Mr. Peanut, the Planters Nut mascot, will join the Plains Peanut Festival parade as Grand Marshall on Saturday September 23 down the Plains Main Street. President Jimmy Carter is expected to be in the reviewing stand.

Saturday activities begin at 8:00 a.m. with a One Mile fun run and an 8:30 a.m. 5K Road Race with categories for all ages, boys and girls and men and women. Come early, fun for fitness and fun and you could be one of the winners presented a trophy by Plains most famous citizen, Jimmy Carter.

Food and craft vendors will fill the downtown park areas and entertainment will come from the stage in the Maxine Reese City Park. Educational exhibits with a focus on peanuts will include a Peanut Pavilion, with exhibits from the American Peanut Shellers Association, The Peanut Institute, AgriRama, the Georgia Peanut Commission, the University of Georgia, Georgia Peanut Producers, American Peanut Council and The Peanut Foundation.

Don't forget to check out the winning peanut recipes from the Recipe Contest sponsored by The Peanut Institute and Planters. Professional chefs will prepare the top five entries in each of the four categories. Taste some new ways to prepare heart healthy peanuts.

The Peanut Institute exhibit will include research results on peanut nutrition and the peanut's help in weight control, indications that heart attack risk and cancer risk can be reduced with peanuts in the diet.

Remember the play "If These Sidewalks Could Talk-DC bound will be performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site located in the old Plains High School. Tickets sell out early so call ahead.

You can visit the Park Service Historic site at the school and Jimmy Carter's Boyhood Home while in Plains. Don't forget the Plains Train Depot, campaign headquarters in the 1976 presidential election and a historical site. Stay over or return for the Sunday activities including the annual softball game. Former President Jimmy Carter pitches for the Secret Service against his old friends, the Plains High School alumni.

Carter is a competitive softball pitcher and never likes to lose. Neither does Billy McClung, coach of the alumni and police chief in Plains during the 1976 election. Come early Sunday and attend Sunday School at Maranantha Baptist Church where Carter teaches Sunday School when in Plains. Plains, Peanuts and a President make a combination that should not be missed.

See you in Plains Sept. 23 and 24, 2000. Call 912-824-5445 for more information or check out the Plains web sites.