Dolly Parton to Become a Girl Scout

KNOXVILLE, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council) - What honor is left for the most celebrated female country music singer and songwriter of all time? To become a Girl Scout.

Dolly Parton will become a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council June 15, 2007, during a presentation at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. More than 1,000 Girl Scouts are to take part in the event.

"While I was never a Girl Scout myself when I was a kid, I always wanted to be,' says Parton. 'This great honor lets me live out a dream and to be part of an organization that stands for many of the same values I do and Dollywood does.'

Girl Scouts from Parton's native East Tennessee will join the icon on stage to lead her in the Girl Scout Promise and present Parton the lifetime membership pin.

Parton will also honor East Tennessee's 28 Gold Award Girl Scouts with a special gift commemorating their achievement of Girl Scouting's highest honor-the Gold Award. A girl builds on years of growth and completes a community service project requiring more than 100 hours of work to reach this pinnacle in Girl Scouting. Earning the Gold Award opens doors to college scholarships, accelerated U.S. military careers and special consideration from prospective employers. Gold Award projects cover all walks of life, from providing business clothing for homeless people to wear to job interviews to building an equestrian jump course for a local college.

'Dolly realizes the importance of a program that helps girls grow into young women of courage and confidence,' says Glenda McCarter-Johnson, board chair of Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council and Parton's childhood friend. 'She wants to let these girls know just how much they are appreciated for the work they do for the community.'

Girls from Sevier County have created handmade friendship journals welcoming Parton to the Girl Scout family and are eager to call Dolly Parton a sister Girl Scout.

'It will be awesome,' says Sevier County Girl Scout Laurel Bise. 'You never know what you're going to get to do in Girl Scouting!'