Keith Pugh

In 1988 Dolly Parton pulled every 7th and 8th grader in Sevier County into a room and told them to pick a buddy. She made them sign a contract.. if BOTH graduate, she hands you both $500. One fails, nobody gets paid. The county dropout rate went from 35% to 6%. She handed out the checks herself. In 1989 she offered $500 to every kid in the county who wanted to go to the local college. When Gatlinburg burned in 2016, she sent 900 families $1,000 a month for six months. You've probably heard that part. Here's the part you haven't: The fund raised more than expected, so she showed up in May and handed every one of those families another $5,000 on top. Then she quietly put $3 million into the recovery group that handles the years after the news trucks leave. She built her county an entire hospital. She played a benefit concert in 2007, Dollywood and the Stampede matched it, and LeConte Medical Center opened in 2010 with a birthing unit and a women's center in it. In 2022 she started covering 100% of tuition, books, and fees for Dollywood employees. Full-time, part-time, AND seasonal. In 1991 she paid for a bald eagle sanctuary because the birds couldn't be released back into the wild, no press release. And when Hurricane Helene came through here in Western North Carolina, she wrote a personal check for $1 million and her companies matched it. She didn't owe North Carolina anything, but she helped us anyway. She started the Imagination Library because her daddy couldn't read or write. Before he passed, he told her it was the most important thing she ever did. Rest in Peace, Dolly 🇺🇸

🚨#BREAKING: THERE HAS BEEN EXTREME FLOODING IN EASTERN TENNESSEE!!!!! PEOPLE'S VEHICLES, HOMES, AND ENTIRE LIVELIHOODS ARE LITERALLY FLOATING DOWNSTREAM RIGHT NOW. MASSIVE MUDSLIDES HAVE BEEN REPORTED BLOCKING ROAD. THIS IS BAD, PLEASE PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is so hard not to cry sharing this news... After 570 days of being closed to the public after Hurricane Helene devastated the town and the lake... ...the iconic Lake Lure, where the film Dirty Dancing was filmed, IS FINALLY REOPENING ON APRIL 20TH!!!! LET'S GO!!!!!!!!

🚨#BREAKING: For the FIRST TIME in 540 days, Highway 64 in Bat Cave NC, which was destroyed during Hurricane Helene, has officially REOPENED to the public!!! The highway connecting to Lake Lure was rebuilt $7 MILLION UNDER BUDGET and FASTER than expected. Incredible!!!