Dolly Look-Alikes Take Over Downtown Casper To Say Wyoming Will Always Love You

CASPER — Perhaps fueled by a few cups of ambition, downtown Casper went bombshell blonde Friday to honor country music legend and American pop-culture icon Dolly Parton with a heartfelt message: Wyoming will always love you.

By 7 p.m. the Dollies had reached CitiWerks, with wine glasses clinking as the crooning commenced. A young woman in bright pink sunglasses and a Dolly T-shirt took the stage to howl out her rendition of “Jolene."

The woman who turned “9 to 5” into an anthem had inspired a Wyoming evening with fringe, cowboy boots, glitter and rhinestones. 

Buffie LaRocca, the Casper woman behind Dolly Day, a downtown celebration of the late country music star who died Aug. 25, brought together costumes, shopping, and karaoke for a charitable cause. 

Friday’s festivities raised support for the Casper Youth Hub and celebrated both Parton’s music and her legacy of doing something useful with her fame.

About 20 downtown businesses participated in a shop-local passport program featuring discounts, giveaways, specialty menu items and activities.

“Everyone loves Dolly,” LaRocca told Cowboy State Daily. “You might be the worst person in the world, but you still love Dolly.”

By evening, a pianist was playing "Coat of Many Colors" and karaoke contestants were lining up for their turns. 

What Would Dolly Do?

Earlier in the day, LaRocca, co-creator Kylee McLean, and Bookin’ It owner Kristy Bussey gathered at the bookstore to talk about their plans.

McLean wore the central question on her shirt: “What Would Dolly Do?”

The three women agreed that Parton serves as a practical litmus test for potential dating partners. 

Ask them, “Do you like Dolly Parton?”

If the answer was no, swipe left.

For LaRocca, the appeal extends well beyond the star's famous over-the-top appearance. 

And she never tried to hide her plastic surgeries, once famously saying that, “If I see something saggin’, baggin’, or draggin’, I’m gonna have it nipped, tucked, or sucked.”

Or, according to another often-quoted Dollyism: “I am a self-made woman, and I have the doctor bills to prove it."

LaRocca said that Parton was “the sexiest person on the planet," yet never a snob and “never snarky.”

She could be stunning, sharp as a tack, and still laugh at herself.

That combination — glamour without meanness — helped explain why three women with roots in different parts of the country had come together in Casper to organize a tribute.

Working 9 To 5

LaRocca moved to Casper from New Orleans, where she loved the Krewe of Dolly, a group whose members dressed as Parton, marched in parades, and supported children’s literacy.

The krewe listed 715 members on its website. Its work includes bringing Parton’s Imagination Library to children in Orleans Parish.

LaRocca had previously worked with the Imagination Library herself. After Parton’s death, she decided Casper needed a Dolly parade of its own.

Then she learned of a broader push to celebrate the singer on Friday, the one-month anniversary of her death.

Written numerically, 9/25 did some of the organizing work all by itself. Communities around the country embraced the “9 to 5” connection.

Nashville announced an annual Dolly Day, and a public petition urged local and national leaders to recognize the date. 

In Casper, the idea grew into a day of downtown activities, with Bookin’ It serving as the gathering point for a Dolly Dash and CitiWerks hosting the evening party.

'Dolly Parton's Shadow' 

LaRocca’s friend Bussey has her own longstanding connection to Parton's music.

She grew up in North Dakota, where her father listened to Merle Haggard and other country artists of the era. Dolly was part of that upbringing.

As a bibliophile and bookstore owner, Bussey especially admired the Imagination Library, a national nonprofit that gives free books to kids.

McLean spent the first 13 years of her life in Tennessee’s Sevier County, home to Dollywood, and said she “grew up in Dolly Parton’s shadow.”

For McLean, it was the heart of East Tennessee.

“It’s very southern. Very Appalachia,” she said.

Parton’s care for her hometown gave McLean an example to follow. It inspired her to go out into the world and “do good.”

Now in Casper, she saw the same generosity as a reason Parton resonates with Wyomingites.

The big hair got attention. What she did for people kept it.

Blonde, Bold, Unbothered

McLean loves the unlikely inspiration behind Parton’s signature style: a hometown woman a young Dolly admitted who others dismissed as “the town tramp.”

Parton told Vogue in 1994 that she admired the woman’s blonde hair, red fingernails and high heels. As a child, she thought the woman was beautiful and wanted to look like her.

In a 2023 interview, Parton remembered the woman’s red lipstick and described her own family’s resistance to the style she embraced. Her father and grandfather, a preacher, objected to her clothing choices.

Dolly kept the look, once saying that, “I describe my look as a blend of Mother Goose, Cinderella, and the local hooker."

For LaRocca, recreating it was a familiar territory. She helped design costumes for Stage III Theatre in Casper, which staged a performance of “9 to 5” in 2023.

Her checklist for Friday included pushup bras, waist cinchers, wigs, blue eye-shadow, and fringe, "of course." 

Beneath The Wig 

The Dolly celebration included a look-alike contest, with a photo shoot from a local photographer offered as the prize.

One of the women beneath a blonde wig was LaRocca’s mother, Bonnie Rogers.

She traveled from Buffalo to support her daughter and pay tribute to a singer she listened to on the radio in her younger years.

Rogers also remembered Parton’s collaborations with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, the three voices behind “Trio.” Parton’s official discography dates their first album together to 1987, but Rogers’ affection wasn’t limited to the music.

She loved Dolly’s attitude and the way she carried herself through decades of public life.

“You didn’t hear any crapola in the paper through the years,” Rogers said.

It was a mother’s appraisal of a superstar: all that fame, and she still knew how to act.

Imagination Library 

For Kaylen Kidney, Natrona County’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library coordinator, the celebration carried a mission that would last beyond the evening’s music.

Kidney moved back to Wyoming from Colorado, where she had worked at a library and became involved with the program.

“I saw how exciting it was for the kids to get books in the mail — it was magical,” she said.

The Imagination Library mailed free books to young children, turning a trip to the mailbox into something worth anticipating.

Friday’s schedule paired children’s storytime and Dolly-themed coloring at the Natrona County Library with opportunities for families to register for the book deliveries. Downtown, the celebration supported the Casper Youth Hub.

“That’s our mission now is making sure Dolly is remembered for the amazing program she started,” Kidney said.

Her Only Wyoming Performances

Through a lifetime of performing and a professional career that began in 1957 at age 11, Parton and Wyoming only crossed paths once.

Her only performances in the Cowboy State came during a two-night stint as part of the 1978 Cheyenne Frontier Days concert lineup, which also included Charley Pride, Johnny Paycheck, and Kenny Rogers.

Although by the time of her death 48 years had passed, that she once played there is one of the highlights of the 129-year-old event, according to the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum.

“Dolly Parton was truly and American icon,” the museum said in a statement the day after her death. “In 1978, Cheyenne Frontier Days was honored to welcome Dolly to the stage during the ‘Daddy of ‘Em All.’ 

"Her historic appearance came as she was reaching new heights in her career with ‘Here You Come Again,’ which earned her a Grammy and helped solidify her crossover appeal."

She brought to Frontier Days a “high-energy performance, signature Western style and unmistakable star power,” the museum added. It was “a legendary night … one that remains a memorable moment in CFD history. We are proud to remember the night this American icon took the stage in Cheyenne."

Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.