The Friends of Jimmy Carter held an auction at the Plains Community Center on August 17. Larry Cook was the emcee. Tyrone Spearman was the auctioneer for the majority of the pieces.

The auction was facilitated by Braxton Auctioneers, with in person bidding competed against online bids. An especially fierce bidding war erupted between Diane Cook against a stream of online bids for a pair of boots worn by Rosalynn Carter, with Cook barely winning.

She talked about what it was like to place the winning bid. “I just wanted them so bad so I kept bidding until I got them.” When asked if she was a big fan of Rosalynn Carter, she replied; “oh my gosh yes. Big fan.” She mentioned she had been friends with Rosalynn Carter for twenty years. “So now I can really think about her even though she’s not here. I always have her in my heart.”

Cook talked about how she had first met Rosalynn. “Well, actually, it was a birthday gift for my husband. We met the Carters, then we went to church, and then we just had, we kept coming back because we just fell in love with the town.”

She described the moment she won the bid. “I was elated. I was so thrilled to go home with these boots of hers, because I’ve known her, and we all love her. Now I own something that she wore.”

Singer Reid Elliot bid on several books. When asked what made them important, he replied; “something about the book just got to me. I don’t know what it was. I love the Carter Country one because it was how the town was from when he was born.”

Singer songwriter Andrew Greer walked away with campaign jewelry. He talked about what it was like to win the bid. “Well, it was awesome, and I had someone in mind for them, and so that’s why I wanted to get them. I had a couple pieces that I thought would be really cool to have, but when it came down too it, I thought, it’s nice to give gifts. I think all of us in the room have some very special President Carter stuff, right, but I knew these pieces meant something to somebody very special, and so I thought, let’s do that.”

Jana Carter won the bid on a book signed by both Jimmy Carter and Amy Carter. She talked about her motivation to win the book. “I’m fixin to have a new grandbaby, so I got it for my granddaughter. It’s going to be born in about three weeks, and Billy Carter was my Daddy.”

When asked what it was like to win the bid on the book, she replied; “I don’t know, I almost fainted. It was great.”

Representative Mike Cheokas also attended the auction. He talked about the pieces he bought. “A painting from the cabin in Walnut Mountain. It was a print, so it’s not an original painting, and then we’ve got a portrait.” When asked if he was a big Carter fan, he replied; “very much.”

Cheokas talked about what made the pieces special. “Why Not the Best? was his first book, and it was a milestone at the time. The Turning Point deals with his political challenges early when he ran for Senate, for the State Senate, and I’m in the Georgia house and I’m going to take that book to the capital, so it has special meaning for me for that.”