TRUMANN, Ark. – A Trumann family vividly remembers the summer night in 1989 when they came face-to-face with country music legend Dolly Parton—well, almost.
Jessica Lively recounted how her parents were traveling along Highway 463 late one evening in June 1989, near the location now known as Los Brothers, when they noticed a distinctive tour bus. Adorning the bus was Parton's signature butterfly emblem, unmistakably marking it as hers.
Lively said her younger sister, Jennifer, then just five years old, was an avid Dolly Parton fan. Eager to seize the opportunity, their father approached the bus. "He asked for an autograph and got one," Lively explained. To this day, Jennifer still treasures the signed headshot.
The family’s excitement only grew when they learned what happened next. According to Lively, after receiving the autograph, her parents caught a glimpse of Parton herself. "Dolly had peeked out her little window," Lively recalled, "and my mom and dad saw her. She gave a little wave out that window."
For young Jessica, who was 10 at the time, the event became a cherished moment replayed often in her memory. "My mom and dad came home that night, and they probably talked for hours on end," she said. "That morning, when we woke up, they told us, 'You won’t believe who we got to see.’ And we were like, ‘There’s no way.’"
The encounter took place while Dolly Parton was in the area to perform at the Convocation Center on Arkansas State University’s campus in Jonesboro. The concert, which served as a fundraiser for the Junior Auxiliary, was a major event. Tickets to the performance were $17.50 each at the time.
Reflecting on the experience decades later, the Lively family's brief brush with one of music’s most iconic stars remains a treasured and unique memory.