Dolly Parton's surprising Richmond connections

• Sacred Heart Center in South Richmond said Tuesday that more than 30 of its families receive books from her Imagination Library of Virginia.
• Since Chesterfield's former Del. Carrie Coyner carried the legislation to establish the library as a state program in 2024, Virginia has enrolled 84,000 children.

Flashback: The "9 to 5" singer also once stayed at The Jefferson Hotel and performed at least three times in the Richmond area, per an Axios review, including at:

• The Mosque, today's Altria Theater, in 1977.
• Kings Dominion in 1989.
• The Classic Amphitheater at Strawberry Hill — now the Richmond Raceway — in Henrico in 1992.

Plus: Her longtime producer Steve Buckingham, who also worked with Dionne Warwick and Shania Twain, is from Henrico, went to Hermitage and later the University of Richmond.

Honorable mention: Eugene Naughton, the president of Dollywood, went to Radford.

• And in May, Parton spoke to the university's graduating class and surprised them with free tickets to the theme park.

The bottom line: Parton never called Virginia home, but she'll always be one of ours.