Well, hello Dolly! I have no idea how much time Dolly Parton actually spends at her Crockett Road spread in east Brentwood, but perhaps she’s about to spend more there with Thursday’s announcement that her Dollywood Co. has teamed with Gaylord Entertainment to create a 114-acre “entertainment zone” to Middle Tennessee.

I wish, of course, the announcement had been in Brentwood, but I don’t know if we even have 114 acres of developable property available, and even if we did, lord knows someone would fight the zoning. Of course, that flat 80 acres that remains to be purchased at the Ravenswood Farm might have worked but we’ll never know.

If you haven’t heard the details, it seems the two entities have formed a 50-50 joint venture to develop a $50 million snow and water park. Don’t blink, that’s right – snow.  If all goes as planned, it will be finished in time to open in the summer of 2014.

At a joint news conference Thursday, Dolly hinted that there could be more to come. “We hope that some other developers with great ideas will join us for phase two of this project. We’re saying the water and snow park are the first phase, but who knows, if we see some great ideas we could be developing the entire zone by the time the snow and waterpark open. Wouldn’t that be great for Nashville and the state?” said Dolly, who remains among my favorite singer-songwriters.

I just hope she and her husband Karl Dean – not to be confused with Nashville’s mayor – will invite me over to share the particulars.

No 'Thursday Babies' in July

Come July I know at least two babies who don’t stand a chance at becoming a “Thursday’s Child” at Baptist Hospital.  

It seems Stephanie Clark and Mandy Rogers, colleagues in the Williamson Medical Center public relations and market department, are expecting and due within 14 days of each other. Their boss, Steve Dycus, said at Thursday’s Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber meeting that he expects both to take their laptops into their labor rooms and to work right through the delivery. And, of course, those deliveries will take place at WMC.

While I’m so happy for both Stephanie and Mandy, I must admit I’m siding a bit with Steve. They will be sorely missed by those of us in the media who depend on them. It sounds though, that at least Mandy is already thinking about her return to the workplace after maternity leave.

“I already told Steve I’m going to bring a Pack-N-Play to set up in his office when I get back,” she told me.  Knowing Steve, I don’t think he’d mind.

Game over for BHS' Crawford

Well, don’t think any of us saw the resignation of Coach Ron Crawford coming. We strategically planned the launch of BHP in 2009 to coincide with the start of the high school football season. From the start, Coach Crawford has been accessible and helpful to us, whether we were covering a game or asking him to take part on a coaching panel.

Next week we’ll have a “what now” story as well as additional reaction. Do you realize that Ravenwood head coach Joe Reitveld, who was just hired last April, is now the senior statesman in Brentwood coaching ranks? In the meantime, I wish Coach Crawford the best.

I told Cleveland High School’s athletic director Mike Collier earlier this week that I hope he knows how lucky he and his school are.

Susan Leathers is editor of Brentwood Home Page. Click here to read previous columns. Email her at susan@brentwoodhomepage.com.