PORT ANGELES — Former President Jimmy Carter once visited Port Angeles, fresh off a Navy ship in the 1940s.
Lt. Jimmy Carter, as he was known at the time, was a communications officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., when the USS Pomfret stopped in Port Angeles in October 1949.
“They had a group of girls like the USO that danced with the sailors,” said Cherie Kidd, a former Port Angeles mayor who knew Carter. “Port Angeles had fabulous dancers. They had a big dance for them at the Elks Lodge and one of the dancers gave me the picture.”
The dancer, Beegee Capos, used to own a restaurant at what is now the Red Lion hotel, Kidd said.
Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. He served in the office from 1977-81.
Kidd, who lived in Atlanta during the 1970s and ’80s when she was married to a state legislator, said she spent quite a bit of time at the Carter Center.
“My first experience with him was building a house for Habitat for Humanity,” she said. “In Georgia in the summer time, it is so hot and so humid, and you would never know that. He never complained. I think I probably complained. (His wife) Rosalynn was passing out bottles of water to everybody. They were wonderful.”
Kidd also volunteered with Emily Dolvin, who was often referred to as Carter’s Aunt Sissy.
At a special dinner at the Carter Center to honor Dolvin, Kidd said Carter asked to get a picture taken with her.
“I was so lucky,” Kidd said. “He was supposed to be the concluding speaker, but he ended up speaking first and then he left early to go to a Braves (baseball) game.”
Later, Kidd said her son had his Eagle scout ceremony at the Carter Center, which was “quite the international hub.”
She also praised Carter’s efforts to provide safe drinking water in order to eradicate Guinea-worm disease in Africa. The parasitic infection is spread by drinking water that contains the Guinea worm, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“He was very successful in that,” Kidd said.
Kidd recalled Carter’s hometown of Plains, Ga., and said it was very much like Mayberry, the fictional town in the Andy Griffith Show, “except it was real,” she said.
“His brother Billy owned the gas station, and Jimmy Carter was the Sunday School teacher for years,” she said.
“He was such an example of community service and helping people,” Kidd said. “It was quite an honor for me to be around him. I treasure those memories.”
When he met someone new, Kidd said Carter shook the person’s hand and remembered their name.
“No one who met him will ever forget him,” she said.
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Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-417-3531 or by email at brian.mclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
Former Port Angeles Mayor Cherie Kidd, left, gets a photo with Jimmy Carter during a special dinner to honor Emily Dolvin, Carter’s “Aunt Sissy,” who led volunteers at the Carter Center in Atlanta. (Cherie Kidd)
