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Curious Louisville: How Do You Become A Kentucky Colonel?

Wikimedia Commons/Dan Lindsay

What do Paul McCartney, Betty White and Muhammad Ali have in common? All three, along with about 100,000 other people, have been given the title “Kentucky Colonel.”

But how does one gain the honor?

That was listener Patrick Grantz’s question for Curious Louisville.

Our resident Kentucky Colonel, broadcast managing editor Rick Howlett (who's actually a double Colonel) spoke with Sherry Crose, the executive director of the Kentucky Colonels, about the origin of the title and the organization of the same name that has since developed.

Howlett also spoke with a local nonprofit that benefits from the work of the Kentucky Colonels and shared some tape of Tiny Tim performing “Tiptoe Through The Tulips” in the back of a Lincoln Continental at the 1988 Kentucky Colonels annual post-Derby barbecue.

You can hear the story in the audioplayer above.

You can also ask your own question about our city here.