Savoy Taproom is turning its Albany bar into a rhinestone-studded tribute to Dolly Parton this Friday, pouring eight themed cocktails and running a silent auction to benefit the Albany Public Library. Sequins & Spirits runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on November 13, with a menu built around the Queen of Country herself.
According to NEWS10 ABC, a portion of the night's sales will go toward the Albany Public Library, and the evening will pair eight cocktails with a selection of food specials. The drink list reads like a Dolly discography: Jolene, Backwoods Barbie, Steel Magnolias, 9 to 5, Rhinestone 1984, Pistol Packin' Mama, Haunted Nashville and Potential New Boyfriend. On the food side, Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa Cake nods to the simple Southern dessert tied to Parton's film Steel Magnolias, per the same report.
Live music comes courtesy of singer-songwriter Caity Gallagher, who will perform a set of songs by Parton and other country icons, the station notes. Rounding out the bill, the event also features a performance by a guest drag queen alongside the silent auction, blending the glitz of Dolly's persona with a night out for a good cause.
Why Savoy Taproom Chose the Library
Savoy Taproom owner Jason Pierce framed the night as a chance to marry spectacle with substance, saying the event means “supporting an institution that gives so much back to our own community,” per the article. The bar sits at the center of Albany's Lark Street scene, and organizers built the evening around pairing extravagance with charitable intent.
That institution has a sizable footprint. The Albany Public Library includes seven branches across the city and serves about 32,000 visitors each month, according to the library's website as cited by the same report. The Friends and Foundation of Albany Public Library describes the value of that kind of community backing directly, noting on its site that private support allows the system to “enhance our buildings, expand our collections, and provide more programs for all ages.”
A Nod to Dolly's Own Literacy Legacy
The library tie-in echoes a cause close to Parton herself. She created the Imagination Library, which mails free books to children from birth through age 5, and the program has reportedly gifted more than 340 million books since its 1995 founding, the outlet reports.
For Albany residents looking to toast a literacy-minded cause with a side of country glamour, Sequins & Spirits offers three hours of themed cocktails, live performance and a silent auction, all while channeling one of music's most enduring icons into a night out that benefits a local institution.
