Jennifer Gray of Savannah stood near the open doorway of Original Pinkie Masters as a cool breeze blew in from Harris Street. She held a can of PBR and wore a black T-shirt with a Ruth Bader Ginsburg emblem spelling out the word “Vote.”
Around 3 p.m. on Monday, she joined hundreds of other patrons in raising a glass to the man who stood atop the bar in 1978 to sing his praises to his friend and former bar owner Luis Christopher Masterpolis. ) tribute to the former President of the United States. Current Pinkies co-owner and bartender Matt Garappolo’s toast lasts about as long as most people take a sip of their drink. One can’t help but think that Carter, as a mere mortal, would appreciate such simplicity and clarity.
Gray said Carter was the first president she remembered. She came to Pinkies with her husband and daughter to toast Carter because “he was such a great man and lived such a long life.” She called him a humble peacemaker who had been serving others for a hundred years. “The least we could do was come down to Pinkies and have a beer to celebrate him,” she said.
Her husband, Brad Gray, recently flew on a plane and watched a documentary about Carter from the air. “I don’t actually know everything about his presidency. Women’s rights, environmental protection, renewable energy — he was way ahead of his time.
Live updates: Funeral details and updates following Jimmy Carter’s death at 100
One of Carter’s “Iconic Places”
Paul Blincoe, Elise Mercer (center) and Mariel Hamer attend the ceremony of former President Jimmy Carter on December 30, 2024 at 3 p.m. After news of Jimmy Carter’s death broke, show up at Pinkie Masters at 3pm to cheer him on and honor his life.
Paul Blincoe loves coming to Pinkie Masters and sharing the history of the place and Carter with non-natives. “Every great American political story has its iconic moments, like Lyndon Johnson [Former President Lyndon B. Johnson] And some Austin steakhouses that have done deals,” Blincoe said.
Hamer said the bar also holds a special place for him because it’s where he and his girlfriend, Mariel Hamer, played on Pinkie’s Masters at 1 AM in 2021 The place where we met in “The Decisive Encounter”. She quipped that the bar was where every good night in Savannah ended.
Friend Elise Mercer added with a giggle, “Or start,” referring to a toast to Carter late Monday afternoon.
It is rumored that Carter’s campaigns for governor and president began with the Pinkies, and were even instigated by Carter himself. In a 2002 interview, he told WTOC-TV the same thing. While the scenario is unlikely, it does build on the old Savannah point of never letting the truth get in the way of a good story.
Jennifer Gray says that despite the many turmoils of Carter’s presidency, it’s probably a good thing that his presidential story ends after just one term. A second term, she said, “will change this man and all the good he does after that. It will destroy you, a politician.”
Thank you to former President Jimmy Carter for all the good things he did before and after. In his and his wife Rosalynn Carter’s name, all good things may continue.
cheers.
Joseph Schwarzbert is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can contact him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.
Savannah Morning News content coach and website editor Amy Paige Condon also contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared in the Savannah Morning News: Crowds pack Savannah’s Pinkie Masters bar to honor Jimmy Carter
