Just days after recovering from kidney stones, Dolly made her way to Dollywood to finish production of her new movie premiering December 10, 2015, on NBC. Dollywood was bustling with lights, cameras and lots of action. Between takes at the park, Dolly rushed back to her bus and headed off to Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort for interviews and press promotions related to the resort’s recent opening. When the set was ready back at Dollywood, Dolly hopped back on the bus and dashed back to the park to finish filming.
Through the hectic schedule, it was pretty much business as usual for an ever-busy Dolly. She handled it all with grace and poise and even managed to squeeze in time to send a surprise message to the University of Tennessee’s Pride of the Southland Marching Band thanking them for their halftime tribute to her.
Everyone who works alongside Dolly admires her strength and determination. She approaches every part of her life with a strong will and a positive attitude. Today she is reassuring her fans that all is well. In an official statement Dolly said,
"It is true that I had kidney stones. I had them removed three weeks ago and I am doing just fine! I am back to work and last week I was at Dollywood filming parts for my new movie ‘Coat of Many Colors,’ which premieres December 10th on NBC. With the 30th Anniversary of Dollywood, I did a full week of activities promoting my new DreamMore Resort's opening. There is absolutely no truth at all that I have stomach cancer. I love and appreciate everyone's concern."
The film, “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” is based on Dolly’s song of the same name and follows the Parton family as they face hardships and triumphs together.
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Avie Lee Owens Parton was born on Oct. 5, 1923, in Lockhart, a small cotton farming community in South Carolina. As a preacher's daughter, she learned to make the best of what she had, a skill that would come in handy in her life as a wife and mother.
She married Lee Parton in 1939, and in the years that followed, the couple raised 12 children, six boys and six girls. In order of birth, they are: Willadeene, David Wilburn, Coy Denver, Dolly Rebecca, Bobby Lee, Stella Mae, Cassie Nan, Randel Huston “Randy,” Larry Gerald, Estel Floyd and Freida Estelle (twins) and Rachel Ann.
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As a wife and mother, she supported her family in everything she did, from canning food to caring for their medical needs. She had a way of knowing when one of her children needed a little extra attention, and she had creative ways of making them feel special. She would often announce they were having Stone Soup for supper and would send all the children out to find the perfect stone. When they returned with their treasured stones in hand, Avie Lee examined each one and commented on its merits. She would then choose one very special stone; the one brought back by the child who needed a little extra love on that day. She tended to her family's every need while bringing faith and happiness to her home.
Mrs. Avie Lee would have turned 92 today. Although she passed away in 2003 at the age of 80, her love was immortalized in the words of Dolly's song, "Coat of Many Colors." It tells the story of Avie Lee sewing her young daughter a winter coat out of small scraps of fabric when the family could afford little else. However, her gift was more than just the coat. She taught Dolly an important lesson in seeing the value of what you have no matter how little it may seem to be. This lesson would become Dolly’s life philosophy. "Coat of Many Colors" may be the most famous story of Avie Lee’s handmade gifts, however, it was not the first. In fact, the first song Dolly ever wrote was inspired by another of her mother's gifts.
"Little Tiny Tasseltop" was composed by a young Dolly even before she could read or write. The song was inspired by a corncob doll, with corn silk hair, that Avie Lee handcrafted for little Dolly. As she played with her precious doll on the front porch, she began singing. Avie Lee quickly wrote down the lyrics to what would become Dolly's very first song.
Audio of Dolly singing "Little Tiny Tasseltop."
Listen via SoundCloud.
Little tiny tasseltop,
I love you an awful lot
Corn silk hair and big brown eyes
How you make me smile
Little tiny tasseltop
You’re the only friend I’ve got
Hope you never go away
I want you to stay
You’re my tiny tasseltop
You’re my favorite-est doll
Even if you’re just a cobb
I want you to stay
Even after Dolly began to achieve career success, Avie Lee's outlook on life did not change much. In Dolly's book, "Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business," she recalls another story involving a coat.
“After the song had become a hit and had done so much for my career, I wanted to go back home and repay Mama for all the love she had sewn into my coat. I said, ‘Mama, let’s go to Knoxville. I’m going to buy you a mink coat.’ Mama is the type of person who is somewhat uncomfortable about somebody making her an offer like that. At first, she came back with a joke: ‘It’s bad enough we have to eat little varmints...I don’t want to have to start wearing them...’ Then she took on a more serious tone as she said, ‘Shoot! Where would I wear a mink coat...to a pie supper? Give me the money instead.' So I did.”
Avie Lee poured her heart and soul into raising her children. Her legacy is a profound testament of a mother's love...a legacy that will live on for generations, far beyond the hills and valleys of Locust Ridge, Tennessee.
In the midst of a fierce thunder and lightning storm in South Dakota, Kenny Rogers sat down to talk about his upcoming performance at Dollywood. The concert will benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. He also talked about his relationship with Dolly throughout the years.
Kenny will perform one show on Sept. 27, 2015, as part of the Showcase of Stars concert series at Dollywood. His personal connection to the park goes back to the beginning. He said,
“I remember the opening when Dolly and I were there and I think she was a little hesitant as to whether or not the park was going to work or not and sure enough it did. And 25 years later I was there and I have to tell you that I have two boys 11-years-old and they much prefer Dollywood over Disney World. They said the people were so much nicer and I think the food's better there too.”
Kenny went on to say,
"I think with me and Dolly, just being together, at least I can only speak for myself, being together has its own rewards and creates its own memories. We've never planned anything, it's always kind of happened and that's what makes our relationship so spontaneous."
Of course, Dolly and Kenny's friendship goes back long before she opened her theme park in the Smoky Mountains. They met for the first time on Dolly's television show, but it wasn't until they recorded their first hit "Islands in the Stream" that they were able to really get to know one another. From then on, the two have had a lasting friendship. Kenny said,
“I did Dolly's TV show, the one that had the big butterfly on the wall. And I did one of my records, it was the first record I think that I had on Warner Brothers and I did that and I met her. She was incredibly sweet to me but it was more like a hostess and I was a guest. And then later on we met again when we were recording ‘Islands in the Stream.’ And I had really never spent any time with Dolly and that was the point when we really realized we had a lot of stuff in common and we truly enjoyed being in each other's company. She makes me laugh and apparently I make her laugh. I've seen some films of us on stage and I've never seen two people relate to each other better than Dolly and I do on stage.”
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Kenny's upcoming concert will benefit Dolly’s Imagination Library, a book gifting program that has, to-date, sent over 72 million free books to children around the world. When we quoted those numbers to Kenny even he was astounded by the effort and said,
"Wow, that's great."
Kenny is generously bringing his Through The Years World Tour to Dollywood’s D.P. Celebrity Theater as the final artist performing for the Showcase of Stars benefit concert series. However, not wanting to miss the opportunity to rib his old friend, Kenny said,
"I had heard [Dolly] did this before... but we have not gotten [the books] so put me on the list. Tell Dolly she owes me that much. (laughing) Tell her she has historically underpaid me, and I'm tired of it."
His joke is yet another testament to the friendship he and Dolly share that is blind to both the passage of time and distance between them. Kenny said,
“When we recorded this last song, ‘You Can't Make Old Friends,’ I hadn't seen her in two or three years. She came walking in the studio and it was like we were together yesterday. That's the beauty of her personality. I've said this before, she has no filter, if it goes in her mind it comes out her mouth. I think that's a great quality because people know where they are at all times with her and their relationship.”
Kenny will continue his tour on Oct. 3 in North Myrtle Beach, SC which is also home to Dolly's Pirates Voyage Dinner Attraction. In addition, Kenny will begin a new tour in November supporting his latest album, "Once Again It's Christmas" featuring several guests including Jennifer Nettles. Nettles, Kenny and Dolly's mutual friend, will star as Dolly's mother in the upcoming NBC television movie, "Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors."
No word yet on any plans for another duet project. For now the two old friends are quite satisfied to team up to help put more books in the hands of more children.
Tickets to see Kenny Rogers at Dollywood's D.P. Celebrity Theatre available at Dollywood.com.
Featured image courtesy of Webster PR.
Dollywood’s D.P. Celebrity Theatre packed in an enthusiastic crowd of fans eager to hear The Band Perry perform their hits on home turf. With an intimate, acoustic setting, the vocally gifted siblings did not disappoint. Performing hit after hit, from “If I Die Young” to “Better Dig Two,” their harmonic voices were the perfect blend of what Dolly calls “blood harmony.” Kimberly even surprised the audience with her rendition of Dolly’s mega-hit song, “I’ll Always Love You,” and as you can imagine, the crowd went wild.
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Although Kimberly, Reid and Neil were all happy to be back home in East Tennessee playing for fans at Dollywood, they were also there to show their love and support of Dolly’s book gifting program for children, the Imagination Library. When asked what it was about the program that made them want to get involved, Kimberly said,
"We are big believers in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. With Imagination Library specifically, the three of us grew up loving, loving to read. It was one of the greatest loves that we remember and some of the earliest memories that we remember."
Neil went on to say,
"You never know how it will influence you in life. For the three of us and our writing, it was a big, big factor in the way we write our songs. You never know what reading a book will do to change your life. It's a really great thing and we're glad to be a part of it."
Dolly was thrilled that The Band Perry came out to support the program. She shared,
"I'm so proud to know that my Imagination Library has had such a positive influence on Kimberly, Reid and Neil, and I appreciate them coming to Dollywood to show their love and support!"
The Band Perry gave fans an amazing night of great entertainment, and more than $75,000 was raised for the Imagination Library! If you’ve not had the pleasure of seeing this trio perform, do yourself a favor and go see them.
Check out The Band Perry’s website for show dates and times.
Dolly announced earlier this year that Dollywood was bringing back the Showcase of Stars to help raise money for her Imagination Library. She herself kicked off the series in early August with two days of concerts that raised more than $500,000.
As the final artist in Dollywood’s Showcase of Stars lineup, Dolly’s longtime friend and duet partner, Kenny Rogers, will appear in concert on Sunday, Sept. 27 at the D.P. Celebrity Theatre.
Tickets to see Kenny Rogers at the D.P. Celebrity Theatre available at Dollywood.com.
Dolly Parton’s theme park continues to rack up accolades from Amusement Today’s annual Golden Ticket Awards. This year Dollywood earned three "best of" awards and placed in the top-five in seven additional categories. Dolly said,
“Every time they announce the Golden Tickets results, I am so proud to hear how much folks love and respect Dollywood. This is our 30th anniversary season, and if you would have told me all those years ago that we would win all these awards, I’m not sure even I could have dreamed it! I truly am thankful for all of the guests who have continued to support us and for all the new folks who visit us each year! I also am grateful for the dedicated team at my Dollywood Company for providing our guests a memorable experience when they come see us.”
The Golden Ticket Awards are the most sought-after awards in the business of amusements and attractions. Pete Owens, Public Relations Director for the Dollywood Company, said,
"As a park, it is always gratifying to be honored by your peers and experts. We are particularly proud of the designation as friendliest park. That goes to what Dollywood is also about and why we encourage our guests to love every moment with their families."
Dollywood’s three Golden Ticket Awards include:
Dollywood also ranked in seven additional categories:
The 2015 awards ceremony was held on Sept. 12, at Luna Park in New York City. Calculated from an international poll conducted by Amusement Today, the industry’s leading trade publication, the Golden Ticket Awards are the results of a detailed survey sent to a database of experienced and well-traveled amusement park fans around the world in balanced geographical regions. Voters are asked to rate the “best” in 25 categories such as best parks, roller coasters, water rides, shows, kids’ area, landscaping and Christmas events.
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Dollywood was recognized in 2010 at the International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions with the Applause Award in recognition of a park whose management, operations and creative accomplishments have inspired the industry with its foresight, originality and sound business development.
