\u00a0<\/p>\n
Southern California marked the first Dolly Parton Day established under state law on Friday with concerts, singalongs, children\u2019s programs and other tributes to the late country music legend.<\/p>\n
DTLA Alliance and Grand Performances held a noon celebration Friday at Cal Marketplace at Grand Avenue and Third Street featuring live performances by Leslie Stevens and Andy Keathley, a DJ, book drive and giveaways, according to organizers.<\/p>\n
At the Santa Monica Pier, a Dolly Parton Day celebration was scheduled from late Friday morning through 3:05 p.m. at the carousel. Organizers said the event included tributes to Parton and her Imagination Library, a moment of silence and group performances of \u201c9 to 5\u201d and \u201cJolene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beginning around sunset, Pacific Park will illuminate its 90-foot-tall Pacific Wheel on the pier in pink, with \u201cDOLLY\u201d and \u201cWE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU!\u201d displayed across the Ferris wheel along with pink hearts, stars and spiral animations. The display is scheduled to continue until midnight.<\/p>\n
LA County Library branches were also marking Dolly Parton Day with programs Friday, including children\u2019s activities in Lomita, West Covina and Los Angeles, a teen line-dancing program in Baldwin Park and a 4 p.m. screening of the Imagination Library documentary \u201cThe Library That Dolly Built\u201d at the San Fernando Library.<\/p>\n
Amoeba Music in Hollywood was donating a portion of Friday\u2019s proceeds to Parton\u2019s Imagination Library, offering 30% off used books and featuring a Dolly Parton-inspired photo opportunity.<\/p>\n
Newsom issued a proclamation Friday formally declaring Sept. 25, 2026, as Dolly Parton Day, days after signing legislation establishing Sept. 25 as an annual observance in California.<\/p>\n
\u201cParton is known for songs like \u20189 to 5\u2019 \u2014 a song we reference today on 9-2-5 \u2014 and \u2018I Will Always Love You,\u2019 which Whitney Houston covered to global acclaim,\u201d Newsom said in the proclamation.<\/p>\n
Newsom praised Parton\u2019s philanthropy, including her support for disaster victims, college scholarships, HIV\/AIDS programs and Black communities and businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cDolly Parton was larger than life. She gave freely and happily, and brought joy and humor into our lives,\u201d the proclamation stated. \u201cShe took her work seriously, but she never took herself too seriously \u2014 and was never afraid to stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The measure was authored by Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, and Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n
The date \u2014 9-2-5 \u2014 is a reference to Parton\u2019s hit song and the 1980 film \u201c9 to 5,\u201d in which she starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.<\/p>\n
Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to provide free books to young children. The program mails books monthly to participating children from birth to age 5.<\/p>\n
Grove said she previously worked with former Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins to expand the Imagination Library statewide in California. The state also became one of the first to offer a bilingual English-Spanish book option through the program.<\/p>\n
More than 182,000 California children are enrolled in the Imagination Library, which has full coverage in 45 of the state\u2019s 58 counties, according to Grove\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m grateful to Governor Newsom for signing our bill and to Senator Grove for her partnership in making September 25 Dolly Parton Day in California,\u201d Laird said. \u201cDolly brought joy to a lot of people, but her legacy goes well beyond her music. Through the Imagination Library, she put books into the hands of millions of children, and throughout her life she led with kindness, acceptance, and a belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parton died Aug. 25 at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer.<\/p>\n
She was one of the most successful country music performers of all time, with a career spanning more than six decades. She wrote and recorded \u201c9 to 5\u201d for the 1980 film of the same name and also starred in such films as \u201cThe Best Little Whorehouse in Texas\u201d and \u201cSteel Magnolias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parton\u2019s philanthropic work extended beyond literacy efforts and included support for disaster relief, medical research and the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n
Newsom ordered flags at state buildings flown at half-staff following Parton\u2019s death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Southern California marked the first Dolly Parton Day established under state law on Friday with concerts, singalongs,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,179,48,52,51,47,137,50,49,6998,100,420,136],"class_list":["post-476055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-california","tag-community","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-music-concerts","tag-news","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}