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Parade for Dolly Parton lets participants embrace who they are, remember the bright side on sunny Seawalk
- Jasz Garrett
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
'She's got a special place in my heart'
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
A question of who organized a tribute procession honoring the late Dolly Parton circled among more than 100 cowboys and cowgirls as they strutted through downtown last Friday.
“It was organized by Dolly herself,” Collette Costa said with a smile.
Really, it was her — and some gals in rhinestones.
“I think she affects my music entirely,” said Annie Bartholomew, a local musician who helped plan the parade. “I love sequins, I love fringe. I do make my own fringe outfits. She’s a constant inspiration. I return to her images over and over again when I’m trying to figure out how to adapt something.”
Her friend, Hali Duran, a local dancer and choreographer, spurred the event. But Duran said it was a collective effort to honor Parton and the most beautiful part about the parade was that it became a community effort, with everyone present making it possible, including the Off the Hook Honeys, Juneau’s dancing girls.
“She was kind of a world treasure,” Duran said of Parton. “She’s known for being universally liked and there’s so much I think these days that doesn’t bring us together.”
This did, she said.
Bartholomew and Duran said they were surprised at how many people unified in grief over Parton’s passing last week. The country musician died at 80 years old of cancer on Aug. 26.
“She’s got a special place in my heart,” attendee Kelly Sorensen said. “She stood up for what she believed in.”
Plus, she said her music is awesome.
A parade of pink filled the sunny streets with speakers blasting songs lifted high in the air. It was just after 5 p.m. as “9 to 5” blared, with blonde wigs bouncing to the music.
The walk, which began at the Alaska State Capitol, ended near the Downtown Library with a dance party. Acacia Forbes, 8, said “9 to 5” is her favorite song by Parton. Sporting pink sunglasses, she spun around to it on the docks with her friends.
“This is why I love Juneau,” Lacey Alexis said after finishing a line dance. “It has people who organize things like this.”
Duran said in part it was the spontaneous community aspect that made the event feel as special as it did and she wanted to see more in the future.
“It was just if you felt this way too, you would just show up and come and participate in this thing,” she said.
A legacy of Parton’s carries on in the capital city, said Nikki Love, who offered children’s books to attendees.
The musician and actress started an education nonprofit called Imagination Library to send free books to children across the country and world, including Southeast Alaska. The effort started because Parton’s father, who quit school to work on the Tennessee farm where she grew up, struggled to learn to read. The literary effort started in rural communities and has since spread.
Since its inception 20 years ago, the Southeast Childhood Collective has distributed over a quarter of a million books, according to Love, the nonprofit’s creative director. The collective hosts biannual fundraisers in Juneau, including a “Dolly Dash.”
“The intention is that the books are free to families and children, and it is ages 0 to 5. From the time they start receiving books until they graduate they’ll have a collection of 60 books that they’ve been reading,” Love said. “They’re developmentally appropriate and it encourages the love of reading, but also it is foundational for good social-emotional development. And Dolly's philosophy is: How can you say no to a child when they come and say, ‘Will you read a book with me?’”
Although the program’s free, the collective raises about $30,000 each year to keep it going. In general, members of the collective said they admired Parton. Blue Shibler, executive director, said she looked up to her and her efforts around early childhood education.
“The positivity and always looking for the bright side is such a good message for kids to have,” she said. “She’s kind of our hero. We had a vigil for her at the office — a candlelight vigil — since that day.”
Bartholomew said Parton’s message of acceptance and love endures.
“I think the most important thing with her passing is that all of her messages about being your truest self and being too much and being over the top and being a great businesswoman have come to the surface,” she said. “Being around people who also have been inspired and lives have been affected by it — whether it was through the Imagination Library or just a fan of her music.”
She said she was happy to see people not in costumes showing up for the tribute last week too.
“Dolly would want you to join however you are,” Bartholomew said before taking her guitar and sparkles to Tracy’s Crab Shack for a continued celebration and after-party.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
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