Imagine being 12 years old, shaking hands with the former President of the United Sates, a Nobel Laureate, and marching as an honored guest in a long-standing central Georgia parade.

As winners in Georgia’s tenth annual “Plains, Peanuts, and a President” postcard contest, Stephanie Tremblay and Miranda Kopfman, both Flat Rock Middle School students, got to do just that.

Both sixth graders walked as honored guests in the Peanut Festival Parade on September 23 in Plains, shook hands with former President Jimmy Carter, and received autographed copies of his book, “An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood.”

Winning postcards from each grade level were displayed at the Plains Depot Station where winners received special recognition.

This year’s contest, cosponsored by the Jimmy Carter NHS Education Program and The Peanut Institute, highlighted the Planters peanut company, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Besides learning about former President Carter, Jocelyn Rivard, Flat Rock Middle School art teacher, gave the students roasted peanuts in the shell as an inspiration from which to design their postcards.

After they had completed their designs, they ate the peanuts. In the lesson, students were surprised to learn the Mr. Peanut logo was a winning entry by a teenager in an art contest.

Annette Wise, the postcard contest event organizer and spokesperson, says that thousands of children across Georgia participate in the contest every year. “To have two winners from Flat Rock out of thousands of entries across the state is a testament to the artistic talent and effort by our students,” said Rivard. “I couldn’t be more proud of their achievements.” 

After returning to school on Monday, Tremblay and Kopfman were asked to give their version of the highlights of the weekend. Commenting on the day, Tremblay said, “The best part of the day was when I took a picture with the President and walked in the parade. I also went bungee jumping and rock climbing!” Kopfman was excited as well. She said that in the parade, “We walked behind the Planters float, which was shaped like a birthday cake. After that the rest of the day was ours, but I’ll never forget the day I met President Carter!”