Speaking Personally: Goodbye, Dolly, and Hello, Bailey Walking Path

Last week, it was pretty tough to stumble to the kitchen and pour myself that cup of ambition. The world said goodbye to beloved singer, do-gooder, and sass-talker Dolly Parton. I don’t have to tell you, dear readers, that Parton has always seemed special to Howell County because of her connection to West Plains native Porter Waggoner. As I watched my friends and neighbors mourn, there was one nasty little talking point that seemed to crop up wherever a Missourian was missing Dolly. 

 

Namely: the Missouri legislature cut funding to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. 

 

First, that is true. As of this December, Missouri is no longer paying the local portion of providing free books to children ages 5 and under. 

 

It was a shock to me to learn that local participation partially pays for the Imagination Library. The program is indeed heavily subsidized by the Dollywood Foundation, but it still costs about $30 per child per year for local chapters. That is the funding Missouri lawmakers cut. 

 

The state had only been funding it since 2023. Before that, local organizers put skin in the game to get books in the hands of early readers. 

 

In this issue, you’ll find a statement from the Dollywood Foundation promising that the Imagination Library was designed to outlive Dolly. In Willow Springs, the program is continuing thanks to local fundraising. If you would like to enroll a child in the Willow Springs School District, there is no cost to families. Contact the school to sign up. To donate, contact the Willow Springs Community Foundation. 

 

At no point since Parton’s death have I spoken to, or corresponded with, anyone who had all the facts about the program defunding, and to be honest – I’m not sure how I feel about it myself. But now you have the information, too. 

 

Pivoting slightly, but still on the topic of local skin in the game, the project honoring Wendell Bailey’s lifetime of commitment to Willow Springs took a very visible leap forward this weekend. There’s been some confusion about the two “Bailey parks,” but hopefully the project that began Saturday morning should reveal the method behind the madness.

 

The plan has never been to have two disconnected parks dedicated to Wendell Bailey. 

 

It’s true that the two spaces offer very different things: one a shady gathering place and walkway between parking and downtown restaurants and one a playground and fenced area designed for to be safe for kids. However, from day one, the plan has been to paint a sidewalk mural from one park to the other, making a loop around downtown. 

 

Designed by Garrett Melby, the path of wildflowers has no immediate connection to Willow Springs. It’s not obvious what it’s for or where it goes. 

 

That is on purpose. 

 

You’re supposed to look at it, think, “Hey, what is this?” And follow it. 

 

The walking path is an invitation to explore downtown – to use the two parks at either end, of course -- but more to put our hometown shops and restaurants right in the way of those who follow the path. 

 

That’s the way we bring downtown back—we get shoes on the pavement. 

 

The mural is about one-third complete after a crew of volunteers painted the flowers on the sidewalks from Bailey Legacy Park, up and down Center Street, and down East Main to Harris. The sun was merciless, so we’ll be back at it again another day. 

 

Once the painting is complete, we’ll hang the markers for the walking tour, regaling visitors and home folks with the stories of downtown – The Smuck Building, the Welcome Plaza, Steve Norman Park, the Sass House, and more. 

If you don’t like the flowers, come with us on the next workday and paint some of your own. If you do like the flowers, come anyway. Many hands will make light work. 

 

There you go – two ways to contribute to our community in one column. For $31.60, you can help Dolly Parton’s program give books to a local child for a year. For a morning’s labor, you can beautify our little Ozarks town and invest in its future. 

 

For the first, contact the Willow Springs Community Foundation. For the second, contact the news office.