I don’t think I’m alone in admitting I had a crush on Dolly Parton when I was younger. Unlike a lot of other pretty faces though, she seemed to have a soul to match. I never met the legendary singer and following her passing on Aug. 25, I guess I never will, but she had a gentleness and sincerity that seemed to come out whether she was being interviewed or playing the nicest Madame a whorehouse could ask for.
Pardon the use of the word, but I consider Best Little Whorehouse in Texas an unmitigated classic and although I’m not a fan of bordellos, she had the charisma, range and gravitas to make it seem like the closing of one was a complete tragedy. Hard candy Christmas indeed.
The internet lit up the day of her death with people of every background sharing ways in which she inspired them and countless stories of meeting her and finding the woman lived up to her legend. All of this seemed to convey the woman who actually got me to listen to country music was worthy of the hype.
A bigger clue was the Dollywood Foundation though. Her charitable enterprising started in 1988 with the Buddy Program in her home county of Sevier County. Parton promised every 7th grade and 8th grade student that year that she would give them $500 if they graduated. She had noticed the county had a particularly high dropout rate. The promise dropped that rate from 35% to 6% and spurred others into investing in the success of children there.
Her foundation also offers a number of scholarships including five $15,000 scholarships awarded to one student at each of the county’s five high schools. In 2016, massive fires swept through Sevier County and that spurred the My People Fund where each of those families were assisted with $1,000 a month for 6 months. The enterprise resulted in $12 million raised and distributed with additional funds provided in scholarships to high school seniors whose homes were lost in the fire.
As the president of the Dublin Public Library board, the main thing I knew about was Imagination Library, a program which provides books for enrolled children from birth to when they’re old enough to attend school. The program is over 30 years old and has delivered hundreds of millions of books.
Thanks in part to grants and the support of organizations like the Dublin EDC, 492 kids have graduated through the program at Dublin Public Library and another 188 are actively receiving books. (If you have an eligible child and would like to learn more, visit the library or call 254- 445- 4141.)
Parton cited her favorite childhood book as Watty Piper’s “The Little Engine That Could” and she selected it as the first book that any child in the program receives.
“Of course, everybody knows “I Think I Can, I Think I Can.” To me, it is one of those simple but powerful messages for us all to believe in ourselves and always strive to fulfill our dreams,” Parton said of the book. “I often say that little phrase over and over to help conquer my apprehensions or my nerves before I am about to launch into something that is just a little bit scary to me.”
It’s a simple lesson that carried throughout her life and it’s only one of many she shared with millions of kids and hundreds locally through her organization. Dolly, we all know Jolene couldn’t compete.
— Paul Gaudette is the Managing Editor of The Dublin Citizen and can be reached via email at publisher@ dublincitizen. com.