Today, the Honorable Order begins distributing 2008 grant commitments. 167 grants with a value exceeding 1.4 million dollars are being made. Beginning next week, a full listing of the projects being funded will appear in the Good Works section of the web site. Thank you for making this charitable work possible through your donations.
Colonel Keith Jacobson of San Diego, wearing the KENTUCKY COLONEL UNIFORM he inherited from his grandfather, raises his glass to all. Read earlier posts for more details on the uniform.
Once the ball gets rolling… here is another uniform photo. It is of a drawing done for a sales flyer in 1931. The flyer came from the estate of Colonel John King of Greencastle, Indiana.
Someone once commented that “History is something that never happened… written by someone who wasn’t there!” History did, of course, happen. However, many times the someone who wasn’t there gets it wrong. For many, many years, the Honorable Order was under the impression that there was never an “official” uniform. The position was erroneously based, in part, on a 1946 publication titled “Howdy Colonel”. The book was authored by Marion Porter and Colonel Anna Friedman. Colonel Anna was the guiding force behind the Honorable Order for several decades. Chapter 11 of Howdy Colonel begins: “There is no official uniform for Kentucky Colonels unless you count a quart of Bourbon whisky”. The story does however, reference “a uniform of an earlier day” and features a photo of Colonel Arthur Dwight Martin of Frankfort, Kentucky wearing one. The photo description says the uniform was given to Colonel Martin in 1912. That is either a mistake (typo?) OR, the uniform of Colonel Martin just happens to be amazingly similar to the one in the possession of Colonel Jacobson. We corrected our position on the uniform several years ago with the discovery of the original minutes from the 1931 organizational meeting of THE KENTUCKY COLONELS. The uniform was confirmed by the photos appearing under another post in this blog. Our thanks to the Colonels from the Toronto area for reminding us of the Howdy Colonel information and photo. (see their comments under the Honest To Goodness Colonels Uniform post). Here is the photo from Howdy Colonel. 
The call from Keith Jacobson of San Diego was a most welcome surprise. Keith was attempting to research the history of a “uniform” found among the treasures he inherited from his grandfather, Sidney Brockman. A fried of Keith’s had told him it might be a Kentucky Colonel’s uniform. And, indeed it is!! To our knowledge, only a handful of the uniforms were made. The year was 1931. The detail in Keith’s uniform exactly match the uniform description found in the May 1931 minutes of the organizational meeting of what was then The Kentucky Colonels. Here’s the photo(s) Keith was kind enough to send us. The inserts at the bottom show the detail of the braiding, buttons (the seal of Kentucky), and the “aide-de-camp” insignia worn on the sleeve. By the way, a tag inside the jacket indicates the uniform was made for Colonel W. B. Dunlap. THANKS KEITH!
We work very hard at the Honorable Order to keep our so called “fund raising” expense at an absolute minimum. We’re proud that over the last ten years, we have averaged a fund raising expense in the single digits. That means just about every penny we receive from you goes to support charitable and education causes. But, we do have to pay the bills. That’s why occasionally we partner with another organization in an effort to raise money.
Many organizations today offer what are called “Affinity” credit cards to provide income for operational and charitable services. The Kentucky Colonels Platinum Plus® MasterCard credit card is one of them. It works this way: For each card issued, Bank of America makes a “contribution” to the Honorable Order. Then, as the card is used, the Honorable Order receives a fraction of one percent of the amount charged. There is no additional cost to you.
You may receive an offer for The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels Platinum Plus® MasterCard® credit card with WorldPoints® rewards from Bank of America in the mail. It is a No-Annual-Fee card, delivering premium service, great rewards and attention to security that is deserved by members of the Honorable Order. We actually get a larger contribution if the bank is told you heard about the card directly from us. The financial specifics and all the details are available by clicking this weird looking link:
If you are renewing your Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels auto license plate, you MUST present a current year Honorable Order Membership Card. Colonels purchasing the plate for the first time must also present a current year membership card.
Only 4 times over the last 50 years or so did it rain on our parade (BBQ). One of those years was 1996, the first year the Platters appeared as the musical entertainment. Nearly 5,600 tickets were sold for the event that year. The Platters returned in 2002. The weather was sunny, the high temperature 72. Ticket sales that year came to an even 3,500. T
he chart accompanying this post shows BBQ ticket sales for the last 21 years. As you can see, ticket sales and attendance have been waning for a long time. During the years of the decline, several efforts have been made in an attempt to recover the days of grandeur when 8,000 or so people attended. We toyed with the food menu (added a country ham sandwich for example); Expensive entertainment was added (i.e. The Platters in ’96, the Kingston Trio in 2001), and yes in 2005 we moved the location back to Louisville. Nothing worked. Our conclusion, very reluctantly arrived at, is that the day after Derby and after 3 full weeks of festival activities, is no longer a great time to hold such an event. We are exploring alternative event formats and dates.
Colonel Dan Fisk of Atlanta is climbing “Kili” again (Mt. Kilimanjaro). And he wants to know if there are any Kentucky Colonels interested in going with him when he goes back still again in 2009. We reported on Colonel Fisk’s successful first climb up Africa’s highest in the current issue of the Pomperoser (PHOTO: Dan and Wendy Rogers). This summer, at age 54, he’s back on the mountain in an effort to increase awareness of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) among First Responders and the day-to-day challenges they must face. Each of Dan’s climbs is intended to raise money for a worthy cause and if he can get 10 other Kentucky Colonels to participate, the 2009 climb will benefit the Colonels Good Works Program. If you think you might be up to this challenge, contact Ambassador Glen at ambassador@kycolonels.org
The nation’s First Lady is now a Kentucky Colonel. Here’s a portion of a note received at Hdq. on June 4, 2008:
