AMERICUS, Ga. — On Monday morning, crowds formed in downtown Americus to witness the motorcade of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
The motorcade began with a brief departure ceremony at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, and then passed through West Lamar Street around 10:45 a.m. and lasted a few minutes.
The motorcade was en route to Atlanta, where Carter lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. There, the public can gather to pay their respects.
But in Americus, dozens stood outside — on a chilly morning — to pay their respects. One of them was Jelena Seay.
She was born and raised in Americus, and she said the Carters had a large impact on her hometown.
"We always saw them everywhere, so it was just like they wasn't a stranger to us at all," she said.
In 2018, President Jimmy Carter preached at Maranatha Baptist Church and Seay's nine-year-old son asked if they could go.
She said they weren't the only ones who were excited to see the Carter family.
"There were so many people and we had to sit in the overflow room but at the end of the ceremony my son and I got to meet him and first lady Carter and it was an amazing feeling to actually be in there presence," she said.
While she can't remember what President Carter preached about that day, or what the couple said to her son afterwards, she still remembers how they made her family feel.
"They were so warm and inviting," Seay said.
But even though the weather along the motorcade route was not quite warm, volunteers assembled to help do their part to keep people warm.
Volunteers from the Fuller Center for Housing were passing out free coffee and accepting donations on behalf of the ministry, which builds housing for those in need.
John Payne greeted those who stopped by and said while he never met the Carter family, he knows many people who had great relationships with the couple.
"It's impacted Americus pretty big," he said.
Jody Wade, the group's president, says they wanted to honor Mrs. Carter's memory with some southern hospitality
"Linda and Millard Fuller started Habitat for Humanity, and you know well that Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter joined up with them and helped put that on the map worldwide," he said. "This is our way of saying, 'Thank you,' for all the work the Carters and the Fullers have done."
According to the Carter Center, the public is invited to pay respects as Mrs. Carter’s body lies in repose in the library-museum lobby from 6 to 10 p.m. Monday.