SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn. — Locals living in Sevier County, Tennessee, where Dolly Parton is from, flocked to a statue of the legend downtown.
“You feel her presence here,” said Alyssa Bogard. “You feel how important she is.”
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Parton was one of 12 children in a one-bedroom log cabin here. Much of her relatives are still in the area.
“Her niece, Heidi Parton, headlines the show inside the Dreamsong Theater,” said Eugene Naughton.
That theater is inside Dollywood, the amusement park in Pigeon Forge, and Naughton is president of the park. Plus, he said, Dolly Parton was his friend.
“I’m going to miss that smile, those eyes, and I’m going to miss the songs that she used to sing backstage while she was tuning her vocals,” said Naughton.
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He plans to open a new exhibit next to the chapel at the park in March.
“We’re adding a waterfall,” said Naughton. “Water represents life, and with that water coming down toward the chapel, it’s a nice connection to know that Dolly’s always here.”
He said it will include a reflecting pool and a sculpted guitar with stained glass on it. that will inspire visions of the Smoky Mountains inside the church.
City manager of Pigeon Forge, David Wear, said his team will work hard to preserve her legacy.
“It probably comes down to living the way she lived,” said Wear. “She based her whole persona on love. She loved everybody. She accepted everybody.”
He said when he grew up, she gave every student in the county $500 to graduate high school.
She helped rebuild after the deadly Smoky Mountain wildfires in 2016. She aided families struggling for work during the pandemic.
“She was larger than life, but she was also as real as they get,” Wear said.
“It is just a tragedy that we’ve lost her, but we are so thankful that we got to have her,” said Mariah Trenum, who was visiting Dolly Parton’s statue downtown.
She said locals are gravitating toward this location to feel closer to their icon, and local leaders are preparing for an influx of visitors.
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