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Kentucky Colonel
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== Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels == {{Main|Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels}} The [[Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels]] (HOKC) was first established during the depression in 1933 by Governor Ruby Laffoon as a state order of merit with an office at the capital. In 1957, it was incorporated as a nonprofit dedicated to building playgrounds, curating history, awarding scholarships and providing relief to Kentuckians in need.<ref name="HOKCvKCI">{{Cite web|title=Docket for The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, Inc. v. Kentucky Colonels International, 3:20-cv-00132 - CourtListener.com|url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16870656/the-honorable-order-of-kentucky-colonels-inc-v-kentucky-colonels/|access-date=February 25, 2021|website=CourtListener|language=en-us}}</ref> After a person receives a [[Commissioned officer|commission]] from the governor they automatically become an ''honorary lifetime member'' of the organization and, via donation to and participation in the HOKC's charitable efforts throughout the state they can be considered an active member.<ref name="COK" /><ref name="HOKC">{{Cite web|url=https://www.kycolonels.org/|title=Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels - Home|website=Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels|language=en-US|access-date=May 4, 2017}}</ref> === Kentucky colonel toast === In 1936, New York advertising agency owner, Kentucky colonel Arthur Kudner, wrote a toast to Kentucky colonels. The toast was quickly adopted by the HOKC, and it was widely promoted and published for use by colonels. The toast has since been ceremoniously presented at each of the Kentucky Colonels' [[Kentucky Derby Festival|Derby Eve]] Banquets: {{blockquote|I give you a man dedicated to the good things of life, to the gentle, the heartfelt things, to good living, and to the kindly rites with which it is surrounded. In all the clash of a plangent world he holds firm to his ideal β a gracious existence in that country of content "where slower clocks strike happier hours". He stands in spirit on a tall-columned veranda, a hospitable glass in his hand, and he looks over the good and fertile earth, over ripening fields, over meadows of rippling bluegrass. The rounded note of a horn floats through the fragrant stillness. Afar, the sleek and shining flanks of a thoroughbred catch the bright sun. The broad door, open wide with welcome ... the slow, soft-spoken word ... the familiar step of friendship ... all of this is his life and it is good. He brings fair judgment to sterner things. He is proud in the traditions of his country, in ways that are settled and true. In a trying world darkened by hate and misunderstanding, he is a symbol of those virtues in which men find gallant faith and of the good men might distill from life. Here he stands, then. In the finest sense, an epicure ... a patriot ... a man. Gentlemen, I give you, the Kentucky Colonel.<ref>Porter, Marion. ''Howdy Colonel''. 1947. p8. Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels</ref><ref>[http://kycolonels.org/colonel-toast/ Colonel Toast] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107023607/http://kycolonels.org/colonel-toast/ |date=2012-11-07 }}, Speech, ''Kentucky Derby 1936'', Colonel Arthur Kudner</ref> }} [[File:A_Pakistani_Philanthropist_with_Kentucky_Colonel_Commission_Certificate.jpg|thumb|right|A Pakistani laureate poses with his 2020 Kentucky Colonel Certificate received from [[Governor of Kentucky]], [[Andy Beshear]].]] === Involvement in the nomination process === In 2016, Governor [[Matt Bevin]] briefly suspended the program to conduct a review of the requirements for receiving the title and then changed the nomination process so that "only active members of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels" were allowed to make recommendations for the honor.<ref name="ChangesProcess">{{cite web |date=June 6, 2016 |title=Governor announces changes to Kentucky Colonel nomination process |url=http://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Governor-announces-changes-to-Kentucky-Colonel-nomination-process-381997951.html |access-date=September 28, 2017 |website=WKYT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Loftus |first=Tom |title=Kentucky Colonels are back |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-governor/2016/06/06/kentucky-colonels-back/85495846/ |date=June 6, 2016|website=The Courier-Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ladd |first=Sarah |title=Kentucky Colonels sue 'Kentucky Colonels International' over copyright infringement |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2020/02/24/kentucky-colonels-sue-kentucky-colonels-international-copyright-infringement/4861303002/|date=February 24, 2020 |website=The Courier-Journal}}</ref> Up to that point in time, the longstanding practice had been that recommendations could be submitted by anyone who already was a Kentucky colonel, without any requirement for donations or membership in any particular organization.<ref name="ChangesProcess" /> The nomination process was changed under Governor [[Andy Beshear]]. Beshear had the nomination process frozen starting in December 2019. In February 2020, Governor Beshear removed the requirement that the nominators be among those previously designated as Kentucky Colonels.<ref name="BizFirst">{{cite web |last=Finlay |first=Marty |date=February 25, 2020 |title=Kentucky Colonels sue rival organization for trademark infringement, defamation |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2020/02/25/kentucky-colonels-sue-rival-organization-for.html |access-date=February 28, 2020 |work=[[Louisville Business First]]}}</ref> === Lawsuits === The HOKC filed a federal lawsuit against Kentucky Colonels International (KCI) in 2020. The lawsuit alleged infringement of the "Kentucky Colonels" registered trademark.<ref name="HOKCvKCI" /> In 2021, the parties settled the case with a [[permanent injunction]] prohibiting KCI from using the "Kentucky Colonels" trademark.<ref>[https://www.kycolonels.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Agreed-Permanent-Injunction.pdf Honorable Ord. of Kentucky Colonels, Inc. v. Kentucky Colonels Int'l] ([[United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky|W. D. Kentucky]] August 13, 2020).</ref> In 2023, The HOKC opened a new lawsuit against KCI for "one count of [[civil contempt]], four counts of various federal trademark infringement, one count [[Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act|anticybersquatting]], and three counts of various common law [[trademark infringement]]".<ref>''The Honorable of Ky. Colonels v. Globcal Int'l'', Civil Action 3:23-cv-43-RGJ, 2 (W.D. Ky. Mar. 30, 2023).</ref> In August 2023 the HOKC won their lawsuit. David J. Wright and his KCI organization were held in contempt of the permanent injunction and ordered to pay legal fees of the HOKC.<ref>''The Honorable of Ky. Colonels v. Ky. Colonels Int'l'', Civil Action 3:20-cv-132-RGJ (W.D. Ky. Aug. 9, 2023)</ref>
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