hang out at the general store after school to share a Coke.

It's a community anchored by church, school and family, where on a breezy spring night parents' cheers at the baseball fields echo clear across town.

Mr. Bush publicly embraced this version of small-town life when he bought the Prairie Chapel Ranch as governor in 1999, calling it a setting that "gives me a lot of balance."

He was an accessible neighbor at first, giving a high school graduation speech, phoning in for a pep rally and dropping by the Coffee Station for burgers.

The Bush ranch is seven miles northwest of town, out of view for anyone driving along Prairie Chapel Road and marked only by ominous signs warning motorists not to stop. But during those early years, when world leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited the ranch, Mr. Bush brought them into town to mingle.

"There was excitement that you could get this close and maybe see the president – and you could," said Marilyn Judy, a teacher who heads the chamber of commerce.

After Sept. 11, security tightened. Later on, Mr. Bush took an even lower profile when the town became a battleground for Iraq war protests led by activist Cindy Sheehan, who in 2005 bought land along the road leading to the Bush ranch. Then came a slide in Mr. Bush's popularity to depths not seen in generations.

"It was hard on everybody," Ms. Judy said of the protests. "It just overwhelmed the community."

Along with the acrimony, however, came the spoils of thousands of visitors buying water, gas, food and trinkets. And for better or worse, Crawford still had a front seat to history.

Ms. Sheehan sold her land last year. The onslaught of protesters, Bush defenders and curious onlookers has ebbed.

Retail sales are tapering off. In April, Crawford's monthly sales tax proceeds were 26 percent behind last year's. Two stores open during the Sheehan protests have since closed.

Despite Mr. Bush's dwindling approval ratings, Waco-area boosters say his presence has softened the stigma slapped on the region by the 1993 FBI raid of the nearby Branch Davidian compound.

"It has brought a different perception and a different level of prestige," said Elizabeth Taylor, director of the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"It's a lot more fun to talk about the Western White House and the Bush presidency than it ever was to talk about the Branch Davidians."

The president has one more working vacation in August and perhaps a few more scattered ranch visits over the next eight months. But come Jan. 20, he'll be just another part-time neighbor who happens to be an ex-president.

By this time next year, Crawford will be on its way to becoming the next Johnson City or Plains, Ga., attracting a trickle of presidential tourists while the rest of the town resumes life as usual.

While Mr. Bush and wife Laura plan to settle in Dallas once he leaves office next year, Crawford's souvenir sellers hope the couple visits the ranch often enough to keep tourists curious.

"It may slack off," said Jamie Burgess, manager of the Red Bull on Main Street. "But on the other hand, when he's not president, he's going to be more out in the public, so people may come to see if they can see him."

Residents, meanwhile, seem unconcerned about how often they'll see their most famous neighbor.

Ms. Judy likens Crawford's hosting of the Bush presidency to kids putting out a lemonade stand during the summer: "You have fun with it, you greet the people that are here and you serve them lemonade. And when the summer's over, you put up the lemonade stand."

"With the president, people have different investments," Ms. Judy said. "The store owners invested more time. The people of Crawford didn't invest a lot into the president being here. It was seasonal, and we'll go back to the same little town we were before he came."

So while Main Street will be stirring this weekend as hordes of reporters, camera crews, paparazzi, Secret Service agents and wedding-curious tourists circle about, the Bush wedding will be no big deal for Crawford residents.

"For the local people, it will be a non-event," said former mayor Robert Campbell, who guided the town during most of the Bush years.

An Austin filmmaker who spent three years on a documentary about Crawford goes even further.

"The fact that no one in the town is invited to the wedding highlights the disconnect between the Bushes and the town," said David Modigliani.

"I really see the wedding as one of the last turns in the roller coaster ride this town has been in during this eight-year experience," he said.Main Street merchants are hoping this summer brings one last rush. The shops are full of Bush bobbleheads, buttons and bumper stickers, and this weekend at least two stores are upping the ante with Jenna-and-Henry memorabilia.

The corner souvenir shop is selling commemorative coffee cups, while the store down the block plans an assortment including mouse pads, magnets, keychains and buttons.

"I would be surprised if it wasn't about the three biggest days of the year for them," banker Ken Judy said. "It just won't be a typical Saturday, I can guarantee you that."