It was an ordinary day. Just finished reading the Lancaster, Sunday News column titled "I Know A Story." The column is for readers of the newspaper who have a special story they might like to share with other readers of the newspaper. Today's story was sent in by Jean Rutter and was titled "She remembers Rosalynn Carter's visit in 1976." At the start of the story was an Editor's note that read: According to LNP archives, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Nov. 19, visited Lancaster on April 16, 1976, to open Jimmy's Carter's presidential campaign headquarters on West King Street. She wore a red rose corsage; sniped a green ribbon to open the headquarters; visited Lancaster Central Market, where she bought a bouquet of pink carnations; had lunch at the Hotel Brunswick; shook hands with shoppers at Park City; greeted Elizabethtown station employee Charles Smith (an old friend from Georgia) and spoke with reporters at the Conestoga Elks Lodge on Duke Street, local news stories about the visit said. Jean's story went on to tell that:
I remember it was Good Friday in 1976 and I had off work for the Easter spring break holiday. The previous day, there was an article in the Lancaster New Era about Rosalynn Carter campaigning for her husband, Gov. Jimmy Carter, for president, saying she would be leaving at the Lancaster Airport about 2 p.m. Friday. My husband and I lived on East Oregon Road in Neffsville, so I told him I would walk across the cornfield to the airport to see Mrs. Carter. When I got to the airport I expected to see a crowd, but there was no one there! I asked the desk clerk if Mrs. Carter had arrived, and he had no idea who she was. So, I waited about 10 minutes alone, and two black limousines pulled up. One had a banner that said "Carter for President!" Four men were in the first one and two men...I believe they were Secret Service detail...and two women were in the second car. I asked if I could speak to Mrs. Carter and one gentleman said, "Sure, She'd be glad to talk to you." So, after introductions, Rosalynn Carter and I sat on a bench inside the airport and had a 20-minute conversation while waiting for the airplane to arrive. I remember she said that Jimmy Carter's mother, "Miss Lillian," was volunteering in the Peace Corps in India. She also said she was anxious to get home to Plains, Georgia because her daughter, Amy, was home from school for the holiday. We also talked about family and mental health. I asked if she knew that Lancaster was a Republican county. She said, "Oh, yes, I realize that...there was a very small turnout at the rally." We talked very little about politics, mostly about the spring and good times to come. She was a strong, loving wife, doing what she could to support her husband. After a while, the airplane landed and they boarded and I waved goodbye. I later talked to friends about Jimmy Carter running for President, and no one had ever heard of him at that time. It was early in the campaign. I will always remember talking to this very gracious lady. Little did I know she would be the next First Lady. She was the most famous person I ever carried on a conversation with in my life. The author lives in nearby Lititz, Pennsylvania.
I enjoy so much the stories that are written by readers of the Sunday newspaper and are shared every week with the readers of the newspaper. Not a single week goes by that I don't grab my "Living Section" as soon as I open the newspaper and see whom might have sent in a story to the "I Know A Story" column and what the story might be about that particular Sunday. I'm going to have to take the time some week and send in one of my stories to the newspaper. I must admit that the first thing I do every single morning is open my front door, retrieve my newspaper, and head to my lounge chair with my cat in tow so we can sit on the chair, recline, and share the morning paper together. Now...what can be better than that? It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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