Sawt Falasteen - In Carter's hometown hamlet, a long anticipated goodbye begins

Those in the rural hamlet -- a half block of buildings nestled in the shadow of massive agricultural silos -- said the centenarian's death was sad, but in the same breath they recounted fond memories of time spent with the former US leader and global humanitarian.

Carter's commitment to Plains, where he was born 100 years ago and died on Sunday at the modest home he had shared with his wife Rosalynn, is made clear by its residents -- most knew him personally or have a family member who did.

"It'll always be Jimmy Carter's hometown," Kelly Kight, who was born and raised in Plains, population approximately 600, told AFP as she placed commemorative bows near her flower shop on the main strip.

She said that more than an occasion for mourning, it was a day for rembrance of the Nobel peace laureate and his humanitarian work in particular.

Electric leaf blowers and tree trimmers provided a background chorus for the town, accustomed to gussying up quickly since it was first thrust into the national spotlight as Carter ran for president nearly 50 years ago and most recently when he began hospice care.

"When he entered hospice, it kind of became a waiting game for all of the hometown people here in the community," said Kight, whose family owned a peanut warehouse across from the Carter's and whose father grew up alongside the Carter children.

Carter, who had an unlikely political ascent from peanut farmer to the Oval Office, is almost omnipresent in Plains -- his boyhood home, high school and the former train depot which served as his 1976 presidential campaign headquarters are now museums under the National Park Service.

The town's main drag is festooned with an enormous banner heralding Carter as the 39th president, while a goofy peanut statue with Carter's trademark grin sits near his church, Maranatha Baptist. There, he welcomed visitors from around the world as he taught Sunday school into his 90s.

- 'A very fine gentleman' -

Carter's death has long been anticipated -- he was last seen in public looking very frail at his wife's funeral in November 2023, after 77 years of marriage.

His funeral schedule will include a stop at his boyhood farm, before his remains are taken onward to Atlanta and Washington, then returned to his hometown for interment.

Kimberly Franklin, who also grew up in Plains, was leaving the Dollar General grocery store Monday, where she would sometimes encounter the Carters shopping like everyday people.

"I am very sad," the residential nurse, 56, told AFP, adding that Carter was just "an awesome guy."

Like most in Plains, she had a deeply personal memory of Carter, a profoundly religious Baptist who attended her baptism.

Several blocks away, Plains resident Johnny Jones sat in a rocking chair on his porch, across from the high school Carter attended and in clear view of downtown. He was waiting for the bustle to begin.

Jones has watched as the town came to a standstill for Rosalynn Carter's funeral and as swarms of journalists descended on Plains when Jimmy Carter announced his hospice care. Jones recounted with a twinkle in his eye that the media waited two weeks for Carter to die, then turned around and left.

"I thought he was a very fine gentleman," said Jones, an 85-year-old military retiree who liked Carter. "He did a lot for Plains."

V.AbuAwwad--SF-PST