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Harland Sanders was born in 1890 in the
little town of Henryville in southern Indiana. The “colonel”
was given to him in 1935 as an honorary title by the governor of
Kentucky in recognition of his accomplishments, and ever
afterward everyone called him “The Colonel”.
Sanders was five years old when his father
died, and at that moment he took over his mother’s place as cook
so that she could work in a factory. At the age of six he was
baking rye bread by himself, such a grand achievement for a
child so young that adults from near and far praised him highly
for his skills. That praise engraved deeply in his mind the joy
of serving others.
At ten, he started working on a farm and
later did a wide variety of jobs including streetcar conductor,
soldier, blacksmith’s assistant, railroad fireman and ferry
captain. In 1930, in the small rural town of Corbin, Kentucky,
he opened up a filling station. Realising that just as cars
need gas, people need good food, he got a table and six chairs
and opened the “Sanders Cafe” in a corner of the gas station.
The fried chicken Sanders prepared was such a big hit with the
customers that every day there was a long queue in front of the
store waiting to be served. That was the beginning of what
developed into the world’s largest fast food fried chicken
chain.
Sanders had been an active Rotarian since
1919 when he became a founder member of the Rotary Club of
Jeffersonville, Indiana, at the age of 29. After that he joined
the Rotary Club of Corbin and then the Rotary Club of
Shelbyville, and was an active member until 1980 when the door
closed on his life of many achievements.
Colonel Harland Sanders was one person who
truly lived the Rotary motto “He profits most who serves best”.
Hiroshi Numata (Rotary Club of Kyoto
South)
Translated from
the September 1998 edition of The Rotary-No-Tomo.
Submitted 23 October 2005 by
Basil Lewis |
