Sigma Alpha Iota

DISTINGUISHED MEMBER parton as PATRON Members of the Gamma Rho and Knoxville Alumnae chapters joined patronesses, Friends of the Arts, former and current members of the National Executive Board, Region VII Officer Joyce Garcia, and Psi A Province Officer Holly Sansom to initiate Dolly Parton as an Honorary Member at Dollywood in June. Below, Parton stands with Executive Director Ruth Sieber Johnson. A timeline of Honorary Member Dolly Parton's philanthropic efforts 1998: The Dollywood Foundation is established to inspire children to "dream more, learn more, do more, and care more." The Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a foundation effort, gives every preschool applicant in America and Canada a book each month from the time he or she is born until the child reaches kindergarten. With help from local sponsors, this program has expanded to over 800 communities in 41 states and Europe, distributing more than 2.5 million free books annually. 2001: Parton receives Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval (the first individual to receive the honor). 2002: Parton receives Association of American Publishers Honors Award. Parton receives American Association of School Administrators Galaxy Award. Parton receives National State Teachers of the Year Chasing Rainbows Award. 2003: Parton receives Parents as Teachers National Center Child and Family Advocacy Award. 2006: Parton publishes a cookbook Dolly's Dixie Fixin's: Love, Laughter and Lots of Good Food with net profits supporting the Dollywood Foundation. Parton pledges $500,000 toward a proposed $90-million hospital and cancer center to be constructed in Sevierville in the name of Dr. Robert F. Thomas, the physician who delivered her. Parton raises money on behalf of several other causes, including the American Red Cross and a number of HIV/AIDS-related charities. 2007: Parton receives the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution. 12 PAN PIPES FALL 2011 sai-national.org PARTON continued from page 11 multi-platinum awards, she has had 25 songs reach number 1 on the Billboard Country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 41 career top10 country albums — a record for any artist — and she has 110 charted singles over the past 40 years. All-inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital downloads and compilation usage have reached 100 million records worldwide. She has garnered 7 Grammy Awards, 10 Country Music Association Awards, 5 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 3 American Music Awards. She is one of only six female artists to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award, along with the Dixie Chicks, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Taylor Swift, and Shania Twain. In 1993, Parton was given the first Country Music Honors Award by the Country Music Association. In 1999, she was inducted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and awarded an honorary doctorate from the Carson-Newman College. She became a member of the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001. Broadcast Music, Inc. honored Parton with their Icon Award in 2003, and she was honored with 2003 Partnership Award from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for Dollywood's bald eagle sanctuary. In 2004, the U.S. Library of Congress presented her with their Living Legend Award for her contribution to the cultural heritage of the United States. This was followed in 2005 with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for excellence in the arts. Other SAI Distinguished Member recipients of the medal include Member Laureate Jessye Norman; Honorary Members Licia Albanese, Marian Anderson, Sarah Caldwell, Roberta Peters, Leontyne Price, Beverly Sills, and Alice Tully; and National Arts Associates Van Cliburn, Dave Brubeck, and Wynton Marsalis. SAI Composers Bureau Members William Bolcom and Carlisle Floyd, The Interlochen Center for the Arts, and The MacDowell Colony have also received National Medals of Arts. She became the first non-political recipient of the Lindy Boggs Award from The Stennis Centre for Public Service in 2006. In December of that year, she was honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for her lifetime of contributions to the arts. In June 2007 Parton was named the recipient of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. The Johnny Mercer Award is exclusively PARTON continued on page 41

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