Contents of Dolly's Dream Box for Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort revealed

Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort was driven by Dolly’s dream to create a place where families can reconnect. To honor her dreams and the people who made them possible, Dolly created a Dream Box which will remain locked until 2045. Visiting families can see Dolly’s Dream Box on display at the resort.

“My resort is a dream 30 years in the making, and the items I picked for my Dream Box are closely tied to special people who encouraged me and certain events in my life where that encouragement paid off,”

said Dolly.

Dolly’s Dream Box contains:

1. A copy of her 2012 book "Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You" which expands on the popular 2009 commencement speech that Dolly delivered at the University of Tennessee.
2. A piece of wood from Dolly’s Tennessee Mountain Home’s front porch, a favorite gathering spot for her family and where she sang as a child growing up in the Smoky Mountains.
3. A song written by Dolly for the future to be released in 2045 that shares her hopes and dreams for the future.
4. A sealed mystery box made of chestnut, the contents of which are known only to Dolly and are to remain unopened until 2045. The box honors Dolly’s Uncle Bill Owens who, early on, recognized his niece’s talents and helped her career take flight. Owens’ work with the American Chestnut Foundation helped develop a blight-resistant American chestnut tree, restoring it to the woodlands of the Eastern U.S.

Dollywood's first Great American Summer kicks off, making more time for family time

Dolly’s love for family time and summer time came to life with music and light as Dollywood’s Great American Summer debuted in 2013. Special extended park hours from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. gave families more time to spend together as they enjoyed Dollywood’s rides and attractions at night. Each day was filled with new shows and nightly fireworks set to original music written and recorded by Dolly.

Dolly presented an Alabama boy with the 25 millionth Imagination Library book

In 2010, racing across borders and gaining speed, "The Little Engine That Could," was chug chug chugging along, while the actual book itself arrived in mailboxes, much to the delight of 249,125 children under five. With over 1,300 operating programs in three countries, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was mailing 560,000 books a month, a grand total of 7.1 million this particular year.

In July, The Junior League of Birmingham, and Dolly herself presented the 25 millionth book to Kumar Smith.

"It was beautiful,"

mother Shalisha Stewart said of her family's experience.

"She sang Kumar a song, 'Celebrate the Dreamer in You.' She wrote it for him. He was like, 'She wrote me a song?' And I told him that he was the hero of the day."

Knox County Schools in Tennessee completed the year-long study of their new kindergartners, and in Michigan, the Great Start Collaborative commissioned a study by Michigan State University on the same age group. Children enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library performed better on all assessments than children who were not enrolled. In addition, the University of Alaska Anchorage researchers, completed evaluation studies of Imagination Library demonstrating that children participating in the program are more enthusiastic about reading, read to more often, and perceived by parents to be better prepared for school. While the books are free to families, the lasting impact of the program is priceless.