Tag Archives: Dolly Parton

Sep1

the melody lingers on.

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A Dolly Parton-inspired corn maze in Grand Rapids that was planned before her death

has been given new meaning as a memorial to the late American icon ahead of its opening today. 

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Michiganders will have a chance to celebrate her legacy while getting a little lost along the way. In America, a corn field can become a memorial fit for a queen. Here, 6½ acres cut into a maze form the contours of Dolly Parton’s face.People from all over are expected to flock to the maze and find their way through the Queen of Country’s big hair, musical notes, acoustic guitar, and her signature symbol, a fluttering butterfly. 

The maze will give thousands of families a place to go to spend time together this fall through the first week of November, but also to mourn and feel a little closer to Parton, a luminary who left a legacy of music, homespun sense, and good deeds.

“Dolly Parton’s story and what she stood for really resonates with a lot of America,” Allan Robinette, 34, told the Free Press. His family owns the farm, where the maze is and is awestruck by the interest. “It doesn’t matter who you are, you feel what she’s done is downright inspirational.”

When Parton died last week, Americans couldn’t help but take a moment to think about all the ways she had been part of their lives for decades even if they had never met her or been a fan, as a part of their lives through her music and cultural influence.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, saw the news of her death flash across his phone while in a meeting with other auto company executives, the Free Press reported. The group took a moment to paused the conversation to reminisce about Parton.

An annual fall attraction at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, the maze features a different design each year.The more than a century-old farm sells apples, peaches, cider, treats, and wine.This year, the maze was intended to be an homage to Parton. But, since the 80-year-old’s death, it has turned into something more.

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‘the song is ended but the melody lingers on.’ 

-irving berlin

 

 

 

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source credits detroit free press, the gander, usa today network

Aug26

“i wake up with new dreams everyday.” – Dolly Parton

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“Now the night I graduated from Sevier County High School, back in 1964, we were all asked to stand up and talk about what we were going to do with the rest of our lives. And everybody had a different story. And when it came my time I stood right up there. I said I’m going to Nashville and I’m going to be a star. Well the whole place laughed out loud. And I was so embarrassed, cause I thought, ‘How odd. Why is everybody laughing? ‘Cause that is what I’m going to do.’ But as bad as I felt at that moment and as embarrassed as I was, it did not shake me from my dreams. So I guess I showed them, huh?”

– From her 2009 University of Tennessee, Knoxville commencement speech

 

Dolly Parton, 8 years old (tallest, front center) with her family

 

Dolly Parton – 1946-2026
one of my favorite humans
who brought so much joy to the world
you will be missed by many
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Photo credits:
Dolly in car, Jim Herrington, 1998
Family photo, Estelle Watson, 1954
Jan20

hello, dolly!

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happy 80th to dolly

one of the kindest, most generous humans around

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“Light of a Clear Blue Morning” featuring Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah and Reba McEntire is out now.  I wrote this song during a season when I was searching for hope, and fifty years later that message still feels just as true. As I celebrate my 80th birthday, this new version is my way of using what I’ve been blessed with to shine a little light forward, especially by sharing it with these truly incredible women.” – Dolly

Listen now! https://dolly.lnk.to/LightOfAClearBlueMorning

All net proceeds from this recording and music video will benefit pediatric cancer research at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN.

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and yet another incredible project created by dolly:

DOLLY PARTON’S IMAGINATION LIBRARY

https://imaginationlibrary.com

TOTAL KIDS REGISTERED

3,197,250

TOTAL BOOKS GIFTED

304,538,420

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Ireland.

Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write Dolly started her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home county. Today, her program spans five countries and gifts millions of free books each month to children around the world.

“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer.

The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”

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‘life is a song to me.’

-Dolly Parton