California has officially designated September 25 as "Dolly Parton Day," honoring the country music icon one month after her death at age 80 following a brief battle with cancer.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 931 on Sunday, choosing the date as a nod to Parton's 1980 hit "9 to 5" - 9/25, or "9-2-5." The bipartisan bill was co-authored by State Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) and State Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz).
"Dolly Parton sparkled on every stage she ever stood on, but her brightest sparkle was the literacy legacy she built through the Imagination Library," Grove said in a statement. "The love Dolly gave so freely, rooted in her deep and openly shared faith, and the love the world returned to her, shows how deeply she was cherished by everyone."
Parton's Imagination Library, delivered through her Dollywood Foundation, has mailed free books to children from birth to age 5 across the country for decades, an effort widely credited with shaping childhood literacy far beyond her home state of Tennessee.
Newsom called Parton "larger than life with big hair and a bigger heart" in an Instagram announcement, encouraging Californians to "live the way Dolly did: joyfully, graciously, and with a whole lot of heart."
California joins Nashville, Portland, and counties in Texas in designating their own Dolly Parton Day. San Francisco will host a free "Dolly Day" celebration in Union Square on September 25, featuring live music and what organizers are calling "a joyful day of music, rhinestones, and remembrance."
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