Peace House Prevails — Group Vows To Keep Peace Presence In Crawford

CRAWFORD, Texas Christmas came early for the Crawford Texas Peace House this year. Its core supporters on Thanksgiving agreed to pay the House’s bills through the end of December.

The decision thereby marked an end of an era for the peace movement nestled in the backyard of the vastly unpopular President George W. Bush. The Peace House in its current organizational structure will soon cease to exist. House owner Johnny Wolf told supporters there that starting in early January 2009 he hoped to hold a less prominent role in the grassroots group he helped organize as a new organization takes over his property.

“Ideally, the Peace House checkbook doesn’t continue after the first of the year. I’d like to put that entity to rest. It doesn’t have to,” Wolf said during the recent Thanksgiving meal at the House.

Replied co-founder Hadi Jawad, “It can go away. December can be the last time.”

The close of this chapter of the Crawford Texas Peace House’s history also drew the blessing of its long-time jill-of-all-trades Kay Lucas. “I would love that,” the Central Texas resident said.

Since Wolf purchased the House in March 2003, he has shouldered the legal responsibilities for maintaining it. Through its existence, the House has survived on financial gifts from supporters, patrons, and, at times, out of the Wolf’s pocket. Now that about eight supporters promised to temporarily bear its financial burden, Wolf is looking to sell the House to a reputable (perhaps non-profit) organization.

“That works for me,” Wolf said.

Jawad said that the organization could come from some of the same financial supporters gathered there at the Thanksgiving table, maybe under the name “Crawford Friends of Peace.”

“I’m in favor of keeping it simple at the moment,” Jawad added, later telling The Lone Star Iconoclast, “What’s really beautiful about this is the people who were there are the same faces that have been there. This is… amazing. Absolutely amazing! That’s mission accomplished.”

Supporters at the meeting unanimously agreed that the Peace House should remain in Crawford as a counterweight to the legacy of Bush’s presidency. Bush has said he wished to return to his vacation ranchette in nearby Prairie Chapel when his term expires in January. His wife, Laura, is also said to have found a house in North Dallas.

But after January, it’s anyone’s guess as to the Peace House’s specific function. A number of possibilities were proposed on Thanksgiving. Some suggested creating a “peace museum” along with a push for a federal and/or state historical designation. Others suggested working with radio personality Bree Walker in her plan to institute a retreat for women veterans at Camp Casey, her property down the highway. Another person openly contemplated having the Dallas Peace Center purchase the property.

Wolf had considered moving the Peace House to Dallas to counter the Bush’s presidential library near the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU). However, that idea fizzled when Wolf noticed that local support for Bush’s library complex seemed to shrink.

“A year and a half ago when you looked at a map of where the Bush library was going to be, they had 40 acres. Now it’s just a spot on Yale Blvd. So I think the whole concept of what Bush is going to has scaled down. Whether or not he is even relevant the