Shirley Cunard, Rockford: My husband, Sam, and I visited Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., around 2010. We arrived early and were able to sit with others near the front. Former President Carter would be teaching Sunday school and we were briefed on not making an effort to shake hands with him. After Sunday school was over, as President and Mrs. Carter re-entered the sanctuary for the morning service, President Carter reached out to shake hands with Sam, no one else, just Sam! Sam said, “Well, he offered and I was not going to refuse him.” Following the morning service, we took a picture with President and Mrs. Carter. While getting ready to take the picture, President Carter chuckled when I said, “Ain’t nobody in Coosa County, Alabama gonna believe this!” Steven Neleson, Guntersville: This photo was taken in Donald Trump’s office in Trump Tower in New York City in August of 1989. Our family was attending the wedding of my cousin, whose future father-in-law just happened to be one of Trump’s personal lawyers and friend. The lawyer was giving us, his new extended family, a tour of the city and, unexpectedly, took the opportunity to introduce our family to Mr.
Trump in his office. Mr. Trump was very personal and pleasant and took the time to meet each one of us and asked where we lived and what we did for a living. After the introduction, the lawyer had a short one-onone meeting with Mr. Trump and must have told him about my situation with cancer, which I battled in 1988 and 1989. After the wedding I made one last final trip to the hospital for chemotherapy. When I got home this letter was in my mailbox. I was not expecting the letter when I got home, and it was a nice surprise and keepsake. Unfortunately, the signature has faded over time.
Debbie Deese, proprietor of Red’s Little School House restaurant in Montgomery County: It was raining when I drove our school bus onto Mr. Ray Scott’s property in 1990w. Kinda cute using an old school bus for Red’s Little School House to cater out of, huh? We were instructed to set up the buffet line in a garage. There was a side door that led to a tent filled with tables and chairs for the guests. I didn’t get to see President George H.W. Bush come through the line because I was running back and forth to the bus for refills. In the process, I dropped a ladle and it rolled under a work table. There is a rubber mat that runs down the center of the bus, and it was wet. As I was crawling around to get my ladle, I got two big black stains on my knees. As we were cleaning up, Mr. Scott came to tell us he was bringing President Bush to meet us. Oh my, I looked so dirty! What would I say? I told myself to be polite and calm. (Very hard for me.) Another thought: there were issues with Israel at that time; dare I talk politics with him? The scriptures clearly say, woe to any nation against Israel. No matter what, I did not want to sound like the country bumpkin that I truly am. When they walked up, I had something like an out-of-body experience and I heard myself say, “me and my boy picked them collard greens yesterday.” Can’t take the country out of me!
John Barnett, Brewton and Monroeville: I have had the pleasure of meeting both Bushes, and Jimmy Carter when he was governor of Georgia and beginning his run for the presidency. I met President Carter at his son Chip’s wedding in Hawkinsville, Georgia, in the early 1970s. I was invited to come over by a girl I had dated. He was cordial and we did not speak very long but he told me to “take care of those pretty girls you are with.” I laughed and told him I would try. The circumstance of meeting the elder Bush was somewhat unusual. I was attending business a meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., and George H.W. Bush was the keynote speaker. It was during the 2000 campaign for George W. Bush. After the dinner, the attendees could line up for a photo op with the former president, and we all got an autographed copy of his book. When it was my turn for the photo, he was sitting down and appeared white as a sheet. I commented that it was a pleasure to meet him and that he did not look like he felt very well. He
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smiled and said, “Oh, I’ll be fine,” and I filed on out and went to my room. When I woke up the next morning the news reported that “former President Bush is resting comfortably at a local hospital,” which shocked me. It turns out he had been campaigning and was just exhausted from it all. I was invited to sit at the Bedsole Foundation table when former President George W. Bush spoke at a University of Mobile function in 2010, and we had an opportunity for a photo with the president. I had seen Nelle Harper Lee that day, and I told him that she sent her regards. He asked, “Is she a friend of yours?” I said yes, she was. My grandfather and her father were law partners, and I was law partners with Miss Alice Lee, her sister, for many years. He also told me that “Laura told me that if I was giving the Medal of Freedom to anyone it was going to be Harper Lee.” (Bush presented the award to Lee in 2007.) www.alabamaliving.coop