It’s been two years since Brenda McCroskey took a leisurely trip to London, but the CEO of the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce still chuckles in amazement at the familiar face she saw smiling at her as she walked out of the airport.

“You go across the ocean and the first thing I see when I get out of the airport is Dolly Parton. Her picture was right there on a taxi cab. It was awesome, so awesome,” recalled McCroskey, who has spent the past 13 years promoting tourism and economic growth in the country music star’s hometown. “We like to claim her as our own, and rightfully so, but the world likes to claim a part of her, too.”

As a young girl growing up in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Parton always dreamed of doing great things. Through hard work and determination, the internationally known singer, songwriter and entertainer reached, as she has put it, “the top of the world.”

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