(La Porte County, IN) - A La Porte County man has very fond memories of meeting the late president Jimmy Carter.

 

Jack Arnett even has a picture of him shaking hands with Carter at the White House.

 

The Fish Lake area man was a representative of organized labor when invited by members of his union to go to the White House with them while Carter was running for reelection in 1981.

At the time, Arnett was president of the La Porte County Labor Council and member of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations also known as the AFL-CIO.  Arnett said he was one of about a dozen of his union colleagues that went on the trip.

 

“What an honor,” he said.

 

Arnett said the trip to the White House included lunch with Carter, who also spoke to him for a few minutes.

 

“He was just so genuine to the whole group.  You could just tell he was going to go on and be just a great person,” he said.

 

Arnett said he was about four seats away from Carter at the same table during lunch.  One of the things he remembers most is Carter often flashing his signature smile, which seemed to light up the room every time.

 

He said Carter walked in for lunch and put his hand on the shoulder of every person seated at the oblong shaped table before taking a seat himself.

 

“He thanked us for coming and then that smile just kept coming the whole time,” he said.

 

He said Carter didn’t talk politics, though, even though it was an election year.  Instead, Carter discussed things that were happening in the country and aboard.

 

Arnett had his picture taken with Carter during his several hour visit to the White House and, currently, has the framed photo in his office at the La Porte County Convention and Visitors Bureau where he’s executive director.

 

“Great guy. The fact I got time to spend time with him is something I’ll never forget,” he said.

 

Carter was 100 when he passed away Sunday in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.