Letters From Grandpa #98

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 98

Dearest Grandchild,

I assume you know the inspirational story of the late Col. Sanders, but just in case - here it is again.

Harlan David Sanders was born Sept. 9, 1890 on a small Indiana farm. His father died when he was 5 and he had to learn how to cook and sew to care for his siblings while his mother worked outside the home. At 10 he got a job on a neighbor’s farm, quit school after the 6th grade, and worked as a farm hand for $15 a month until he was 15. Next he got a job was a streetcar conductor, then lied about his age and joined the army.

After completing his military service he married, had 3 children, and was divorced in 1947. He once bought the patent rights to manufacture carbide lamps but was put out of business by rural electrification. This was only one of his many business failures. He later took a correspondence course and began practicing law. His legal career was ended, however, when he got into a fight with a client in the courtroom.

In 1929 he moved to Corbin, Kentucky and opened a small restaurant. In 1935 Gov. Ruby Laffoon made Sanders an honorary Colonel for his outstanding cuisine. In 1937 he tried to start an restaurant chain, but failed.. In 1939 he used the newly discovered “pressure cooker” to cook chicken much faster.

The following years enabled Sanders to achieve some modest success in business. In 1956, however, plans for a new highway, bypassing Corbin, caused his property value to plummet. He sold out and his restaurant only brought a mere $75,000 . He needed the money, however to pay his debts. Sanders was 66 years old, almost broke, and living off his modest savings and a monthly Social Security check of $105.

It was at this point that Sanders put his pressure cooker, herbs and spices in the trunk of his 1946 Ford and began visiting restaurants, trying to convince them to use his recipe. The bigger restaurants showed him the door, but some small struggling entrepreneurs agreed to use his recipe and paid him 5 cents a head for every chicken they cooked. By 1960 he had 400 franchisers, and by 1963 he was earning $300,000 a year. In 1964 Sanders sold out to a group of investors for $2 million, plus a lifetime salary of $40,000 a year. He was 74 years old at the time. Sanders died of leukemia in Shelbyville, Ky. Dec. 16, 1980.

H. C. Vanderpool relates the story of Sanders conversion. “While attending a service in Louisville and showing concern about his condition he was asked to bow and pray, asking God to forgive him, to have mercy upon him. Suddenly the Colonel lifted his head and the pastor related, "He looked at me and said it was the first time in his life he had ever experienced the presence of Christ within his heart." Colonel Sanders' testimony was, "You can join the church, you can serve on committees, you can be baptized and receive communion, you can become superintendent of the

Sunday School, and not be saved. I know, it happened in my life. I needed to know something deep within my soul. There is an inner experience, a new birth, that brings peace. Morality and good works cannot accomplish it, it is the work of the Holy Spirit." Sanders was 75 years old at the time.

When Col. Sanders stands before God in judgement, the only thing that will really matter will be his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The same will be true of you. While Grandpa wants you to be successful in every area of life, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, every other “success” is without meaning.

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce

P. S. Hear is a link with the Col. telling his own story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pOEW6bGK1I

There are other links that follow if you care to watch.