Dollywood’s resident gospel quartet the Kingdom Heirs took home the 2004 Band of the Year Award at this year’s Singing News Fan Awards on Sept. 16. The fan-voted awards ceremony was part of the National Quartet Convention.
This is the second time the Kingdom Heirs received this award. The Kingdom Heirs recorded a new Christmas album, "The Spirit of Christmas," which they featured during the Smoky Mountain Christmas festival.
Dollywood theme park hosted a spectacular Harvest Celebration. It featured an array of talented artisans, special entertainment and fantastic foods amid a backdrop of lavish fall décor. The event included a five-week competition between some of the country’s premier caricature carvers and their finest handiwork. Meanwhile, visiting chefs revealed kitchen secrets during cooking demonstrations. More than 30 Southern gospel artists performed on various park stages.
The Great Smoky Mountains, provided the amazing fall color. To further enhance the beauty of the season, visitors saw 4,000 pumpkins, gourds and squash. There were 5,500 stalks of corn and 3,000 potted mums in a variety of colors. Hundreds of yards of honeysuckle vine completed the scene.
When Dolly is involved, putting on a bluegrass concert series is more like a Bluegrass Blast. For three days, Dollywood visitors enjoyed music by award-winning artists across the theme park. Dolly said,
“I love listening to bluegrass music just about as much as I love singing it. That makes me especially proud to present bluegrass music’s finest at Dollywood during my Bluegrass Blast.”
Nine-time GRAMMY Award winner Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys and the Del McCoury Band headlined the event. All concerts were free with admission to Dollywood.
On June 18, 2004, Dolly, Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, Barney, the purple dinosaur, and about 1000 children and parents gathered at Dollywood to celebrate Gov. Bredesen’s pledge to provide Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program to every child under five across the entire state. For the first time, an entire state guaranteed that every child within its borders will have access to quality books and the joy they inspire.
During this year, many discussions about a statewide Imagination Library took place in several communities and the number of participating Affiliates continued to rise. Books could potentially be mailed to eligible children in all 50 states, and ideally, entire states would replicate the program beyond their current communities. The monthly book ordering process was also vastly improved and social awareness about the program was buzzing.
A new database system was eventually designed, creating a much easier way for Affiliates to add children’s registration information online. The combination of technological improvements as well as the generosity of Dolly herself, Dixie Stampede, Dollywood and all corporate sponsors meant that communities would only continue to pay for just the cost of the actual books and postage.
By the end of 2004, 375 communities in 39 states were providing Imagination Library books to the children in their coverage area. In December, for the first time ever, the number of children receiving books each month surpassed 100,000 and brought the yearly total of books to 980,000.
The largest kids’ festival in the South returned just as kids got out of school for the summer. Dolly said,
“Growing up, summertime in the Smoky Mountains was just one adventure-filled day after another for my brothers and sisters and me. KidsFest is my way of sharing special Smoky Mountain adventures with kids of all ages while they explore all of the fun activities that Dollywood has to offer.”
The VeggieTales® live show was a favorite at the park. Dollywood also welcomed several new faces including a costumed bear show. Clay, a seven-and-a-half-year-old black bear, played guitar. Griz, a 12-year-old grizzly bear, was the drummer. Ice, an 18-year-old polar bear, played keyboard and Rae Ling, a 10-year-old panda, sang. The band performed in Craftsman’s Valley.
The festival was filled with more animal antics. Families fell in love with seven performing dogs with acts ranging from flying disc catches to jumping rope and dancing!
