was granted to restaurateur Harland Sanders, who was commissioned by Laffoon in 1935. Laffoon, alongside his aide Colonel Anna Bell Ward, selected many notable members of Kentucky society as well as Shirley Temple, Mickey Mouse and Santa Claus. Laffoon's helped connect the idea of the Kentucky Colonel to the state and the Kentucky Derby and helped bring prominence to the Kentucky Derby by inviting celebrities and heads of state. When Governor Albert Benjamin Chandler (better known as Happy Chandler) took office in 1935, he took a very different view on the distinction of a Kentucky colonel commission and only issued about a dozen new commissions annually, on Derby Day. Governor Keen Johnson followed Governor Chandler's lead during his time in office from 1939 to 1943, commissioning only those select individuals who were deemed to have exhibited exceptionally noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation. The subsequent governors, however, have typically been much more liberal in issuing Kentucky colonel commissions. Talking about their known history in 1941 the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels stated, "A.O. Stanley, then Governor, commissioned 110 honorary colonels; Gov. E.P. Morrow added 243; Gov. W. Fields, 183; Gov. Flem Sampson, 677; Gov. Ruby Laffoon, 10,450; and Gov. A.B. Chandler, 85. In 1934, at a meeting of Kentucky Colonels a social organization of colonels was affected. Then on March 28, 1936, the Attorney General of Kentucky voided all of these commissions, but a month later they were revived by the Acting Governor, James. E. Wise." Contemporary Kentucky colonelcy Although commissioned Kentucky colonels are considered in Common Law to be aides-de-camp to the governors and members of their staff and thus entitled to the style of "Honorable", Kentucky colonels are usually just referred to and addressed as "Colonel" and use the abbreviation "Col." or Kentucky colonel when the term is not being used as a specific title for an individual. Most properly in writing this becomes "Col. First Name, Middle, Surname, Kentucky Colonel". Increasing number of Kentucky colonels Under Governor Steve Beshear in 2008, so many commissions were being issued that state budget cuts led to a major change in the design of the commission certificate, as the governor was issuing as many as 16,500 colonelships per year. The certificate was downsized from the size to . The wording remained the same on the certificate; however, the traditional gold seal and ribbon were replaced