PLAINS, Ga. — Plains, Ga., plans on giving back to its resident globe-trotting former president by keeping him upbeat and entertained.

Jimmy Carter and his hometown have always been intertwined, from the day he announced he would run for president and an old train depot downtown became a local campaign office. He and his wife, Rosalynn, have always kept a home there, but the 90-year-old Carter intends to spend a lot more time in the tiny town as he’s treated for cancer that has spread to his brain.

The one-block business district specializes in Carter political memorabilia and peanut souvenirs. Visitors stop by after touring dozens of properties associated with the Nobel Peace Prize winner and his extended family, including Carter’s boyhood farm and a gas station once run by his brother, Billy.

The Carters live just down the street, in a 1961 home they built before he entered politics. It’s now encircled by an iron fence with a guard checkpoint, and locals know Secret Service agents by name, along with their snack preferences.

For Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, Plains is a “haven” from their work in Atlanta and around the globe, he has said. They both were born and grew up in the area. They return here following each challenge, including his 1980 loss to Ronald Reagan and his first radiation treatment Thursday.

Residents determined to put a familiar grin on the 90-year-old Carter’s face ordered 500 green and blue yard signs and fanned out to plant them in yards and along every route into Plains. Signs declaring “Jimmy Carter For Cancer Survivor,” a slogan first shown in an editorial cartoon in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are in demand elsewhere now.

It was a small gesture for the person who put Plains on the map and has continued to think about the town’s best interests, said Jill Stuckey, a friend who hosts the Carters for dinner regularly.

“They have always supported Plains, even down to (choosing) their burial place here in Plains,” Stuckey, 54, said. “If in the future, you know, 20 years from now when President and Mrs. Carter have passed — or 30 years — they know that will be a draw for Plains.”