Dolly Parton's I Believe in You Benefits Imagination Library
The beloved Appalachian-born singer's new album benefits her childhood literacy nonprofit.
I seriously love Dolly Parton, y'all.
Reese Witherspoon knows what's up.
I mean, she's a mountain girl with big hair who followed her dreams and forged her own path. She basically drew a road map for me.
Of course, beyond her timeless songs (there really isn't a serious argument against my belief that Jolene is the best song ever written...) and two of the most iconic movie roles ever (Doralee and Truvy, obvs), there's Dolly's commitment to treating others well, sharing her good fortune, and generally doing the right thing. Dolly has been vocal about her support of marriage equality. She gave millions of dollars Gatlinburg-area families the funds to help them get back on their feet after devastating fires claimed their homes.
And then there's the Imagination Library. Y'all, this is seriously one of the coolest initiatives ever. Miss Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to provide books to the children of her hometown Sevierville, Tennessee. Dolly's mission to ensure that children had access to high-quality, age-appropriate books, regardless of household income, was designed to honor her own father, whose circumstances in the Appalachian hills of Tennessee led to his never learning to read or write. Over the past 22 years, the Imagination Library has mailed more than 100 million books to children in Australia, Belize, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. This service is completely free to the recipients, y'all! Over 1600 communities are served, and over 1.1 million children have registered!
Here in Kentucky, there are over fifty Imagination Library affiliate programs. You can register your child aged 2-5, regardless of household income, if you live in an area supported by the Imagination Library. I love the fact that my little niece receives a monthly Imagination Library book! She already loves books, the alphabet, and reading, and she's showing every sign of having some seriously big hair of her own. It’s a pretty good start for a little mountain girl!
If you love Miss Dolly (and childhood literacy) as much as I do, then you should check out Dolly’s new children’s album, “I Believe in You” which is available in stores today! All proceeds from the album benefit the Imagination Library. There’s even a special edition CD package that comes with a children’s book based on Dolly’s song Coat of Many Colors. What a cute Christmas present!
Here's to big-haired mountain girls who know what they want, and who always exhibit grace and kindness on their journey!
Love Dolly as much as I do? Shop the Draper James What Would Dolly Do collection! This tee might be the most-complimented item I own!
Dogwood and Redbud Winters
The explanation of my Appalachian childhood was always that it needs to get cold before the trees can bloom, and that's quite enough for me.
Every year, sometime around Easter or the Opening Day at Keeneland, we experience a cold snap or two here in Kentucky. The weather patterns are downright chilly, and usually take place a week or two apart. And, without fail, spring's stunning flowering trees make an appearance. Without fail, I remind my beau that we're experiencing redbud winter, or its ever-so-slightly later cousin, dogwood winter, the way my mother and grandmother have always reminded me about the phenomenon. And, without fail, my beau reminds me that I'm being even more old-timey than usual.
Whether I'm being old-timey or not, I know that the early signs of spring in Kentucky are pretty amazing, and that I don't want to know the scientific explanation behind the cold snap that beckons the flowering trees into bloom.
The explanation of my Appalachian childhood was always that it needs to get cold before the trees can bloom, and that's quite enough for me.
The New Appalachia
During a recent trip to my Appalachian hometown, I had a revelation:
Everything looks the same, more or less, but there are some substantial differences.
We attended a ceremony at Alice Lloyd College, where I saw the building that once housed my great-grandmother's office still standing and put to new use.
We visited a fancy, newish restaurant in my home county, where I was delighted to find a delicious menu and a healthy appreciation of our native spirit -- a far cry from the dry county votes of my childhood.
And, as I left the mountains on Sunday morning, I ran across a barn -- formerly, the Appalachian countryside's in-house billboard service for tobacco branding -- advocating smoking cessation.
It's clear, the place that we've been told will never change is changing. It's retaining the best of the old mountain ways while adapting to the times. And, here at HerKentucky, we're thrilled to partake in the best of the new Appalachia. We'll be bringing you our newest city guide, HerAppalachia, on a semi-weekly basis, celebrating our favorite places and events. And we'd love to hear what you're loving about Appalachia lately!
Old Christmas
The Appalachian tradition of Old Christmas; a celebration of the Feast of Epiphany.
One of the holiday traditions that's stuck with me from growing up in Eastern Kentucky is the idea that January the 6th is Old Christmas. I'd always heard that it's the day you take your Christmas tree down, the day that the Magi arrived and, that, curiously, farm animals could talk on Old Christmas. It was always referred to as a custom that the old folks had followed; an old story among Appalachians of an era past.
Image via Dave Berry Photography.
Of course, this celebration refers to Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, the day on which the Magi arrived. The celebration actually predates the observation of the Feast of the Nativity, and is known to have been observed as early as 380 A.D.. The observation of Old Christmas was brought to the Appalachian Mountains by Scotch-Irish settlers; traditions that sprung up around Old Christmas included the idea that animals could be heard to pray and the superstition that anything you lend to someone on this day will never be returned.
Adoration of the Magi, Sandro Botticelli
So many old traditions and old linguistic patterns were still evident in the Appalachia of my youth. I try to keep a little bit of that by holding on to my Christmas decorations until Old Christmas. I haven't heard any cattle lowing just yet, but maybe someday...