LEWISTON – The first time the president’s campaign called – waking Rita Dube at 10 p.m. from her half-sleep – she politely told them to call her in the morning.

A minute later, the phone rang again. This time, the caller identified himself.

“We’d like to rent the Franco-American Heritage Center,” he said. “It would be for the first lady.”

That was last Thursday night. The next morning, officials from the Bush-Cheney team began arriving. By Saturday, the Secret Service descended on the Little Canada landmark.

First lady Laura Bush is scheduled to appear here at 11:30 a.m. Friday in an event described by the campaign as a “W’ stands for women” rally.

Laura Bush will likely make a pitch for her husband’s leadership on women’s issues and encourage more involvement in politics, said campaign spokeswoman Alison Hardin.

The event will be free and open to the public. However, tickets will have to be obtained in advance. The campaign set up a telephone line for ticket requests, 773-4034.

They are preparing for a crowd.

Fire inspectors checked the former Catholic church on Tuesday and set its capacity at 840, almost 500 more people than there are seats. Chairs will be coming.

The campaign also plans to erect a backdrop in front of the building’s centerpiece: a 40-foot-tall wooden sculpture with a cross at the top and a Madonna at the center.

Four staffers from the Bush-Cheney campaign met with the center’s leaders on Tuesday to consider putting up a curtain or a fabric canopy – like the ones over Auburn’s Festival Plaza – in front of the religious symbols.

New lights and sound equipment are to be brought in, and during the rally, the curtain would be used as a projection screen for campaign images. Such props are typical at every stop, Hardin said.

Franco-American center leaders hope a bit of the first lady’s spotlight will shine on the building.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Dube, the executive director of the Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary’s. “It’ll bring national recognition.”

It will also bring a new level of credibility, she said.

“It’s good enough for the first lady,” Dube said. “That means it’s good enough for anybody.”

The visit also will create a little revenue for the center, which typically is rented for $375 per day. But a lot more could end up in the nonprofit organization’s coffers. The center’s staff and many of its volunteers plan to help put on the event, something for which the campaign has promised reimbursement.

The press coverage could be even more valuable, said Lionel Guay, the center’s president and Lewiston’s mayor.

“You’re going to have reporters there from just about everywhere,” Guay said. “That’s the type of publicity you can’t buy.”

The campaign stop in Lewiston will be Bush’s fourth in a two-day tour. On Thursday, she is scheduled to be in Michigan and Minnesota. After Friday morning’s appearance in Lewiston, she plans to go to Manchester, N.H., for a rally at Southern New Hampshire University.