Dollywood might be temporarily closed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but the park isn’t letting that stop it from giving back to the community and the surrounding East Tennessee region.
Last week, Dollywood’s wardrobe and costume shop teams began producing reusable face masks to give to patients, nurses and doctors at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.
The costume shop team is responsible for creating the costumes for Dollywood performers. The wardrobe team makes costumes for hosts (non-performers) at all of Dollywood’s properties.
In one day, the wardrobe team made 350 masks, while the costume shop team created 250 adult masks and 250 children’s masks over the course of two days. Members of both teams have asked to continue making the masks from home, so company officials will provide supplies currently on hand to allow the teams to produce additional masks.
A number of handmade face masks line a table in Dollywood’s Costume Shop. The face masks will be delivered to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. In the above photo (right), Dollywood stage manager Addie Counts works on a face mask to be donated to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Photos courtesy of Dollywood.
“We are blessed to have talented hosts working in our wardrobe and costume shops,” explained Eugene Naughton, vice president of Dollywood park operations.
“East Tennessee Children’s Hospital reached out to us to see if we could help, and as soon as we received the call, our teams started working. We knew this was the right thing to do, and our hosts have done an amazing job producing these masks. We’re just glad to do our part.”
Learn more about the Dollywood wardrobe and costume shops at the Dollywood Insiders blog.
Dollywood first aid and safety team members Jerry Moore (front left) and Al Jenkins (front right) present ponchos to members of the Pigeon Forge Fire Department. The group made sure to practice social distancing during the delivery. Photo courtesy of Dollywood.
Dollywood’s safety team also provided 200 ponchos to the Sevier County Emergency Management Agency, Pigeon Forge Fire Department and the Sevier County Ambulance Service — these groups are in dire need of gowns that are typically used to protect first responders from bodily fluids that may be present in scenes where they are needed to perform live-saving measures.
When hearing of the need, the park’s safety and merchandise teams knew the stock of Dollywood souvenir ponchos on hand could be used to meet the need.
“When we heard they were in need of this vital personal protective equipment, we knew we had to find a way to assist,” Naughton explained.
“These folks are on the front lines every day and we have to do all we can to keep them safe. We have a close working relationship with these groups—in fact, a number of our EMTs on staff also work for these local agencies—so we’re honored to be able to help them in this way.”
And that’s not all. Two weeks ago, Dollywood donated more than $16,000 to the Sevier County Food Ministries so the nonprofit could stock up on crucial supplies for the unprecedented demand.
As of this posting, Dollywood hopes to reopen in May to begin celebrating its 35th anniversary season. Stay tuned to the park’s website for the latest updates.
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