At Dollywood, I discovered the real reason she is America’s sweetheart

Dollywood, Tennessee: When Sabrina Taylor’s property burnt down in the devastating 2016 wildfires that ripped through Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, Dolly Parton came to the rescue.

Not only did the country music icon contribute to a program that dispensed $US5000 ($6900) a month to fire victims who lost their homes, but Parton also helped find Taylor somewhere to live in the interim.

“I got to stay in her best friend Judy Ogle’s home here,” Taylor says in her southern drawl. “She relocated myself and two other people that I know, let me stay there until I found other lodgings. That was a very private memory … People wouldn’t really know that she would do stuff like that.”

Taylor spent Wednesday (US time) at Dollywood, the Dolly Parton theme park near her childhood home in east Tennessee. She was with three other Dolly superfans: Cody Dobbs, Jonathan Brashier and Aaron Hamby, all of whom found community here.

What they all agreed was that Parton, who died this week at the age of 80, was much more than a musician. In her death, their overriding memory was about her generosity – of spirit and of dollar. A woman who could have been a billionaire but ultimately gave away an estimated $US600 million to all manner of charitable causes.

The group has friends from all over the world through the Dollywood fan club, including Australia. Brashier, who is from South Carolina, says they have never missed a year. He has met her many times.

“Yesterday, when I was at home, sitting in my den grieving after this news broke, I found the very first picture I had with her,” Brashier says. “It was at the bottom of the steps of her apartment at the time. I was just this little skinhead, snaggle-tooth kid. I think I was 11.

“I’ll tell you this – the very next year, she remembered me. A very beautiful fan friendship just blossomed from then over the years. There is nothing like having a moment with her.”

It’s at that point that Brashier’s voice starts to break as he fights back tears. It is slightly jarring to see an adult man vulnerable in this way, and yet it is difficult not to share his emotion.

“There is something magical about her that you have to experience, that you can’t really explain,” he says. “She makes you feel like you’re the only person in the room when she’s talking to you.

“That is something that I never outgrew in my life, even when I was with her just a couple of years ago. I still get nervous; I still get the butterflies. But she didn’t know she made you nervous. It’s just something that happened. And it’s something that I will hang on to for the rest of my life.”

The four friends were among many Americans who felt compelled to travel to Dollywood on Wednesday to pay their respects to the undisputed queen of country music.

Overall, it was a modest day for foot traffic. Tennessee schools have returned from summer break, and Dollywood is decidedly a family affair. But they are gearing up for a massive weekend ahead.

The sheer size of Dollywood is a testament to her cultural power. First opened in 1986, it occupies 462 hectares of land within the Smoky Mountains range, with only 73 hectares of that developed so far.