‘These are my people’: How Dolly Parton stays true to her roots at Dollywood

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. – Dolly Parton is a dreamer. She always has been.

Growing up in a two-room Tennessee mountain home that would have been cozy even without 11 siblings, she famously dreamed of becoming a singer someday.

But there’s a lesser known dream she had back then, too.

“When I was growing up here in the Great Smoky Mountains, we used to come every now and then down to this area,” Parton told USA TODAY in an interview at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa in Pigeon Forge. “When it was the county fair, we’d come to town, and I used to think if I make it big, if I get rich like I was dreaming I might, that I’d love to do something special, to come back home and build a park of my own.”

Dollywood is her dream come true.

“And I'm still dreaming and it's still coming true,” Parton added. Here’s how she’s sharing her dream with others through the park.

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‘My mountains, my valleys’

“I love having a theme park,” Parton said.

The “9 to 5” singer owns the park in partnership with Herschend Family Entertainment, which also owns Silver Dollar City among other properties. But Parton is Dreamer in Chief and just about everything in the park circles back to her.

Guests can walk through one of her old tour buses and see a replica of her storied childhood home.

“We try to, as they call it, Dollyize it,” she laughed, but she takes real pride sharing where she’s from with visitors through the park’s music and crafts.

“I love that because this is who we are. This is what we do. And this is what my people have done, the way they've made a living through the years,” Parton said. “I feel like all the people here are my people, in this area. I even wrote a song, you know. ‘These are my mountains, my valleys. These are my rivers flowing like a song. These are my people.’ All these multicolored rainbows, these are my people. This is my home.”

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Dollywood’s economic impact

Parton has always wanted to give back to her community.

Not only has Dollywood become the biggest employer in Sevier County, it’s one of the best in the country, according to various rankings, with benefits like child care assistance and covering 100% of tuition, fees and books for seasonal, part-time and full-time employees.

“We have some of the sweetest people on Earth working here at the park,” Parton said. But they aren’t the only ones the park touches.

“The annual direct economic impact of Dollywood is $1.8 billion, and the park is credited with creating more than 23,000 jobs for the region,” according to a Tennessee Department of Transportation case study.

“I feel good that I'm just one of the great businesses around here,” Parton said. “Of course, now I can't take credit for all the great people and all the great businesses around here because it all started with the national park, the Great Smoky Mountains and all the wonderful things.”

Investing in Dollywood

Dollywood is still growing.

Last month, the park debuted its longest roller coaster yet, Big Bear Mountain. Its second resort will open this fall. “We're opening the HeartSong Lodge and Resort over in the holler back here at Dollywood,” Parton said.

Both projects are part of a planned half-billion dollar investment across Dollywood properties over the next decade.

“We're just proud of everything that we got going, and we'll continue to try to expand and try to always make the people that do come here feel welcome and know that they can bring their kids and friends and just have a great time,” she said.

How Dollywood gives back

Countless families who’ve never visited Dollywood still benefit from it.

This past March, the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library marked giving away its 200 millionth book. Two million books are mailed out each month to families with kids under the age of 5, for free to encourage early literacy.

“All those books in the hands of all those children, that’s one of the things I’m proudest of here at the park with the Dollywood Foundation and what we do here,” Parton said at the opening ceremony for Big Bear Mountain. “Because not only do we make good money here – and we appreciate you for that – we also give back. We do a lot of wonderful things through the foundation, and the Imagination Library is one of the things I’m proudest of and want to be remembered for as much as anything I’ve ever done when I’m up there on the big roller coaster in the sky.”

Keeping her heart and hands open

Until then, Dolly Parton and Dollywood will keep giving back.

“I believe in keeping my heart open above everything else and keeping my mind open in case some good thought might run through there now and then,” she added. “But I just love people, and I just think if you do wind up in a position where you can help, you should help. I mean there's always somebody you know to be helped.”

“I often laugh and say ‘Well this goes to a poor needy family – my own, which is true, too,” she joked. “But … I always ask God every day to give me, you know, enough to share and some to spare. He’s been good about that, so I will continue to try to do what I can if I see a need. I just let my heart lead me.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dolly Parton does a lot more through Dollywood than many fans realize