Country Legend Dolly Parton Sings ‘Smoky Mountain Christmas’

“You can take the girl from the country,” I have heard ’em say. But you’ll never take the country from the girl.

Dolly Parton is living proof of exactly that.

Beneath the glitz and glamor and falsies and bleach-blonde wigs is the little girl born in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. Dolly has clung to her Appalachian roots. In fact, she still lives in Nashville, three hours away from Dollywood, the amusement park she opened in 1986.

Coincidentally, her made-for-TV movie A Smoky Mountain Christmas came out the same year. Directed by none other than Henry Winkler (The Fonz on Happy Days), the movie follows a famous country singer named Lorna Davis, played by Dolly Parton. Depressed and overworked, Lorna decides to spend a quiet holiday season in the Smoky Mountains. But her plans are derailed when she finds seven orphans hiding out in her friend’s cabin.

Dolly probably has more in common with those orphans than her country star persona. Though she had parents who loved her, her childhood was far from easy. Her newborn brother passed away when she was only nine years old, and she was one of twelve children living in a single-room home. Regardless, Dolly still has fond Christmas memories from her childhood.

I’m dreaming of a Smoky Mountain Christmas
With the kids around the fireplace, stringing popcorn for the tree
I’m dreaming of a Smoky Mountain Christmas
With nothing much that money buys, but everything worthwhile in life
Dreaming of a Smoky Mountain Christmas

Perhaps that’s a good lesson for us all this holiday season. We don’t need a lot of money and things to make the holidays special. As long as we have friends and family, we are rich indeed!

And from all of us here at Senior Resource, merry Christmas! We hope you have a great holiday season!

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