by Jim Matheny
With the death of Dolly Parton, we mourn the loss of a best Friend of the Smokies. Dolly did so much for her hometown, her people, and her national park. She was a global superstar who proudly reminded everyone she was a “Smoky Mountain girl.”
We’d like to share a small sample of our favorite photos and videos of Dolly as she harnessed her many talents to help Friends of the Smokies and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The photo at the top of this email was taken by Jack Williams at a Dolly Parton concert benefiting Friends of the Smokies.
Dolly went above and beyond in 2009 as the ambassador for the national park’s 75th anniversary celebration. We still smile at these 2009 publicity photos of Dolly with our longtime president, Jim Hart, who died in February.
Dolly recorded an album and donated the first year’s proceeds to Friends of the Smokies. She released the EP Sha-Kon-O-Hey! Land of Blue Smoke on February 11, 2009, featuring eight songs she wrote about the Smoky Mountains.
The album included the song “My Mountains, My Home.” She sang it live at Newfound Gap during the 75th anniversary celebration. You can watch her wonderful live performance in her coat of many colors on our YouTube channel. We also posted the clip to our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Dolly helped countless Friends of the Smokies fundraising events as a donor and salesperson. She unabashedly asked people to donate to our cause as only she could. As Dolly put it, “Nothing helps the mountains like some cash on the barrel head.”
Here’s a video message Dolly recorded years ago for attendees at our annual Evergreen Ball fundraiser. She shares her love of the mountains and makes quite a sales pitch on our behalf.
Dolly recorded several television public service announcements to boost our nonprofit. She donned her park ranger uniform to ask people to donate to the Trails Forever Program.
Since those early days, the Trails Forever Program raised an $8 million endowment and now funds a skilled crew that reconstructs and rehabilitates some of the park’s most impacted trails. The Trails Forever Crew is currently wrapping up a project to restore Bullhead Trail and previously rehabbed Ramsey Cascades (2024), Abrams Falls (2022), Trillium Gap (2020), Rainbow Falls (2018), Alum Cave (2015), Chimney Tops (2012), and Forney Ridge (2010) trails.
Dolly regularly donated items to our charity auctions, including exclusive VIP tickets to her live shows where she would meet and greet the winning bidders.
Dolly’s spirit of giving to the Smokies permeates the businesses she dreamed to make a reality. Dollywood Parks and Resorts has long been one of the greatest sponsors of Friends of the Smokies events. Dollywood employees donate their time to volunteer for the benefit of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Eugene Naughton, president of The Dollywood Company, graciously volunteers as one of our board directors.
Dolly cared deeply about children. In the 2018 interview below provided to Friends of the Smokies, she spoke about the importance of the Great Smoky Mountains and the outdoors in fostering her creativity. She expressed her desire for children to have the same opportunities to explore their environments and imaginations.
We are thankful for Dolly’s savviness and life of selflessness. She led by example. She inspired generations to take pride in our mountains and give for their benefit. Dolly was a true Friend of the Smokies.
Dolly, we will always love you.
ps. Below is a link to an April Fools’ Day gag about Dollywood and Great Smoky Mountains National Park merging. It aired on The Heartland Series on WBIR and featured Jim Hart and Dolly Parton. After the story, we included around six minutes of the interview with Dolly where all of her answers were entirely improvised.
As always, thank you for being a Friend of the Smokies! There are many ways you can support our mission.
- One-time gifts or scheduled giving: Make a single donation. Every gift helps. You can also support our projects year-round by scheduling monthly donations (or any interval you prefer).
- License plates: Your specialty license plates in Tennessee and North Carolina drive major support for the national park.
- Legacy giving: Make protecting the park part of your legacy by including Friends of the Smokies in your estate plans.
- Business partnerships: Make an organizational impact by supporting programs, sponsoring events, and developing marketing opportunities that help the park.
- Volunteer: Help with events, become an ambassador, assist with hikes, and more!
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