Seventy-five years ago, President Calvin Coolidge delivered perhaps the most spontaneous and heartfelt speech of his career. Standing at the back of train in Bennington Station, he declared: "Vermont is a state I love."

To take a step back in time, one need only go to the Bennington train station Sunday, Sept. 21 — a re-enactment of the historic event, complete with Coolidge impersonator, will take place that afternoon.

Jim Cooke as Calvin Coolidge

Members of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, the non-profit group sponsoring the re-enactment, are committed to making it historically accuracy...except in one respect.

According to The Bennington Banner (Sept. 21, 1928) with only a few days notice, "preparations were rather hurried" for the president’s visit. For the re-enactment this fall, the foundation is already hard at work, coordinating efforts with, among others, the Park-McCullough House, the Bennington Museum, the Bennington Battle Monument, the Bennington Historical Society and Images from the Past.

Representatives from these groups, as well as actor and Coolidge impersonator Jim Cooke and Ruth Dewey, an eyewitness to the famous speech, met with the executive director and trustee president of CCMF last week at the Park McCullough House.

Asked if she remembered waving an American flag, Dewey, who was 10-years-old at the time, said one thing in particular sticks in her memory: "all the kids there with their mouths open."

Coolidge’s stop in Bennington was the last on a tour to survey Vermont’s remarkable recovery from the devastating flood of November, 1927. Mimi Baird, president of the CCMF board of trustees, noted that though Coolidge wanted to visit in the weeks following the disaster, the governor at the time countered that "Vermont can take care of its own."

The flood, the result of record-breaking levels of rainfall on an already-saturated ground, was responsible for an estimated $28 million of damage. The destruction spread across Vermont; from agricultural land to communication and transportation systems crippled by damage to roads, bridges and railroad lines.

President Coolidge made his final stop, and delivered the only speech of his tour, in Bennington. A crowd of 5,000 greeted him at the train station and heard a speech more emotional in tone than most given by a man known as "Silent Cal."

"Slowly the chief executive began speaking," reads The Bennington Banner (Sept. 22, 1928). "...his voice quavering with the emotion that it was evident he felt, his words growing tender as he proceeded with what he had to say."

Along with expressing pleasure at the restoration of railroads and highways, Coolidge reflected on his personal connection to the land and its people.

"It was here that I first saw the light of day; here I received my bride, here my dead lie pillowed on the loving breast of our everlasting hills.

"I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate. But most of all because of her people. They are a race of pioneers..."

Jim Cooke, who has performed as the nation’s 30th president at presidential libraries and historical societies across the country, suggested producing flags for the re-enactment.

The day before the president’s arrival in 1928, The Bennington Banner reported that all planning to meet his train should bring "small American flags to help the cheering along and add color to the scene, as well as to show Bennington’s patriotism."

According to the same report, the event included the participation of a Citizen’s Welcoming Committee and the music of the Bennington Municipal Band and the Legion Drum Corps.

Anne Bugbee of the Bennington Historical Society suggested paying tribute to Grace Coolidge, a woman her mother very much admired. CCMF Executive Director Cyndy Bittinger said the first lady "sparkled," and people wanted to be around her. To honor Grace Coolidge, who was presented with a bouquet of gladioli at the train station, the group discussed filling a storefront window with her portrait and a mannequin in period dress and hat.

This event is a teaching opportunity, said Bittinger. "We see this as an educational effort," to teach kids about the environment, the flood and Calvin Coolidge’s involvement in that chapter in Vermont’s history. She added that Jim Cooke would be available to visit local classrooms.

CCMF, along with the Vermont Humanities Council, is also sponsoring a statewide contest, the sixth annual "Age of Coolidge Contest". Students grades 4-8 are invited to write about their love of Vermont. The essay does not need to address Calvin Coolidge. Each applicant will receive a foundation membership with prizes awarded to first, second and third place entries. CCMF is accepting applications through May.

For the re-enactment, the foundation and its Bennington partners are hoping that, though planned much further in advance, the event will be equally well-received the second time around.

"Bennington’s welcome, in the opinion of those who were at the station, could not have been more spontaneous or sincere if the Presidents [sic] visit had been planned far ahead of time," wrote a Banner reporter in 1928.

Anyone with memories to share of Coolidge’s visit to Bennington, are encouraged to contact CCMF, P.O. Box 97, Plymouth Notch, VT 05056. (802) 672-3389 or e-mail us.