Dolly Parton spent her life carrying East Tennessee with her wherever she went. We believe it is time for her home community to ensure that her name contiunes welcoming people to the mountains she loved.

We respectfully ask the Gatlinburg Airport Authority and the appropriate local governing bodies to rename Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport (KGKT) in Sevierville, Tennessee, as Dolly Parton Airport, while retaining the airport's existing KGKT identifier.

Dolly was born and raised in Sevier County, in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Although her extraordinary career eventually made her known around the world, she never stopped identifying herself with the people, culture, and landscape of East Tennessee.

Her contributions to the region also extends far beyond music.

Through Dollywood and her other investments, Dolly helped create jobs and establish Sevier County as an internationally recognized destination. Through the Dollywood Foundation and her Imagination Library, she transformed a program originally created for children in her home county into a worldwide literacy effort that has placed hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children.

She supported her neighbors during difficult times, invested in the community that raised her, celebrated Appalachian culture without apology, and showed generations of people that extraordinary success did not require forgetting where you came from.

Naming the airport for Dolly would therefore honor much more than a celebrated entertainer. It would recognize a Sevier County native whose philanthropy, entrepreneurship, artistry, and lifelong devotion to East Tennessee permanently changed her home community and touched lives across the world. 

An airport is an especially appropriate place for that recognition.

For pilots and passengers arriving in Sevier County, Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport is a gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains and the communities Dolly called home. Her life carried the spirit of these mountains around the world; the airport bearing her name would allow East Tennessee to welcome the world back in hers.

We ask the Gatlinburg Airport Authority, the City of Gatlinburg, the City of Pigeon Forge, Sevier County, and other appropriate stakeholders to begin the process necessary to designate the airport. 

Her name welcomed the world to East Tennessee throughout her life.

Let it continue welcoming the world home.