“PLAINS, Ga. — Signs that read “Happy 100th Birthday Mr. President!” dot lawns. The local general store is stocking up on its famous peanut butter ice cream. And the population of this tiny southwestern Georgia town is expected to double for a day.
Jimmy Carter turns 100 Tuesday, and his hometown is pulling out all the stops to celebrate the milestone — even if the former president himself isn’t expected to be attending.
The birthday bash for the first U.S. president to reach 100 will include a military jet flyover, a naturalization ceremony and a concert. Carter, who is in hospice care, has not attended a major event since his wife’s memorial in November 2023.
Throughout Plains, locals are excited to honor the man they know simply as “Mr. Jimmy.” Many residents here have stories about running into Carter at the pharmacy or the peanut shop that sells the flavor of ice cream he enjoys. And even though Plains leans Republican, some houses with yard signs supporting former president Donald Trump also have signs commemorating Carter.
“Everybody in this town is crazy about him,” said Sonya Fox, who works at a medical clinic that Carter helped to establish in the town. “There wasn’t a doubt in our mind that he would make it.”
Jill Stuckey, the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park here in Plains, visits with Carter almost daily and said the former president is in an upbeat mood but fairly nonchalant about his birthday.
“I ask him how it feels being 100, and I really get no reaction,” said Stuckey, adding that Carter often just shrugs his shoulders. “But what he is really interested in is what we are doing to help people around town, or how some of his friends are….”
“Carter has faced particularly significant challenges over the past decade. In 2015, he was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, a usually fatal skin cancer that spread to his liver and brain. He has suffered a number of falls in recent years, and in February 2023, he entered hospice care…”
“He has now been in hospice for nearly 19 months. He needs a wheelchair to get around, and Carter can no longer read or write, Stuckey said, but still watches television sitcoms and news programs.
Carter did not attend this year’s peanut festival, which was on Saturday. He was last spotted out locally around the Fourth of July, when Stuckey said he went to see a fireworks display in a neighboring community.
Nonetheless, his neighbors in Plains have been planning for his 100th celebration for the past year. The military flyover includes four F-18 Jets, which Carter had authorized to build when he was president. The community concert will include performances by country musician Brent Cobb and pianist David Osbourne, who has been playing before the Carters for three decades…
When Chip Carter told his father that many people believe he is trying to stay alive to reach his birthday, the former president pushed back: “He said he didn’t care about that. It’s just a birthday. He said he cared about voting for Kamala Harris.”
Carter’s state of Georgia is critical to the November election. Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in 2020 by less than 1 percent of the vote in the state, and Carter’s family said he can’t wait to cast his mail-in ballot for Harris, the Democratic nominee…”
“Many here aren’t surprised that Carter made it to 100. And they note his longevity isn’t by accident. Even from a young age, Carter’s mother, Lillian, who was a nurse, instilled in him the value of good nutrition. Throughout much of his life, Carter was also an avid runner. In his later years, he had a swimming pool installed at his house so he could keep exercising.
“But both he and Rosalynn ate right, every single meal. They exercised every single day and made it a priority,” Stuckey said. “They were just regimented in their health ethic because they wanted to live as long as they possibly could to help as many people as they possibly could…”
““He brought people together instead of dividing them, unlike some people we know,” said Paula Riley, 64, who lives in Randolph County, Ga., and took her family on a tour of Carter’s boyhood home on Monday.
April Kirkman, 67, traveled to Plains from California with her guitar and a song she wrote for the former president. The song is titled, “I Wanna Be a Jimmy Carter Kinda Christian.” She said it is meant to praise a past era when politics and religion were less divisive.
“Faith, hope, love are what I choose,” the lyrics read. “Yea, yea, a Jimmy Carter kinda Christian. No, no, I ain’t talking ’bout religion. Just wanna walk a mile in those size 11 shoes.”
MORE AT:
The Washington Post
Jimmy Carter turns 100 and his hometown is ringing in the milestone
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