California Declares 25 September Dolly Parton Day With a Nod to '9 to 5'
25 September is now Dolly Parton Day in California. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law that creates it on 20 September. The first observance under the new law falls on Friday.
Senate Bill 931 calls on the governor to proclaim 25 September as Dolly Parton Day each year, Billboard reported. A Senate bill is a proposal put through the state legislature, and it becomes law when the governor signs it.
The bill was co-authored by Senator John Laird, a Democrat from Santa Cruz, and Senator Shannon Grove, a Republican from Bakersfield. One author sits on each side of the partisan divide, which is why the measure is described as bipartisan. In Sacramento, that kind of joint authorship signals support that crosses party lines.
The date is the joke. September is the ninth month of the year, which gives the 9. The number 25 can be read as 2 and 5, which completes the 9-2-5 behind "9 to 5," Parton's hit single about the working day. It is a calendar pun, built to be read aloud.
That single was Parton's first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the weekly ranking of the most popular songs in the United States. The chart combines sales, radio play and streaming to order songs from week to week. A No. 1 there means a song sat at the very top of that national list.
California is not the first state to set aside a day for Parton. Tennessee recognises 19 January, Parton's birthday, as Dolly Parton Day. California's version chooses a different moment in the story, the record rather than the birthday.
Newsom's office announced the new law with a press release titled "California establishes Dolly Parton Day" on 20 September, according to the Governor's Office. For fans, this means two dates to keep. January brings the birthday observance in Tennessee. September now brings the working-hours wordplay in California.
What makes this stand out is the simplicity. No parade was ordered. No holiday was declared. Lawmakers picked a date that spells out a song title, then left it to listeners to hear the rest.
