By Nancy Dorrans
I happened to be in East Tennessee the last week of August, visiting with my dad, when I heard the news that Dolly Parton had died. I’m still a bit sad and feel for the people of Tennessee and everyone around the country and world who loved her. Oh, what good she did here and so far beyond her treasured Smoky Mountains!
Moving to Tennessee
My parents moved to this area close to thirty years ago from Northeast Ohio. My older sister lives here with her family, and my mother wanted to be close to one of her children. But my father wanted to be further away from the long, cold, gray winters. They decided to move south. Not necessarily to build a house in my sister’s front yard (which they eventually did), but as my father tells the story, “I strapped the snowblower to the roof of the car and drove south until somebody asked me what it was!”
Their move was bittersweet for me. It was hard to say goodbye to my childhood home, neighbors, and friends in Northampton, but my sisters and I had moved on years before.
My mother soon created a new home in East Tennessee, right next door to my sister and her family. I thought it would be hard, but it really wasn’t. This home in Tennessee held the charm, sounds, smells, and warmth of my childhood. My mother made it feel like home.
My younger sister and I visited often, especially during the holidays. Their new home became a retreat for our many aunts, uncles, and cousins from Michigan. Some would spend their winters in Florida, stopping in with my folks for a night on their way south and again on their way back north. My mother called it the “Halfway House”! Ha! She had a warm and generous heart… and could be funny too, like Dolly.
Family Fun at Dollywood
In 1986, Dolly Parton bought an ownership stake in the Pigeon Forge amusement park Silver Dollar City to “fulfill her dream of building a Smoky Mountain-themed attraction that would bring jobs and economic growth to her home region.” She changed the name to “Dollywood” and hired many members of her large extended family.
Dollywood became a favorite place for my family to visit, both in the summer and during the Christmas season. The park was less than an hour from my folks. They bought annual family passes. My nieces and cousins loved the adjacent water park, Splash Country!
There are several small performance stages sprinkled throughout the park that offer live music, often by Dolly’s siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins. They are carrying on, and will continue to carry on, the family’s Appalachian musical traditions.
Of course, at Dollywood—“the friendliest theme park in the world”—besides the music there are more than 50 world-class rides. Plus, southern cookin’ around every corner. Try a Dog N Taters, Granny Ogle’s Ham ‘n’ Beans, Miss Lillian’s BBQ, and my family’s favorite: Splinter’s Funnel Cakes!
I may have gotten glitter in my eye at Dolly’s “Chasing Rainbows Museum” with all the wigs, gold records, gowns, and sequins that you would expect. In 2024 The Dolly Parton Experience opened which is even “more Dolly than ever!”
But my favorite part of Dollywood is the replica of the two-room cabin she grew up in with her parents and eleven siblings. A sign outside the cabin reads:
“These mountains and my childhood home have a special place in my heart. They inspire my music and my life. I hope being here does the same for you! — Dolly”
Be Like Dolly
As you step back in time into Dolly’s childhood cabin, you hear her voice recalling her early life there. Helping her momma. Singing on the porch. Catching fireflies in a jar. Sleeping in a bed with who knows how many siblings. Dolly had bigger dreams, and when she was just eighteen years old she picked up her guitar and headed to Nashville. But she never forgot where she came from.
Throughout my visits to Dollywood, I developed a special fondness for Dolly. Not so much for her music, but for her spirit of generosity and her love of home and family, which she kept dear to her heart.
I want to Be like Dolly.
