Local family received passes to ‘Dollywood’ from star
Tributes to Country Music Star Dolly Parton have been shared all over the country this week after the beloved singer’s passing Tuesday, August 25.
At least one local resident would like to add her tribute to the famed “Queen of Country Music.”
Linda Howell Sapp of Blackshear recalls a time when she and her late husband, Allen, and her sister and brother-in-law, Leola and Donald Crawford, of Pooler, all traveled to Sevierville, TN to Dollywood.
Sapp and Crawford were told Dolly was performing at the Celebrity Theater at her theme park. The theater is an intimate venue with about 2,000 seats.
“It was packed and she came out and was just as beautiful as always. She sang her heart out and put on a good show,” recalls Sapp. “She sang ‘Coat of Many Colors’.”
The Sapps’ trip just happened to fall on the 20th anniversary of Dollywood, Parton’s theme park in East Tennessee.
“She was just great. She came out on stage and joked that she wasn’t Oprah Winfrey and wouldn’t be giving away cars to everyone in the audience,” Sapp said.
Linda and Allen Sapp had 20-year passes to Dollywood - a gift from a visit to a Dolly Parton show.
Parton was, however, very generous to those in her audience that night.
“She said because we came to see her, she was going to give every one of us a 20-year free pass to Dollywood,” said Sapp.
From that day until this year, Sapp has had a free pass to get in to the theme park. The pass expired last year.
Sapp says she and her family have taken advantage of the free passes often, usually making an annual pilgrimage to the theme park.
While the stage that day was the closest they ever got to the superstar, Sapp said she and her husband got to see Parton in concert several times. They also visited for the opening day activities for Dollywood during a couple of seasons. They especially enjoyed seeing her sing with her family and have also attended the Imagination Library concert.
“She attended every opening day and would always be the guest of honor in a parade through town,” Sapp says. “We have photos of her on her very own float in town.”
Sapp says, like others across the country, she felt a connection to Dolly.
Sapp said she even has some of Dolly’s cookbooks and has used her recipes.
“We were blessed to have crossed paths with her,” said Sapp. “She loved God and her family. She certainly did lots of charity. I don’t think we will ever see another like her. She was just so special and talented.”
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