There’s only one Bush getting attention here on Monday — and it’s not Jeb.
Barbara Bush is taking over the family limelight as the former first lady celebrates her 90th birthday.
This coastal town, where the Bushs have long had a summer home, is dotted with “Happy Birthday” signs, ahead of a celebration that will feature the 41st and 43rd U.S. Presidents as well as Jeb Bush, who hopes to be the 45th. The big bash will take place in the evening on the grounds of the Bush’s church, St. Ann’s Episcopal Church.
“I’ve been the luckiest woman in the world. Truthfully, and I know it,” the guest of honor said on NBC’s “Today” show in an interview with her granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager.
The bash comes as the political world considers the prospect of another Bush in the White House. Barbara Bush made headlines earlier this election cycle when she said she didn’t initially support the idea of another Bush running, now supports her son’s potential campaign.
She plans to stay quiet going forward, except when it comes to defending Jeb, the former Florida governor who is expected to launch his presidential campaign next Monday.
On Monday morning, the Bush family released a photo with more than two dozen relatives surrounding a smiling Barbara.
Locals, including those at Mabel’s Lobster Claw, were eager to share stories of the Bush family, including how George H.W. and Barbara would arrive for dinner and be seated at their regular table in the corner, decorated with photos of the family, one signed by Bush of him parachuting from a plane.
“He’s amazing,” said longtime Mabel’s waiter David Molvar. “One time time he talked to everyone and when he left they gave them a standing ovation.”
After he was elected President Bush held a town meeting and promised to do his best to make sure nothing was disrupted by his presence in the town.
That’s often easier said than done. In 2013 the former President and First Lady attended the wedding of local store owners Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, a same-sex wedding that garnered national attention for his sons’ position on the issue.
His son, George W. Bush, had campaigned for the presidency on a platform against same-sex marriage, and the newlyweds were shocked to be getting emails from ABC and the Washington Post on their honeymoon in Europe.
There are no hard feelings, “the Bush’s have been very long time friends of ours and I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to wish Mrs. Bush a wonderful happy 90th Birthday,” Clement said Sunday of the sign on the roof of H&B Provisions, which she co-owns with her wife. “They’re just the most friendliest wonderful people.”
Some business owners celebrate the increased traffic, particularly when other famous family members come to town.
“As a business owner its terrific,” Bonnie Clement said. When George W. Bush was President and would come visit “we’d go from 35 secret service to 350 secret service agents” who all needed to shop and eat and stay at hotels.
Jeb Bush is more likely to be seen walking around town, according to waiter David Molvar. He’d always come in for lunch and dinner a few times every summer with his wife Columba.
Many in the town seem excited by the idea of Jeb Bush running and a 3rd President vacationing in the town.
“I find him to be very charming and I think he could make a great leader,” Clement told CNN. “Good for them if that’s what’s happened.”