Two Topeka businesses will celebrate their anniversaries with Dolly Parton-themed event

Have a Cup of Ambition at Rogue Event Studio and celebrate musical icon and philanthropist Dolly Parton.

Rogue is celebrating one year in business by launching its Icon Events series this month. The public is invited to attend “Parton Me Darlin’, It’s Our Birthday” from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 13. The event will mark Rogue’s one-year anniversary, as well as Chinell’s Floral and Event Design’s sixth birthday this fall.

Ariel Unselt, owner of Rogue and Chinell’s, said the event center plans to host an Icon Event each quarter to honor cultural icons.

“This is our first Icon Event, and it seems like the perfect time to launch it,” said Unselt. “These will be events celebrating icons that everybody knows. The great thing about Dolly is that she’s just such a likeable person. She never tries to hide who she is. She’s inspiring and bold.”

Dolly-themed cocktails and mocktails, including a Cup of Ambition, will be for sale during the event, and Bobby’s Food Co. food truck will be on site for guests to purchase dinner. A dessert bar is included with the price of the event ticket, complete with pie, to honor Parton.

“Dolly eats pie on her birthday, so we have to have pie,” said Unselt.

Unselt said Icon Events are for all ages, with kids’ activities and live music by Cleveland Blue, who will perform Dolly tribute songs.

“I want it to be a unique experience that you can’t get anywhere else," she said. "Cleveland Blue did our opening for us and was great to work with. When I told him I was doing Dolly, he was all about it.”

Beyond hosting a celebration, Unselt said she wants Icon Events to serve a larger purpose in the Topeka community.

“I want this to be a family-friendly event, but also a blessing to our community. All of the Icon Events will be opportunities to highlight (causes) these people are or were passionate about,” said Unselt.

Dolly Parton has invested heavily in children’s literacy efforts. She established the Imagination Library program, which provides age-appropriate books to children from birth to age 5, mailed directly to their home address each month. Rogue is partnering with United Way and the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library to bring awareness of Imagination Library to the community.

“There will be people from Imagination Library there to help people sign up,” said Unselt.

Donors will also be able to sponsor a child through their monetary support of the program. For $30, Imagination Library can provide every child younger than 5 with a free book each month for a year. A donation of $150 helps to build a child’s personal library of 60 books by the time they go to kindergarten.

In honor of Parton’s "Coat of Many Colors" song, Rogue will also collect new or gently used winter coats from the public during the event to distribute to those in need.

Unselt said she plans to hold another Icon Event in March next year featuring the late musical artist Prince.

“There are only a few people who you can call by first name only, and people know who they are,” she said.

Rogue Event Center, 917 N. Kansas Ave., specializes in professional event design, including weddings, parties and corporate events. It also offers an events space for smaller gatherings at its NOTO storefront. Chinell’s provides one-of-a-kind fresh floral arrangements for special occasions and is housed in the same space as Rogue.

Tickets for the “Parton Me Darlin’, It’s Our Birthday” event are $10 each and can be purchased online.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka businesses celebrate anniversaries with Dolly Parton event