CLINTON, Mass. - Clinton resident Cynthia Cannon remembers President Jimmy Carter's 1977 visit to the central Massachusetts town well.

"I went with a friend who also got chosen, yup, Willy St. Louis, and we sat together," Cannon said. "She was dolled up to the nines, I was was dolled up to the nines, because why not?"

Cannon still has the Jimmy Carter statue she bought prior to the president's visit in 1977, and was one of the roughly 850 people who won a lottery to attend Carter's speech at Clinton Town Hall. 

"Everyone you saw, they couldn't wait for it to happen," Cannon said.

Cannon said she was sitting about 20 rows from the stage and described the building as "packed."

"He took questions from the audience, and he answered every one of them which was wonderful," said Cannon.

While Cannon enjoyed Carter's visit indoor, Terry Ingano didn't win the lottery, and was outside town hall that night.

"It was a huge to-do," Ingano said. "We had had presidents here before, as far as I think about six or eight in our history. But, this was the first modern-era one."

Ingano is on the board of directors for the Clinton Historical Society. The society has memorabilia from Carter's stay, from buttons to t-shirts to the guest list, with Cannon's name on it.

"Once we knew the president was coming, it was: 'Where the hell is Clinton? Ask President Carter,'" said Ingano.

Ingano said at the time, it felt like Clinton was the center of the universe. Carter would spend the night at a home on Chestnut Street, and Ingano said he didn't want any special treatment.

"The Thompson family and all these newspaper articles talked about what a regular guy he was," said Ingano. "He didn't want to talk politics. He wanted to talk family and just regular stuff. He was a regular guy."

Nearly half a century later, his humility still resonates with the people who were there.

"It was an honor to be in his presence," said Cannon. "Because he is such an incredible human being."