Last summer I found out that Jimmy Carter regularly teaches Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia and the public is allowed to attend. I've been researching presidents for decades, but had never actually seen one in person. I decided if he was teaching on one of the weekends I had spring break, I would have to go.
Thus this morning I found myself in a rental car, giggling every time I saw a road sign for Plains. The church opens at 8:30, which was when I got there. Although some people came as early as 7. Driving in the parking lot there was a secret service agent with a dog who sniffs the cars for explosives. Then you wait in line to get checked over by the secret service.
The sanctuary holds about 300 people. Sometimes as many as 800 have shown up. Today, while it was a full house, everybody was able to get a good seat. I brought reading materials along as I figured it would be a lot of waiting. I didn't count on the lesson BEFORE the lesson.
In the past, having the general public come to see Jimmy Carter at his church had proved to be problematic. Church had gotten to be so much of a "circus" atmosphere, that the regular members did not want to attend anymore. So Miss Jan name into the rescue.
Miss Jan is a retired teacher, and it shows. She was Amy Carter's 4th grade teacher. Picture Professor McGonagall with a Georgian accent, and you get the general idea. There's a scene in the John Adams miniseries where you see John Adams get coached on all the correct procedures when he meets the king. That's what this was like. No standing up when he comes in, no applause. He will be addressed as Mr. Carter., President Carter or Mr. Jimmy...NOT Mr. President and DEFINITELY not former or ex-president. My favorite was when Miss Jan said that her mother-in-law was allowed to call him Jimmy because they used to date in high school.
While this instruction was happening, Rosalynn Carter slipped in. Now I've been known to cheer just when Rosalynn Carter shows up on TV....but somehow I managed to restrain myself.
Then before the Sunday school lesson started, Miss Jan led in in prayer. I silently prayed "Dear Lord, please don't let me make an ass of myself in front of Jimmy Carter."
President Carter started out by asking where people were from. Then he filled us in on what he'd been up to and what was happening with the Carter Center. I got a kick out of the fact that I was in a room where when he asked "Who is the most famous person in Myanmar"...about 15 people cried out "Aung Suu Kyi!" This is the sort of crowd Carter had attracted. Quite a few of the people there were in town for a Habitat for the Humanities project. One group was a bunch of college students from Florida who decided to drive up to Plains just for the day, so they could hear Carter speak.
The lesson itself was excellent. Carter, surprise surprise, showed beautifully how the Gospel reading of the day tied in with the Old Testament. (Although every time he mentioned "IZ-rull" I got a little distracted....because I started thinking about the Sadat-Begin treaty.) I especially liked that he posed some questions that I know I'll be thinking about all week long. For example, he brought up the Gospel story of the woman that bathed Jesus' feet with perfume (that apparently were worth a year's wages.) He pointed out that the woman he basically given everything she had for Jesus. And then posed the question "Have YOU ever done anything, sacrificed anything, that extreme for Jesus?" Once again it was a good thing I wasn't voicing what was in my head as "Shut up, President Carter, I need 20 more minutes to think about that" probably wouldn't have gone over very well.
After Sunday school was the regular church service. It was pretty enjoyable....although I was a bit disappointed that the church choir was....how to put this diplomatically...a lot like the ones at home.
Afterwards there was the opportunity to get our picture taken with Jimmy and Rosalynn. While I was in line, a few of us were commenting at what amazing shape Jimmy Carter is in. 88 years old and he still has ramrod straight posture, and his voice sounds the same as it did when he was president, not hoarse or wavery.
It goes by pretty quick. All I managed to say was "Good morning. Thank you SOOO much!" which pretty much sums up everything I wanted to say to Jimmy Carter anyway. Then he put his hand on my back, I got my picture....and off I went. As I walked off, one lady grinned at me and said "Well that made YOUR day!" I said "It made my MONTH!!!"
At the Historical Sites in Plains I found out that if you live in the area, not uncommon to run into Jimmy Carter riding his bike through town or at a local restaurant. There are only two restaurants in Plains. At the one I wound up eating at, they were cursing out Carter because apparently he's talked up the other restaurant more, due to a friend running it.
For historical sites, Carter's high school is the main place to go. It has the obligatory movie about Carter's presidency. Most of the displays are about schools in Plains, Rosalynn, and the work of the Carter center. Downtown is the depot that was revamped in the 70's to be Carter's campaign headquarters. A couple of miles south is the farm where he spent his childhood. The farmhouse is quite spacious. My standard unit of measurement is the house were Ulysses Grant was born....and you could fit that house into Jimmy Carter's boyhood bedroom. So I figure his family was doing pretty well. At different parts of the farm, you press a button and there is Jimmy Carter narration of that place. My favorite was when he talked about how he loved reading because it was his connection to the outside world.
One fun thing I discovered in Plains was a political memorabilia store. The owner told me Plains gets quite a few visitors from the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin. I also found it especially interesting that the buttons he sells most of are "No-bama" and "Hillary 2016." So about an even partisan split. I wound up getting a Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter fridge magnet. (Needed to counterbalance all the Reagan and Nixon ones I have.) Also got an LBJ/Humphrey 1964 campaign button.
I'm currently in a bed and breakfast in Warm Springs. It is a quirky older place full of FDR related memorabilia. Although a bit on the creepy side as I think I might be the only person staying here. Details from the Little White House tomorrow.