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Dollywood theme park will add new features, including a waterfall, to honor Dolly Parton

SEVIERVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Dolly Parton’s theme park in east Tennessee will unveil new features for fans to honor the life of the “dreamer-in-chief,” Dolly Parton, who died at the age of 80.

Sevierville, in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, will also be placing markers throughout the city for a self-guided walking tour of places that were important to the singer, actor and philanthropist. She grew up in rural Sevier County and transformed the theme park into the county’s largest employer and a major tourist destination.

In a press conference held Wednesday, park officials announced plans to add a new character to the park called the Dream Maker, inspired by Parton’s Imagination Library, as well as adding a waterfall and stained glass windows to a chapel inside the park to reflect her deep faith.

The park will add kiosks for visitors to share their thoughts about Parton and new additions are also coming to The Dolly Parton Experience, a multibuilding section that includes exhibits about her life and career.

Trump promises to campaign for Republicans and says they have a winning midterm message

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republican lawmakers facing tough reelection campaigns to run on his record in the White House despite his sagging popularity, and he pledged to campaign in all of the roughly three dozen contests that are likely to determine control of Congress. Voters' dim views of the economy and the war in Iran have put Republicans in a tough spot as the midterm election season enters its final stretch. But during a dinner in the Rose Garden, one of the spaces he has controversially renovated since returning to office last year, the president told his party's most vulnerable lawmakers that they had a triumphant story to tell voters. “All you have to do is talk about it, and you’re going to win and you’re going to win big,” Trump said a week before the party gathers in Dallas for an unusual midterm convention. The audience of Republican lawmakers listened quietly to Trump through his speech, occasionally offering applause as many sipped on cocktails ahead of their dinner. Menus checkered in yellow gingham called it an “end of summer BBQ" featuring cheeseburgers.
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