October 3, 2008 0:53

Dolly Parton named Smoky Mountains ambassador

The country singer endorses her homeland

Dolly Parton has been named ambassador to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The country singer, who grew up in the Tennessee foothills of the Smokies, will endorse the Park's 75th anniversary activities.

Parton will participate in media announcements and be featured in publications. She has also written an album titled 'Sha-Kon-O-Hey' — the phonetic spelling of the Cherokee words for "Land of Blue Smoke", reports the Associated Press.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain in the southeastern United States.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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