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Saturday, September 12, 2009
New Kentucky Colonel
Hey Jim and Linda,
I thought I would let you all know I am now an official Kentucky Colonel. Thanks for all the support and I'm blessed enough to accomplish another one of my goals in life. Terry Thacker
If you’ve attended the bluegrass jams in Bixler Lake Park or the Northeast Indiana Bluegrass Association’s Tri-State Bluegrass festivals at the Noble County Fairgrounds you may have noticed Kendallville’s Terry Thacker.
If you know him and see him you just have to walk over and say “Hi.” He’s that kind of guy. His slow Kentucky drawl accompanying his friendly “ Hi. How are you?” response makes you feel welcome.
If you listen to WAWK-AM 1140 The Hawk Sundays from noon to 2:30 p.m. you’ll hear Terry’s bluegrass radio show. He’s all about keeping America’s truly traditional music alive in this area. He might fiddle a tune on the air if he gets enough requests. Terry is an accomplished bluegrass fiddler but he’s also modest and needs a nudge to lay bow on strings.
Mayor Suzanne Handshoe knows a special person when she sees one, and she believes Terry Thacker deserves public recognition for his efforts in bringing bluegrass music to the area.
Handshoe recommended the Kentucky native for one of that state’s highest civilian honors. Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear agreed Thacker deserves recognition.
At Tuesday night’s Kendallville City Council meeting, Handshoe will bestow on Thacker the honorable order of Kentucky Colonel, the highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She will read the letter from the Kentucky governor that says, in part: “Our colonels are Kentucky’s ambassadors of good will and fellowship around the world. Commissions as Kentucky Colonels are presented for contributions to the community, state or nation, and for special achievements of all kinds. With your commission the governor recognizes your service and accomplishments on behalf of others.”
A Kentucky Colonel is like Indiana’s Sagamore of the Wabash honor.
For Thacker, who moved to Kendallville in 1989, the honor is humbling indeed. “It was just hard to believe when I was told,” he said this week. “For a person from Kentucky, this is the highest honor they can receive.”
Thacker grew up in modest surroundings in what he described as a “small holler called Upper Mile Creek near the city of Hindman, Ky. Old time bluegrass music was a staple in his family household. “I grew up with bluegrass music. I remember listening to Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe on the radio when I was a little guy,” he said.
He taught himself to play the fiddle and began playing for the public when he was 15. He jammed with friends, played at family functions and special occasions around home before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army after five years, and moved his family to Kendallville.
“There was no work at home and I had relatives in Kendallville who told me to come here to find work,” he said. Thacker moved to Kendallville 20 years ago and brought his interest in bluegrass music with him. He started his radio show “Terry’s Bluegrass Corner” in 1995. “We do a little bit of everything, play modern and traditional bluegrass, do interviews, have live bands in the studio and occasionally I’ll play on the air,” he said.
Thacker played with Gilbert & Co., an area-based bluegrass band, for a few years, and has been a master of ceremonies introducing bluegrass bands on stage at the bluegrass festivals for seven years.
He started the bluegrass jams in Bixler Lake Park with Ray Taylor of Kendallville.
Thacker’s cousin Art Stamper is a well-known bluegrass musician in Kentucky, a member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and a Kentucky Colonel.
Other well-known Kentucky Colonels include: actresses Ann Margaret and Whoopi Goldberg, golfer Tiger Woods, entertainers Dwight Yoakum and Jeff Foxworthy and Muhammad Ali.
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Terry Thacker was made a Kentucky Colonial. He will be presented his certificate at the Kendallville City Council meeting Oct. 6 at 7p.
If you’ve attended the bluegrass jams in Bixler Lake Park or the Northeast Indiana Bluegrass Association’s Tri-State Bluegrass festivals at the Noble County Fairgrounds you may have noticed Kendallville’s Terry Thacker.
If you know him and see him you just have to walk over and say “Hi.” He’s that kind of guy. His slow Kentucky drawl accompanying his friendly “ Hi. How are you?” response makes you feel welcome.
If you listen to WAWK-AM 1140 The Hawk Sundays from noon to 2:30 p.m. you’ll hear Terry’s bluegrass radio show. He’s all about keeping America’s truly traditional music alive in this area. He might fiddle a tune on the air if he gets enough requests. Terry is an accomplished bluegrass fiddler but he’s also modest and needs a nudge to lay bow on strings.
Mayor Suzanne Handshoe knows a special person when she sees one, and she believes Terry Thacker deserves public recognition for his efforts in bringing bluegrass music to the area.
Handshoe recommended the Kentucky native for one of that state’s highest civilian honors. Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear agreed Thacker deserves recognition.
At Tuesday night’s Kendallville City Council meeting, Handshoe will bestow on Thacker the honorable order of Kentucky Colonel, the highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She will read the letter from the Kentucky governor that says, in part: “Our colonels are Kentucky’s ambassadors of good will and fellowship around the world. Commissions as Kentucky Colonels are presented for contributions to the community, state or nation, and for special achievements of all kinds. With your commission the governor recognizes your service and accomplishments on behalf of others.”
A Kentucky Colonel is like Indiana’s Sagamore of the Wabash honor.
For Thacker, who moved to Kendallville in 1989, the honor is humbling indeed. “It was just hard to believe when I was told,” he said this week. “For a person from Kentucky, this is the highest honor they can receive.”
Thacker grew up in modest surroundings in what he described as a “small holler called Upper Mile Creek near the city of Hindman, Ky. Old time bluegrass music was a staple in his family household. “I grew up with bluegrass music. I remember listening to Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe on the radio when I was a little guy,” he said.
He taught himself to play the fiddle and began playing for the public when he was 15. He jammed with friends, played at family functions and special occasions around home before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army after five years, and moved his family to Kendallville.
“There was no work at home and I had relatives in Kendallville who told me to come here to find work,” he said. Thacker moved to Kendallville 20 years ago and brought his interest in bluegrass music with him. He started his radio show “Terry’s Bluegrass Corner” in 1995. “We do a little bit of everything, play modern and traditional bluegrass, do interviews, have live bands in the studio and occasionally I’ll play on the air,” he said.
Thacker played with Gilbert & Co., an area-based bluegrass band, for a few years, and has been a master of ceremonies introducing bluegrass bands on stage at the bluegrass festivals for seven years.
He started the bluegrass jams in Bixler Lake Park with Ray Taylor of Kendallville.
Thacker’s cousin Art Stamper is a well-known bluegrass musician in Kentucky, a member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and a Kentucky Colonel.
Other well-known Kentucky Colonels include: actresses Ann Margaret and Whoopi Goldberg, golfer Tiger Woods, entertainers Dwight Yoakum and Jeff Foxworthy and Muhammad Ali.
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