Changes made to Jimmy Carter’s birthday celebrations, likely due to impending government shutdown

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - America’s 39th president is turning 99 on Sunday and you’re invited to celebrate, which will now be a day earlier.

Georgia’s very own Jimmy Carter is celebrating his birthday on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta. Admission is 99 cents.

The Carter Center announced Tuesday the birthday celebration was moved from Sunday at the museum to Saturday.

If a funding deal is not reached, Sunday is also the day the federal government could shut down. If there is a shutdown, some presidential libraries and national parks could close.

The Carter Center did not say the date change was because of the possible shutdown.

RELATED: How a federal government shutdown could affect Georgia

Along with the birthday celebration, the Carter Center is inviting the public to sign a virtual birthday card for the former president, encouraging well-wishers to contribute photos — whether they are personal memories or a moment from history — that will make up a mosaic of the former president.

“Our mosaic project is a symbolic way to show how we all play a part in President Carter’s remarkable legacy of service to humanity. Contribute your image or video today,” the Carter Center wrote on its website.

The former president entered hospice care in February 2023, while the Carter Center announced in May that longtime wife and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter had been diagnosed with dementia.

Last Saturday, the couple was spotted driving through the Plains Peanut Festival — an annual tradition celebrating the former president and the crop that became a mainstay of Plains’ economy.

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.