PEACH BUZZ: Make a bid on Carter’s oil paintings

After enduring temps in the 20s at Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration Tuesday morning, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter might just be looking forward to this year’s Carter Center benefit.

Carter Center reps tell Buzz this year’s Winter Weekend Celebration will be Feb. 7 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Buzz readers may recall that last year’s annual fundraiser featured a hard maple wood bench handcrafted by the president that ended up fetching $300,000.

This year’s signature items show off yet another creative facet of the renaissance president from Plains. Supporters have the opportunity to bid on a series of original artwork painted by Carter, including “Building and Coke Sign” (an oil on canvas, 16 by 12 inches, painted in October 2004).

Of the building from his hometown featured in the work, the president explains: “The Coca-Cola Co. repainted this old sign for me.”

To our art-untrained eyes, however, the classic Coke sign is a dead-ringer for the one painted on the side of Manuel’s Tavern in Poncey Highland, a longtime Carter family favorite.

Another painting spotlights the farm bell depicted in Carter’s best-selling memoir “An Hour Before Daylight.”

Among the other one-of-a-kind treasures the Carters plan to part with:

> The only baseball in the world hand-signed by five U.S. presidents (Carter, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush).

> A certificate commemorating the upcoming 40th anniversary (July 21, 2009) of the first man on the moon, signed by Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong.

> A football signed by 22 Heisman Trophy winners including Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman winner.

> A fly-fishing trip with the Carters at Brigadoon Lodge in North Georgia.

As always, bidders can get an early looksee at the items via the cartercenter.org Web site at www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/winter_weekend_2009.html.

Stronger signal for South 107

South 107 is about to get a signal giddyap.

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission approved a major signal upgrade for the Rome-based country station. The strength increase, which will take effect this year, will enable the station’s signal to cover more of metro Atlanta.

Currently, South 107 can make it into Cobb County but has trouble inside the Perimeter. The tower will remain in Kingston, between Rome and Cartersville, about 55 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. But it will penetrate about 20 miles farther into Atlanta (as well as Chattanooga).

Keith Daniels, operations manager, said South 107, even in its punched-up form, will continue to focus its energies on northwest Georgia and won’t necessarily compete directly with Kicks 101.5, which emanates out of downtown Atlanta.

South 107 also has picked up NASCAR radio coverage from 106.7, which used to be a country station but switched to oldies nearly a year ago.

Hawks on Twitter

Ever feel like you’re being followed? Paranoia aside, PDA-addicted Atlanta Hawks fans now have a new tool at their disposal to keep up with the team. You can follow (and potentially entice the team to follow you) the latest lineup changes, weekly podcast alerts and injury reports via the team’s profile on Twitter (search: atlanta_hawks). Official Hawks blogger Micah Hart (hawks.portspaces.com/hawksbasketblog) is supplying the informative, whimsical updates for the social networking site.

And according to Hart’s update Wednesday, the team’s parent company, Atlanta Spirit, was celebrating Tuesday night’s win on the ice with its NHL team. Twittered Hart: “Thrashers won three straight so free doughnuts this morning at the office.”

And while that particular entry might be a bit on the mundane side, fans unable to make it out to games tell us they are coming to appreciate Hart’s excited postings during games. Basically, he supplies updates. They pretend to pay attention to their spouses.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Actress Piper Laurie (above) is 77. Actor John Hurt is 69. Singer Steve Perry (Journey) is 60. Actress Linda Blair is 50. Actress Diane Lane is 44. Rap DJ-actor Jazzy Jeff is 44. Actor Balthazar Getty is 34. Actor Christopher Kennedy Masterson (“Malcolm in the Middle”) is 29. “7th Heaven” actress Beverley Mitchell (below) is 28.

STORK REPORT

It’s a boy!

Country singer Jo Dee Messina and her husband are announcing the birth of their first child.

Craig Campbell, the singer’s spokesman, says Noah Roger Deffenbaugh was born Monday afternoon at a Nashville-area hospital. He weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces. Messina, 38, and Chris Deffenbaugh were married in October 2007.

Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services

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