Becky Holland
AMERICUS — Making the news as of late has been the most recent decision by the City of Americus, the Sumter County Board of Commissioners and the Americus-Sumter County Airport Authority’s adoption of a resolution to rename Souther Field Airport to the Jimmy Carter Regional Airport.
The move was not met without some controversy as reported in previous stories of this newspaper and in letters to the editor.
An official renaming/dedication ceremony for the airport has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, according to City Council member Lou Chase, who also serves on the Airport Authority.
When asked about the ceremony, Frank Joiner, chairman of the Airport Authority, said in a phone interview with the Times-Recorder, that normally such events are planned by Chase and Authority Board member Wally Summers, but done through Joiner.
Chase told the Times-Recorder that the event had been planned and was official, that she just had not been able to get with Joiner.
Charlotte Cotton, chief administrative officer for the City of Americus, when asked Monday how the naming of the airport idea came about, said, “Several years ago at a joint planning retreat of the City of Americus Mayor and Council and the Sumter County Board of Commissioners, the topic was raised that nothing in Sumter County was named in honor of Jimmy Carter, and we needed to do something.
“He is the only President of the United States from this area, and so as discussion progressed on the topic, it was suggested that the airport be named after Carter.”
She added, “Recently, at another meeting of both entities, we realized that we had not yet done anything about this, and we all felt like something needed to be done.” With former President Jimmy Carter turning 85 years of age, and a big birthday celebration having been planned, all involved felt like it would be only fitting for the renaming to be done as soon as possible.
Cotton said, “Whether you agree with his politics or not, Jimmy Carter is the only President of the United States from Sumter County, and the elected officials of this community decided that he should be honored in this visible manner.”
In an earlier interview with the Times-Recorder, Joiner had stated, “It’s not that the people who were against renaming the airport are against President Carter. In fact, political affiliation really has nothing to do with it. There are a lot of local people that have served, and worked at the airport and there is a lot of history to it, and they do not want to see the history go with it.”
Monday morning, Chris Usrey, the only Airport Authority Board member who was eligible to vote in the Authority’s decision besides Chase, Summers and County Commissioner Al Hurley, was against the renaming. “It is not that I have a thing against former President Carter. He has done great things for Sumter County, but not just the airport. Maybe something in town should have been renamed in his honor ... like the Rylander or the Windsor or Rees Park ... I just felt like the Souther Field history could stand on its own ... “
Usrey stated he was not aware of any such renaming ceremony either, “And you would think that they would have told me.”
