The Colonel and I

 

The Colonel and I

In 1958 Oscar Gruber, son of Polish immigrants, brought the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise to Winnipeg. It became part his Champs Drive-In located at Sherbrook and Notre Dame and would be the start of a chain that would benefit both him and Colonel Harland Sanders in its operations in Canada.

Colonel Sanders did a lot to promote his franchises here and in the United States and abroad. He traveled to various cities promoting the excellence of KFC chicken which was flavored with his, oh, so tasty secret recipe. One memorable night in the summer of 1973, he arrived at Charlie Krupp Fastball Park with Oscar Grubert in a white limousine to take in a double header game between his namesake Colonels, who were sponsored by Mr. Grubert, and an opposing team from the newly formed Western Major Fastball League.

They exited the limo and made their way to the press box, where as manager of the ball park, I became their unofficial tour leader. Bob York was the official scorekeeper and the public address system announcer. Between our explanations and Bob’s announcements, we managed to bring both Oscar and the Colonel up to speed on the differences between baseball and this “fastball” game. The Colonel was a quick learner.

Between games, Sanders was brought to home plate where Bueckert, the Colonel’s manager, welcomed him, and showed him a team warm-up jacket with the iconic photo of the Colonel that you see on every KFC store on its back. Grubert and Bueckert helped the Colonel remove his white suit jacket and replaced it with the black Colonels one. Before the PA system could be switched back to the press box, Sanders turned to Grubert and said, much to the delight of the large crowd, "You got something to do with these boys, Oscar?"  

They didn’t stay for the second game because there were other stops on his whirlwind tour. Before they left, they both thanked Bob and me for being such good hosts. Oscar than gifted me with a fistful of free dinner coupons which I was to share with all “my” employees at the park. A nice gesture on his part.

And so with one last wave of the Colonel’s Stetson, they entered the limo and were off to their next stop on the city tour.