# Dolly Parton helping families that lost homes in Gatlinburg wildfires. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552 "2016-12-01T20:17:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/1 "2016-12-01T20:17:33Z")
Dolly is a celebrity in the truest sense. She’s been making great music for fifty years and had a film and TV career. I recall she said in interviews that Dollywood was intended to create jobs and encourage tourism in her old hometown. Dollywood and other tourist attractions have certainly been successful in helping the local economy. Now Dolly is stepping up in a big way to help the families that lost homes in the wildfires. She’s also asking for donations through the dollywood foundation website. I hope eventually the various country music stars will organize a benefit to raise even more money to help rebuild that area. This is such an extremely generous gift to provide help the hundreds of families left with almost nothing. Just finding a warm place to stay through the winter will be expensive. It’ll be awhile before many businesses reopen and people can get back to work. [http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/01/us/dolly-parton-tennessee-fires/?iid=ob\_homepage\_deskrecommended\_pool](http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/01/us/dolly-parton-tennessee-fires/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool) [https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amp/dolly-parton-offers-1-000-month-tennessee-families-left-homeless-n690511?client=ms-android-motorola](https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amp/dolly-parton-offers-1-000-month-tennessee-families-left-homeless-n690511?client=ms-android-motorola) > [@](#): > > Country music star Dolly Parton says she wants to help families in her community in eastern Tennessee whose homes and memories were reduced to ashes this week. > > She’s created a fund through her Dollywood Companies and hopes to give each family affected by the wildfires $1,000 a month for six months to help them get “back on their feet.” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/2 "2016-12-01T20:24:51Z")
Dolly is a goddess. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/3 "2016-12-01T21:22:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I hope eventually the various country music stars will organize a benefit to raise even more money to help rebuild that area. Why limit it to country singers? I’ve visited Gatlinburg twice. It’s a cute tourist town and the scenery is gorgeous. I’m wearing a bracelet now I bought on Artist’s Row. I’ve eaten at the Alamo. I’m heartbroken at this catastrophe. I’ll be seeing what I can do to help too. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/4 "2016-12-01T21:42:43Z")
That’s a good point. Entertainers from all genres and actors would turn out to support a charity benefit for the Gatlinburg and Sevier county families. Dolly’s foundation is supposed to announce their complete plans this Friday. My wife and I plan to donate through the web site. I’ve driven in the Smokey mountains several times. Always wanted to visit Dollywood and stay at one of the resorts. Still plan to do that in the next few years after the fire damage is cleaned up. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/5 "2016-12-01T21:46:27Z")
I love Dolly so much! When I saw her video this morning, I was thinking this is a good chance to bridge some of the rural/urban divides that have been discussed and editorialized so much since the election, and to do it with some compassion. It will be interesting to see who publicly steps up with Dolly. If anyone can cross genre gaps, it’s her. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/6 "2016-12-02T00:58:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Dolly is a goddess. Seriously, she is. To be born with that much talent is incredible. To be a beautiful woman on top of that is astounding. To then be a class act in every way… aye; she’s a goddess. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/7 "2016-12-02T04:40:03Z")
\*And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII will always love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.\* Yeah, Dolly is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/8 "2016-12-02T14:44:02Z")
Just to continue to heap praise on Dolly, and what a classy and generous lady she is, I hope everybody knows about the Dolly Parton [Imagination Library.](https://imaginationlibrary.com/) Her program provides every child a **free** , age-appropriate book _every month_ from birth until the child reaches 5 years old. We signed up our kids when they were born, and it was an exciting day each month when they would each get their own brand-new book in the mail and we would sit around reading them together. My kids are older now and we have donated most of the books away, but have held on to some of the very special ones. She started the program in 1995 for the children of her home county in east Tennessee, eventually partnering with the governor to expand the program state-wide. In 2000 Dolly expanded the program to any community willing to partner to support it locally and now over 1 million children in the US, Canada and UK get a new book every month thanks to her vision and support. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/9 "2016-12-02T15:35:16Z")
Agree, what a wonderful and generous person she is, in addition to the astounding talent. She deserves every accolade that comes her way. We vacationed in Pigeon Forge several years ago, and went to Dollywood. It is a charming amusement park, and the recreation of the house/cabin/shack she grew up in is amazing to see. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/10 "2016-12-03T00:22:33Z")
The monthly stipend is genius. It’s not just a one-time splash featuring a novelty oversized check, and it shows commitment over time. My favorite Dolly story, which I’ve probably shared before, is when she took a break and went on vacation, and said “I didn’t bring Dolly.” An insightful woman who understands that persona is not the same as person. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/11 "2016-12-03T23:23:49Z")
I’ve always thought Dolly’s big wigs and makeup give her a great disguise. No one really knows what she looks like in private. She can put on a baggy sweatshirt and jeans. Don’t wear a wig or makeup. She can go anywhere and not be recognized. The Dolly Foundation raised a million dollars in only 36 hours. They’ll raise even more in the next few days. They aren’t wasting time distributing the money either. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/wyff.relaymedia.com/amp/article/dolly-partons-my-people-fund-raises-dollar1-million-in-36-hours/8459778?client=ms-android-motorola](https://www.google.com/amp/s/wyff.relaymedia.com/amp/article/dolly-partons-my-people-fund-raises-dollar1-million-in-36-hours/8459778?client=ms-android-motorola) > [@](#): > > The first funds will be distributed from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 15 and 16 and Dec. 19 and 20 at the CARE MORE Assistance Center at the LeConte Events Center in Pigeon Forge. > > One check per household per month will be issued. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/12 "2016-12-04T20:05:54Z")
Dolly has announced a telethon Dec 13. In Nashville. She’s wraps up her current tour Dec 10. So she’s literally coming straight off tour and doing the telethon. Should be a great concert since Dolly and the band are already well rehearsed. It’ll be interesting to see which other stars join her. Sure hope this is televised. It’s short notice, but Blake Shelton put together a telethon for Oklahoma tornado victims in about ten days (May 2013). It was televised. [https://www.google.com/amp/www.wbir.com/amp/news/local/wildfire/dolly-parton-planning-telethon-for-gatlinburg-fire-victims/362467168?client=ms-android-motorola](https://www.google.com/amp/www.wbir.com/amp/news/local/wildfire/dolly-parton-planning-telethon-for-gatlinburg-fire-victims/362467168?client=ms-android-motorola) ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/13 "2016-12-05T14:36:11Z")
> [@](#): > > I recall she said in interviews that Dollywood was intended to create jobs and encourage tourism in her old hometown. Dollywood and other tourist attractions have certainly been successful in helping the local economy. One minor quibble - it is the Straight Dope - the facility was there and operating under a different name before Dolly got involved. Her involvement certainly helped keep it viable and the other things she’s done are great. My favorite is a program that sends books to each child born in her home county. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/14 "2016-12-05T16:43:09Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > My favorite is a program that sends books to each child born in her home county. As I mentioned above, that program has expanded, first to include the whole state of Tennessee and then beyond and now includes over a million children in the US, Canada and the UK. As for her ‘disguise’ I saw an interview with her a few years ago where she said that the loves the fact that she can walk down the sidewalk in downtown Nashville with her husband and not be recognized without her wig & makeup. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/15 "2016-12-05T17:27:55Z")
Being a skimmer, I missed that post Skammer. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/16 "2016-12-07T21:12:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Two juveniles were arrested Wednesday on aggravated arson charges in the Tennessee wildfires that killed 14 people, and more charges are possible, authorities said Wednesday. > > The suspects weren’t identified because they’re minors. Authorities would say only that they are residents of Tennessee but not of Sevier County, where the fire caused significant damage and forced the evacuations of thousands of residents around Great Smoky Mountains National Park. > **[Two juveniles charged with arson in deadly Tennessee wildfires](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-juveniles-charged-arson-deadly-tennessee-wildfire-n693261)** > > Authorities would say only that the suspects are residents of Tennessee but not of Sevier County, where the fire caused significant damage and forced the evacuations of thousands of residents. They need to be charged as adults with major charges. Since it was in a National Park could they also be charged on the federal level? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/17 "2016-12-07T21:20:36Z")
14 dead? Those major charges should include homicide to some degree. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/18 "2016-12-07T22:00:29Z")
Dolly’s old friends are coming through for her telethon. More stars will be announced soon. I searched my direct tv guide for the Great American country channel. It’s 326. I’ll plan to watch next Tues, the 13th. I havent seen Dolly and Kenny sing together since the 80’s. [https://www.google.com/amp/wjhl.com/2016/12/07/dolly-parton-kenny-rogers-reba-to-perform-at-smoky-mountains-rise-telethon-on-dec-13/amp/?client=ms-android-motorola](https://www.google.com/amp/wjhl.com/2016/12/07/dolly-parton-kenny-rogers-reba-to-perform-at-smoky-mountains-rise-telethon-on-dec-13/amp/?client=ms-android-motorola) > [@](#): > > Parton, Reba McIntire, Kenny Rogers and Alison Krauss will perform during the Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund on Tuesday, December 13 at 8:00 p.m. on The Great American Country channel. ---
**Author:** ![Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skinnybones_lampshade/32/2872_2.png) [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinnybones_Lampshade)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/19 "2016-12-07T22:43:05Z")
I love Dolly. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552/20 "2016-12-08T04:48:41Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > \*And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII > > will always love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.\* > > Yeah, Dolly is pretty cool. That’s the Whitney version, dear. Bow down: [https://youtu.be/aDqqm\_gTPjc](https://youtu.be/aDqqm_gTPjc) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-parton-helping-families-that-lost-homes-in-gatlinburg-wildfires/773552.md?page=2)