In his spare time, Gordon operates country singer Dolly Parton’s fan website.
“We go there quite often, and I know several people who live down there,” Gordon said.
“It was devastating,” said Gordon, who followed reports on social media from friends living in the Gatlinburg area. Duane Gordon, executive director of the Middletown Community Foundation, has close ties to the Gatlinburg, Tenn., area, and visits there … Duane Gordon, executive director of the Middletown Community Foundation, has close ties to the Gatlinburg, Tenn., area, and visits there often. He runs a Dolly Parton fan website.
“There are hundreds of families there that have lost everything, and it’s just heartbreaking to think that they have to start over with nothing,” said Gordon, who is among many across Southwest Ohio who love the mountain area with a combination of majestic forests and touristy areas like Parton’s Dollywood theme park and resort nearby in Pigeon Forge.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited of the country’s 59 national parks with about 10 million visitors per year double that of No. “It’s a popular attraction for people from this area because it’s only five hours away, so a lot of people here drive down there once a year, twice a year, for family vacations.”
Gordon said he knows one local family who recently sold a cabin they had for years. Some cabins operated elsewhere by Dollywood were destroyed, he said.
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