Texas Governor Recognizes September 25 as Dolly Parton Day

Abbott signed the proclamation honoring Parton after her death on August 25, calling out the mark she made both on and off the stage. The singer backed early literacy efforts and gave to families who lost homes in natural disasters. Her Imagination Library program runs under the Dollywood Foundation, a nonprofit she created. Texas now joins California and Ohio, which have already made similar recognitions.

For folks in Lubbock, the day is mostly symbolic. It's a statewide honor, not a local program or event. Still, Parton's literacy work through the Imagination Library has reached families across Texas, and a lot of people here grew up with her music and her name attached to community book programs. Based on what the governor's office has said so far, the proclamation comes without new funding or a local initiative attached.

There is something fitting about a governor picking a date built around a joke in one of her own songs to honor her. Whether Lubbock marks the day with anything beyond a mention remains to be seen, but her mark on Texas is now official, right down to the date.