Hurricane skips Jimmy Carter’s hometown just before big celebration

Editor’s note: This article, first published Thursday night before Helene reached Georgia, has been updated throughout after Helene passed through the state.

Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains largely dodged Hurricane Helene, which struck just before Saturday’s Peanut Festival and upcoming celebrations tied to the former president’s 100th birthday.

“We have no issues and all events will continue as planned,” Mayor Joey Recker wrote in an email Friday.

For that, he said, he feels just one thing: “Blessed!”

Before Helene made landfall in Florida, Plains appeared to be in or near the path of the storm when it still packed hurricane-force winds. Officials in the southwest Georgia town prepped for problems and ordered a curfew overnight and into the morning.

Also seemingly at risk: Saturday’s Peanut Festival, Plains’ biggest annual event. This year it carries extra weight as it falls just before Carter’s landmark birthday on Tuesday, when other events are also planned to honor the former commander in chief.

As it turns out, a few limbs fell in the town, but that’s about it, said Kim Carter Fuller, a niece and the executive director of the Friends of Jimmy Carter, which promotes the Peanut Festival.

She and others say Saturday and Tuesday’s events will go on as planned in Plains.

Carter has been in home hospice in Plains since February 2023.

The birthday events planned in Plains on Tuesday include a concert, a Navy jet flyover and a naturalization ceremony for 100 new U.S. citizens.

In Atlanta, a similar naturalization ceremony is planned at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. In honor of the president’s birthday, the museum will offer a special $1 admission and present a new exhibit about Carter’s 100 years.

Also on Tuesday, Trees Atlanta is expected to plant a tree by Carter’s statue at the state Capitol and another at the presidential museum. Another 98 trees will be planted around the museum during the next prime planting season, according to a museum spokesperson.

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