When Ellen Kealey saw a sign saying former president Jimmy Carter would be autographing copies of his new book at Super Wal-Mart, the Clayton resident was surprised, but pleased.

Kealey also knew the visit was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her 8-year-old daughter, Caitlin, to get to see the former president.

"I went and pulled her out of school," Kealey said Friday, while standing in the line that snaked through the mega-chain's clothing department and past the grocery section.

"My husband thought I was crazy, but I thought it was a great opportunity for her."

Kealey called her daughter's teacher at East Clayton Elementary School to see if it would be OK. The teacher said it would be fine, so long as Caitlin wrote a paper and presented it to the class.

"I thought it was going to be cool," Caitlin said, while standing in line and fidgeting with Carter's book "A Remarkable Mother."

Caitlin added: "I've never seen a president before, only in movies."

When Cleveland resident Mark Crouch read about Carter's visit, he knew he had to go. Crouch recalls voting for Carter - it was the first presidential election Crouch was old enough to cast a ballot in.

"I think he's done a lot for the country," Crouch said. "He's served the country well. He gets a bad rapport as president, but he's done a lot of great things with Habitat for Humanity, and the things he's trying to do in the Middle East."

As the line moved forward, event staff made sure everyone had their books turned to the title page so Carter could sign them quickly. Event workers passed out book signing instructions to the crowd, which indicated the former president would not be personalizing copies. Instead, he scrawled a "J Carter" above the title of each book.

Clayton resident Renee Silva got in line more than 90 minutes before the signing was scheduled to begin. She bought four books, two of which she plans to give to her 7-year-old son, Antonio, and 3-year-old daughter, Katelyn, when they grow up.

"I just thought it would be something for my son and daughter to have for later," she said.

As Silva and others inched forward in line, they were warned by staff not to shake the president's hand. Shoppers who were either uninterested or unaware of the president's visit continued pushing their carts around the store. One teenage boy glanced at the banner advertising Carter's visit, looked at the line and declared: "That guy is not that important."

Kim Lofton and her 18-year-old daughter, Shiloh Cindy Kusnierz-Rowe, drove from Henderson, NC, to get Carter's autograph. Lofton recalls writing a letter when she was 11-years-old to Carter's youngest daughter, Amy. She brought the black and white postcard Amy sent back to her in hopes of having it autographed.