The owner of the Plains Trading Post has added two new $10 pins to his inventory of political memorabilia to mark a day that once seemed improbable: a 100th birthday celebration on Oct. 1 for his longtime friend, former President Jimmy Carter.
“I’m happily surprised because he’s still alert and functioning,” said Philip Kurland, who runs the store in Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, now a national park site. “And of course now that we’re getting closer to October 1st, my excitement level is a little up, hoping that we can make it, just to say he made it to 100.”
Excitement is building throughout the town of 500 as Carter’s deathwatch takes a reprieve, giving way to plans for a big centennial bash in just 40 days.
Jill Stuckey, the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, said the park plans to host both a birthday concert and a naturalization ceremony for 100 new Americans to salute the nation’s 39th president, who began hospice care at his home 18 months ago.
