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Dolly Parton's Dollywood will pay tuition costs for all employees to 'pursue a new dream'

dollywood covers college, dollywood tuition
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Dolly Parton in 2010.

Disneyland might be named the “Happiest Place on Earth,” but the employees at Dollywood can make an educated claim to fame of their own.

Herschend Enterprises, partner owner of Dollywood and the nation’s largest privately owned themed attractions operations, announced on Feb 8 that it would cover 100% of tuition, fees and books for employees to pursue further education.

Considering that the popular Smoky Mountains theme park currently has 11,000 employees (including seasonal and part-time workers) that is quite a feat.

The initiative, Herschend’s GROW U., offers more than 100 programs, many that focus on high-demand fields like business administration and leadership, culinary, finance, technology and marketing. The company will also provide employees up to $5,250 per year for additional programs in fields including engineering, hospitality, art design and human resources.

Needless to say, this kind of financial support can be life-changing.

Andrew Wexler, CEO of Herschend Enterprises, defines the investment as the company’s “love culture in action.”

The CEO added, “we care about our employees' personal and professional growth, because we believe that their futures should be grown with love, not loans.”

This kind of culture really does permeate. According to CNN, employees also receive access to Dollywood Family Healthcare Center, free meals for every work shift, and apprentice and leadership programs. According to the Washington Post, other corporations such as Chipotle and Best Buy make contributions to employee education, but it's only a fraction compared to Herschend GROW U.

Still, the fact that this is a growing trend feels promising. With more than 36 well-known companies already helping with tuition, and now with Herschend GROW U. making headlines, perhaps compassionate corporations are becoming the new standard.

The program launches Feb 24, but is already giving us something to smile about.

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Thousands of concertgoers in Poland randomly decided to sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and it was flawless

The music of Queen is a universal language.

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You can't not sing this song.

The music of Queen has a profound visceral effect on everyone. Few pieces of art can cause complete strangers to put aside their differences and come together in song, but by golly, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of them. It would be cheesy if it weren’t so absolutely beautiful.

This pertains even to non-English-speaking countries, it appears. Recently, thousands of Harry Styles concertgoers in Warsaw, Poland, began cheering as those iconic beginning piano notes penetrated the air.
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This blooper from 'The Carol Burnett Show' is still one of the funniest outtakes in TV history

Vicki Lawrence dropped a perfectly timed a-bomb.

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"The Carol Burnett Show" had one of the funniest outtakes in TV history.

"The Carol Burnett Show" ran from 1967 to 1978 and has been touted as one of the best television series of all time. The cast and guest stars of the show included comedic greats such as Tim Conway, Betty White, Steve Martin, Vicki Lawrence, Dick Van Dyke, Lyle Waggoner, Harvey Korman and others who went on to have long, successful comedy careers.

One firm rule Carol Burnett had on her show was that the actors stay in character. She felt it was especially important not to break character during the "Family" scenes, in which the characters Ed and Eunice Higgins (a married couple) and Mama (Eunice's mother) would play host to various colorful characters in their home.

"I never wanted to stop and do a retake, because I like our show to be ‘live,’" she wrote in her memoir, as reported by Showbiz Cheat Sheet. "So when the ‘Family’ sketches came along, I was adamant that we never break up in those scenes, because Eunice, Ed, and Mama were, in an odd way, sacred to me. They were real people in real situations, some of which were as sad and pitiful as they were funny, and I didn’t want any of us to break the fourth wall and be out of character.”

It was a noble goal, and one that went right out the window—with Burnett leading the way—in a "Family" sketch during the show's final season that ended with the entire cast rolling with laughter.

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1956 commercial shows that refrigerators back then were more advanced than they are today

We "modern" folks don't even have all of these luxuries.

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Can we bring back some 50s fridge features, please?

There are very few things that would make people nostalgic for the 1950s. Sure, they had cool cars and pearl necklaces were a staple, but that time frame had its fair share of problems, even if "Grease" made it look dreamy. Whether you believe your life would've been way more interesting if you were Danny Zuko or not, most would agree their technology was...lacking.

All eras are "advanced" for their time, but imagine being dropped off in the 50s as someone from the year 2023. A recent post by Historic Vids on Twitter of a 1956 commercial advertising a refrigerator, however, has some people thinking that when it came to fridges, maybe they were living in the year 2056. I don't typically swoon over appliances, yet this one has me wondering where I can purchase a refrigerator like this.

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Do you have a 'crispy R?' A podcast interview has everyone down a rabbit hole about 'Rs'

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A podcast interview has people wondering about 'Crispy Rs'

"Crispy Rs" are taking over social media. The phrase has sent many curious people down a deep, dark rabbit hole of confusion while they try to decipher what a "crispy R" is and if they have it. It's supposedly some sort of leftover Mid-Atlantic or Transatlantic old-school Hollywood actor dialect, which conjures the image of someone like Humphrey Bogart scolding some poor doe-eyed woman.

Is that what it is? Seems like everyone is trying to figure it out. Just about every part of the country has a different dialect, and words sound different depending on the region in which someone grew up. In some cases, words may be completely different for the same item—for instance, Northerners and Southerners argue over if soft drinks are called "pop" or "soda," and some people in the South just call it all "Coke." (Yes, all soft drinks, not just one particular brand.)

Some people say "worsh" instead of "wash" and "ruf" instead of "roof." Regional dialect really shapes the way we all speak, and I'm assuming has a hand in shaping the muscles that help us say certain words.

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Sean Astin has the best response to a fan struggling with severe depression

Sometimes we just need to be reminded by Samwise Gamgee that the darkness will pass.

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Can you imagine getting this kind of pep talk from one of your heroes?

Depression hits different folks in different ways. But whether it’s an occasional episode of the blues or more long-lasting, debilitating clinical depression, there are two factors that only make the ache worse: one, the pervading loneliness from feeling like no one can possibly understand what you’re going through, and two, wondering if the storm will ever truly pass.

That’s why an encouraging word from a loved one can be helpful during these low episodes. Or in this case, from Samwise Gamgee.

“Lord of the Rings” actor Sean Astin was recently signing autographs at Knoxville’s Fanboy Expo when a female fan (@easttnelvira on TikTok) opened up about how one of his character’s iconic lines had been helping her through “severe depression.”
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Your inner child will thank you for doing at least one of these.

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When we’re kids, fun comes so easily. You have coloring books and team sports and daily recess … so many opportunities to laugh, play and explore. As we get older, these activities get replaced by routine and responsibility (and yes, at times, survival). Adulthood, yuck.

Many of us want to have more fun, but making time for it still doesn’t come as easily as it did when we were kids—whether that’s because of guilt, a long list of other priorities or because we don’t feel it’s an age-appropriate thing to long for.

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