In what was then-Governor Coolidge’s address to those gathered at Harvard University on May 30, 1920, the future President, channeling Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, observed:

We assemble here today on an occasion dedicated by law to the hallowed memory of those who, wearing the uniform of our nation, have given their lives in the cause of liberty. It is altogether fitting that this assemblage should come here under these auspices to pay our tribute of respect and reverence for those who have given their lives in this great cause.

What, – what, after all, was the object that they sought? It can be summed up in two words: the victory of righteousness, and righteous peace.

If this occasion is to have any meaning for us, if it is to bring any lesson to us, we must resolve that the lesson that their lives and their death have taught us is to be taken up and carried on and exemplified by those who come after. We come here as a result of war, but we come for the purpose of perpetuating, establishing, supporting; and maintaining peace – a peace of righteousness.

There are but two means by which that object can be accomplished. One is justice on the part of our nation toward all the other nations of the earth. And justice means action according to law, action according to the conscience of civilization and the edict of humanity. There is not authority from which we can secure peace unless it be accompanied by justice. There is no power great enough to guarantee it to us, no force strong enough to provide it for us. So that it is of the utmost consequence that we ascertain what our relationship one with another in our domestic affairs and in our foreign affairs may be, and see that it is administered, and that there is obedience to that law on our own part.

The other is the power to force obedience to that law on the part of anyone who may come against us. It was for that that these young men whose memory we come here today to hallow gave up their young lives. It was in a military preparation that our country might have the power to enforce a righteous peace, that they organized themselves from a military point of view and took up the great burden of civilization. Those are the two great leading points of carrying our civilization onward and upward; justice and preparation; obedience to law on our own part., and the enforcement of that obedience on the part of others.

May yours be a thoughtful and reflective Memorial Day this May 30, 2024. As Coolidge also once said, there remains a never fully paid Price of Freedom each generation owes. May ours meet its share in its own time and place. Thank you to all who give without an expectation of some future monetary or otherwise material return. Liberty lives because of you.

Lakeside Inn, overlooking beautiful Lake Dora in Mount Dora, Florida, brought former President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace, the lovely former First Lady, to stay as guests in January-February 1930. Manager Archie Hurlburt and his wife, Margaret, long-time friends of the Coolidges since their days in Massachusetts, coordinated to bring the famous couple out on their first cross-country trip following the White House. Having so enjoyable a stay in the state, their time in Florida ran longer than initially planned but by doing so they found the region restful, the people welcoming, and the whole experience one worth repeating again, if they could. The President dedicated the new Terrace Building in a remarkable parade and ceremony and even intimidated some of the lake bass with rod and reel. Mrs. Coolidge played piano in the front lobby and picked oranges from the yard (a delightful luxury for any New Englander). Together they walked and window shopped, and occasionally enjoyed a quiet rock on the front porch.

They stayed in the newly dedicated Terrace Building, adjoining rooms 135-137 (now Room 619), before departing for New Orleans and points west. Lakeside’s current owners, the Gundersons, have made the landscape and a stay at the Inn a truly restorative experience, however long one plans to be there. Nor is it surprising that their love and regard for the Coolidges yields an occasional sighting of Cal on the grounds. Such a sighting includes this one of the former President, leaving their room in The Terrace. He is seen, in this photo by Lakeside guest and Lexington, Ohio, businessman Sidney Lynn Earhart (1889-1973), walking beyond the front porch of the Lakeside, crossing the driveway beside The Gables and, perhaps, toward the Verandah, where Grace may be waiting for lunch or tea. An informal snapshot, to be sure, as Cal — a private citizen at last — is moving at his own pace, unaccompanied by any security, clearly on a mission, facing away from the camera, and leaning into his destination. Enjoy the fresh Florida air, Mr. Coolidge.

“Food plays an important role in the destiny of man. A successful meal engages all the senses – music and conversation are as important as visual appeal and flavor.” — Lee Ping Quan (pronounced Chew-ahn)

With the arrival of the lunar new year this February 10th, we are reminded here of Lee Ping Quan’s twenty years of service in the U. S. Navy, preparing the cuisine of President and Mrs. Coolidge through the decade a century ago. With the retirement of the USS Mayflower following their departure from public life, Lee Ping Quan launched a restaurant at 28 W 51st Street in New York City, nestled beside Rockefeller Center and just up the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Designed to evoke the dining room of the Mayflower, Quan’s restaurant offered an exquisite range of dishes from the menus that appeared before the guests of Presidents and First Ladies more than one hundred years ago.

Appetizers included the small sandwiches of which John, the President’s oldest son, once ate an impressive 44 in a single sitting, as Quan delighted in sharing. The Coolidges wrote their beloved chef their highest praises and wishes of success on his venture. Quan eventually found his way to Maine, serving his patrons the increasingly forgotten fare New York guests once enjoyed, from the chop suey Mrs. Coolidge wanted to learn to make to the veal and curry that Mr. Coolidge savored. While running a tight ship with a “crew” of four, Quan regaled his many guests with stories of distant ports, Presidential remembrances, and the food that unites all palates. Naval regulations applied at the threshold of his establishments and no alcohol was allowed past Quan’s door. This hardly meant he was a joyless taskmaster. This masterful entrepreneur worked daily marvels in the “galley” while furnishing diners with countless memories from the diminutive gentleman but towering force that was Lee Ping Quan.

Ever ready to show his love for the kind and generous Coolidges, he baked the wedding cake for John Coolidge and Florence Trumbull, who married in September 1929. Quan later published some of these cherished recipes and memories in book form. With the beginning of World War II in 1941, Quan sought once more to offer his services to the Navy. Though he never reentered active duty, citizen Quan remained the ebullient optimist he always was and continued to love the nation he had adopted as his own to the end. As the Chinese New Year begins, we are reminded that Lee Ping would be commemorating the occasion with the style and grace with which he labored and lived.