In the wake of her death, New Orleanians remember Dolly Parton’s visit to the city during Mardi Gras in the late 1980s.
Greg Buisson is a native New Orleanian who said he worked for ABC Network at the time. He said he was tasked with helping Parton experience Mardi Gras firsthand.
“She was exactly what you see, sweet and wonderful to everybody who came up to her,” Buisson said.
Buisson said Parton, always a performer, embraced her role as grand marshal, wearing a custom-made, elaborately beaded dress for the occasion. Ever the fashionista, he said Parton was sewn into the dress and spent hours on the float, throwing beads and favors to thousands of people and enjoying every moment.
“She became the grand marshal of Endymion, and she had the greatest ambassador for New Orleans,” Buisson said. “When she got off the float, she said, ‘I have never felt so much love like I felt here except back in my hometown.’ And that’s kind of who New Orleanians are.”
During her visit, Parton also filmed her national TV show at Audubon Park, featuring local musicians like Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. as guests.
“The night before, we had rehearsal, and I got a chance; we all got a chance to sit down and talk to her and get to know (her). She was, like, one of the sweetest people in the world,” Dopsie Jr. said. “I remember when my father died, she sent some of the most beautiful flower arrangements to the funeral, and she called my mother and spoke to my mother for like 30 minutes on the phone, and I’ll never forget that.”
Devastated by the news of her death, Dopsie Jr. said he will always remember Parton as a legend.
“I gave Rockin Dopsie washboard to a lot of entertainers. But I never gave them the little thimbles that I used to play with, and she was one of the only person that I ever gave it to,” Dopsie Jr. said. “Growing up, when, let’s say, Michael Jackson or James Brown, for me, or Elvis would come on TV or Dolly, you know, you’d have to watch it. Because there was like a part of something you wanted to be a part of.”
Dopsie Jr. told WDSU he plans to perform tributes to Parton over the next two weeks, joining countless others around the globe in honoring her legacy.
READ MORE:New Orleans remembers Dolly Parton’s Mardi Gras visit
