On 9-2-5, keep Dolly’s good work going

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

There may not be a more Dolly Parton way to remember Dolly Parton than this: Friday is Sept. 25 – nine-two-five.

It is a little wink toward 9 to 5, sure. But in the month since Parton died Aug. 25 at age 80, those numbers have taken on a life of their own.

Across Tennessee and beyond, Sept. 25 is becoming a day for Dolly – a day for pink, for music, for kindness, and especially for giving back to the causes she spent much of her life supporting.

Here in Moore County, there is a pretty simple way to join in. Help put another book in a child’s mailbox.

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A date that was just too Dolly to pass up

The Dollywood Foundation has designated Sept. 25 as the first Give Like Dolly Day, encouraging people to support Imagination Library programs and other efforts that carry Parton’s spirit of generosity forward.

Nashville has embraced the date, too, with Dolly-themed events, music, fundraisers, and businesses joining in. The 9/25 connection has spread elsewhere as communities look for their own way to remember Dolly.

The idea works because it feels less like a memorial and more like something Dolly herself might have appreciated. Do a little good, help somebody, and keep it moving.

And when it comes to children and books, there is already a pretty good roadmap.

The rhinestones were only part of the story

Parton will always be remembered for the songs. There is Jolene, Coat of Many Colors, I Will Always Love You, and, of course, 9 to 5. There were movies, businesses, Dollywood, and a career big enough that just about everybody knew her first name.

But somewhere along the way, the girl who grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee decided one of the best things she could do with all that success was mail books to children.

Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 in Sevier County. The idea came from something close to home: Her father could not read or write.

What started there eventually spread across Tennessee, then across the country and overseas.

To a child, the idea is pretty simple. A book shows up in the mail with your name on it – then, another comes the next month.

Children enrolled in the program receive an age-appropriate book every month from birth until age 5, regardless of family income. Local affiliates help make that happen community by community.

That brings 9-2-5 right back to Lynchburg.

Here, Dolly’s legacy has 131 names on mailing labels

The Moore County Imagination Library, based through the Moore County Public Library, currently covers 131 local children. Across Tennessee, 275,727 children are enrolled.

Those are big numbers statewide, but the local one matters most here. One hundred thirty-one Moore County children are opening books with their names on the label.

Some of those books are getting read on a couch after supper. Some are becoming bedtime favorites. Some will get worn around the edges because a child wants the same story again and again.

That is the part of Dolly’s legacy that does not need a stage or a spotlight. It just needs somebody willing to help keep it going.

Give like Dolly, right here at home

So Friday, play a little Dolly if the mood strikes. Wear the pink. Turn 9 to 5 up a notch.

But maybe do one more thing while you are at it. Make a donation to the Metro Moore County Imagination Library.

Give $9.25 because the date makes you smile. Give more if you can. Either way, it helps keep books headed toward local children.

To learn more about donating, contact the Moore County Public Library at 931-759-7285 or email mcldirector@comcast.net.

There will be plenty of ways to remember Dolly Parton in the years ahead. But a book showing up in a Moore County child’s mailbox next month? That feels a whole lot like Dolly.