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Posted on 11/16/2001 1:15:06 PM PST by kattracks

CRAWFORD, Texas, Nov 15, 2001 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- It was a brief, hasty detour from summit business: President Bush in a messy two-car garage, announcing that foreign aid workers held hostage in Afghanistan had been airlifted to freedom.

The quickie news conference at his ranch had none of the hallmarks of a presidential event. Water cooler jugs lined the garage walls, oil stained the cement floor, and the spot where Bush should stand was marked by an aide's muddy shoe before duct tape could be found to lay a more proper "X."

His backdrop: dark thunderstorms outside the flung-open garage doors.

A car outside started with a roar nearly drowning out the second half of Bush's remarks, which interrupted the indoor barbecue that Bush and his wife, Laura, were throwing back at the house for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bush begged off too many questions from reporters, saying he was eager to get back to the eats. "I've got my guests waiting."

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In the "great room" of the Bushes' low-slung ranch house, the Austin country-western swing Ranch Hands Band had the 27 VIP dinner guests rocking.

Dan Fried, the National Security Council's director of European affairs, taught his boss, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, how to do a traditional Texas line dance called the Cotton-Eyed Joe. White House adviser Karen Hughes said Rice proved a quick study and seeing her on the dance floor "reminded us that she used to be a figure skater and still had some rhythm left."

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Reporters (500) nearly doubled the local population (700) of this one-stoplight town when Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, touched down by helicopter at Bush's ranch.

"We're used to seeing tourists on weekends and when the president visits the ranch, but nothing like this," Crawford Mayor Robert Campbell said.

A 30-foot-long banner - with "Welcome, President Putin and President Bush" printed in Russian - hung from a power line over the main drag to welcome hundreds of picture-taking tourists and an equal number of journalists credentialed to cover this portion of the summit that began Tuesday in Washington.

Ollie Wales, 70, bought a small lot in downtown Crawford last month and decided to sell patriotic T-shirts, teddy bears and other items in a 10-by-16-foot portable building. She said she had hundreds of customers Wednesday.

"It's a great opportunity," she said as she sorted through a box of buttons emblazoned with the American flag. "It's great for the community, but all the attention on Crawford was hard at first for some people who want things to stay the same."

Except for a new souvenir stand or two, the town with two gas stations, one restaurant and a hair salon hasn't changed since Bush was elected president.

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At one of those gas stations, The Coffee Station, which also doubles as Crawford's lone restaurant, cars clogged the parking lot and a sign proclaimed, "Two presidents, one city: Welcome to Crawford."

Melinda Moore of Marquez was one of those who came hoping to glimpse Bush or Putin or both.

And Liz Summers drove with her 2-year-old granddaughter from Walnut Springs.

"I've never been to Crawford, and I thought it might be neat to see two presidents for the price of one," Summers said.

But Bush did not leave his Prairie Chapel ranch all day, Putin helicoptered directly onto Bush's property, and signs along the heavily guarded road outside the ranch warned motorists not to stop or park.

Moore settled for a snapshot of her posing with a cardboard cutout of Bush.

"I just wanted to be part of an important day," she said.

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The Putins evidently did some homework before traveling here. Mrs. Putin came bearing a giant, pale yellow rose - a la "The Yellow Rose of Texas" - for Mrs. Bush.

But the visitors dressed for Texas heat - Putin in a short-sleeve golf shirt, Mrs. Putin in a sleeveless top - and stepped shivering from their borrowed Marine helicopter into a cold, blowing rain.

Bush saw a silver lining in the dense, fiercely dark clouds overhead and thanked Putin for bringing rain to this often-parched state. "There is no better gift than rain."

Mrs. Putin made a better wardrobe selection for dinner, turning out in a blouse of red, white and blue sequins in a pattern of stars and stripes. Bush called it "a wonderful and gracious gesture."

By ANGELA K. BROWN Associated Press Writer

Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved

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