Lake Barkley State Resort Park Manager David Miller was caught by surprise during Tuesday’s Cadiz Rotary Club meeting, when Trigg County Chamber of Commerce President and a staff member of Miller’s — Ashley Johnson — presented him with unique certificate of authority.
Miller is now a Kentucky Colonel.
A past president of the Cadiz Rotary Club who serves the City of Cadiz in a number of other capacities, Miller was named the manager of the park on September 3, 2015 following 17 years of hotel business experience — first at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington as a room service server, and later as a regional general manager for the Covington-based Commonwealth Hotels in central Kentucky.
He also served as the general manager for the Hyatt Regency in Lexington before taking on an “authentic hospitality” experience with Lake Barkley — calling it his dream job.
Per the organization, the “Kentucky Colonel” title dates back to 1813, in which Kentucky Militia had just returned from the War of 1812.
When the Commonwealth’s militia disbanded, Governor Isaac Shelby commissioned Charles S. Todd — an officer in his campaign — as an Aide-de-Camp on the governor’s staff, and Todd’s official rank and grade was colonel.
By the late 1800s, the colonels had shifted from militaristic roles to ceremonial function, serving as symbolic guards at state events and the like.
More than a century later, the honor is now bestowed to those who serve Kentucky counties and the state with great effort and aplomb, and the Kentucky Colonels work as a voluntary program funded with tax-deductible contributions that often assist other organizations state-wide.
