On this date in 1986 the theme park Dollywood opened in Pigeon Forge, Sevier County, Tennessee. 10 things you might not know about it:
Dolly Parton didn’t build it from scratch. She bought an interest in an existing theme park called Silver Dollar City, which had previously been known as Goldrush Junction and Rebel Railroad. The company which owned it, Herschend Enterprises, rebranded it as Dollywood which resulted in a 75% spike in attendance figures.
So why did Dolly Parton want to buy a theme park? She herself grew up in an economically depressed area of Tennessee, and had always said that if she became successful, she would give something back. “I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area,” she said in 2010. Today, according to Mashable, Dollywood is the biggest employer in the region.
Dolly Parton is not the CEO of Dollywood. The park is owned and operated by Herschend Family Entertainment, which owns more than 20 other theme parks in the United States including SeaWorld. She does, however, sit on the board and has a say in the events and attractions the park will offer.
One thing she won’t do, however, is go on any of the rides, because she suffers from motion sickness and has a fear of Roller Coasters.
There is a chapel in the park which holds church services on Sundays for the visitors. It’s called the Robert F. Thomas Chapel after the doctor who delivered Dolly as a baby.
You’ll also find America’s largest sanctuary for non-releasable Bald eagles. They live in a 30,000-square-foot aviary and visitors can watch live shows featuring the birds and their handlers.
One of the park’s most iconic rides is the Dollywood Express. The Express engine is one which was actually used during WWII. In 1942, the engines were known as the “United States Army Transportation Corps S118 Class steam locomotives” and helped with the delivery of supplies.
Like Apple pie? This is the place for you. The the Spotlight Bakery makes a 25lb apple pie each day. The apple pie is baked in a cast iron skillet and is filled with about 35 aromatic apples, a hint of Cinnamon, Butter and Sugar. An individual slice weighs 3 pounds and can feed about 4 adults.
Of course there are attractions in the park which are all about Dolly. There is a replica of the house she grew up in and a display of some of her costumes.
One thing you won’t find here is recycling bins. This isn’t because Dollywood doesn’t care about saving the planet, but rather because Sevier County has a fantastic recycling and composting programme. The Sevier Solid Waste Composting Facility sends 70% of its incoming waste to composting and recycling. The facility removes all recyclable materials once the composting process begins, which means they don’t have to separate any of the rubbish beforehand.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment