By Erin Duvall
Dolly Parton was raised in rural East Tennessee with few luxuries. The story of her young life is coming to the small screen tonight when Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors airs. However, Parton opens up about her parent’s approach to Santa and the presents she and her siblings didn’t get.
“Daddy used to tell us that we lived so back in the woods that Santa couldn’t find us,” she told Taste of Country. “That explained why we never got the gifts that the other kids did and how Santa never came to our place.
Related: Watch Dolly Parton ‘Coat of Many Colors’ Movie Preview
“We decided one year that we were going to start gathering up a bunch of twigs and wood. We started stacking that up around October. We were going to build a big bonfire on Christmas Eve so Santa could find our house.”
And they did. But it was her mother who used their innocent gesture to create a wonderful holiday memory.
“Momma said, ‘We need to make the most of this,'” Parton recalled, adding that her mother sent all the kids to get an array of food that they then roasted over the fire. “We had one of the best Christmases ever and we completely forgot about Santa.”
Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors airs tonight (Thursday, Dec. 10) at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
