Plains prepares for influx of visitors. And why some already came to honor Jimmy Carter
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Death of former President Jimmy Carter
The peanut farmer from Georgia was a virtual unknown when he launched his long-shot 1976 presidential bid that took him from “Jimmy Who?” to his inauguration as the nation’s 39th president.
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Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency in Sumter County, not for a natural disaster, but to allow state resources to help the city of Plains after former President Jimmy Carter’s death Sunday.
With less than 800 residents, Kemp saw need for the town to prepare for the expected flood of visitors in the wake of the death of Carter, the city’s most famous resident.
Devan Bolton, however, didn’t need that executive order to know his Monday would be mighty unusual.
Bolton is one of the city’s two maintenance workers in Plains. He was called into a staff meeting at 7 a.m., one hour earlier than scheduled.
The message?
“Just keep everything running as normal for our little town,” Bolton told the Ledger-Enquirer as he hung one of the 11 American flags outside storefronts on Main Street.
Bolton expressed a sense of pride to do his part in helping Plains get ready.
“Just trying to make sure everybody feels welcome,” he said, adding that his youngest son was born the same day Carter turned 100 on Oct. 1 this year.
Jimmy and his wife, Rosalynn, the former first lady who died last year, seemed like just regular people in Plains to Bolton.
“They would walk up and down Main Street like anybody else when they were getting around and in good health,” he said.
At the city’s post office, which Congress named as the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Post Office, Plains resident David Banks described Carter as friendly and approachable.
“Jimmy would stop and hold a conversation with you, no matter your color or your race,” Banks, who works for a fertilizer company in Americus, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “That didn’t bother him.”
And it doesn’t bother Banks to see visitors in his hometown.
“Jimmy put Plains on the map,” he said. “… Everybody’s been respectful.”
Respect is the reason Craig Porter drove about 70 miles Monday from Blakely to Plains.
“I have always had respect for President Carter,” Porter, who was in college during Carter’s presidency, told the Ledger-Enquirer while visiting the former Plains train depot, which now houses a museum about Carter. “… I saw some of the things that he struggled with and did, but I always felt like he was a man of integrity, somebody that you could trust. And so, when I heard of his passing, I wanted to come and just pay my respects to a man I admire.”
Porter admired Carter for his work ethic.
“I don’t think people really understood how hard he worked when he was in office and then when he got out of office,” Porter said. “He did so many great things with (monitoring) elections and things like that.”
Walter McPherson also felt compelled Monday to visit Plains, driving about 55 miles from Phenix City, Alabama.
“I’m really proud of Mr. Carter,” McPherson, who originally is from Cusseta, Georgia, told the Ledger-Enquirer outside the former train depot. “He makes me proud to be a Georgian — good man, good faith, you know. Honest man. I think that’d be his legacy.”
McPherson recalled visiting Plains with his aunt and uncle during Carter’s presidential campaign and meeting Carter’s brother, Billy, at his service station. He also recalled meeting Carter at Mom’s Kitchen in Preston, about 10 miles west of Plains, and on a flight back to Atlanta from Billings, Montana.
“He walked around and shook everybody’s hand on the plane,” McPherson said. “He was the first president I was old enough to vote for, and I voted for him because he was from Georgia. You know: When are you gonna get a chance to do that again?”
This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 3:22 PM.
