How Dolly Parton Impressed Houston Bar Angel Share

Downtown Houston’s cocktail bar Angel Share has at all times had an intriguing premise. Right here, you possibly can drink for a trigger. Each beer, glass of wine, cocktail, and dish ordered comes with a ticket that patrons can use to vote for one among 4 featured native charities. In the long run, the tickets are weighed, giving every deserving nonprofit a share of the month-to-month donation pot.

The inspiration behind all of it? Dolly Parton.

Proprietor Mary Ellen Angel, initially from Magnolia, Texas, says she modeled the bar’s mission after the long-lasting nation singer-songwriter and philanthropist, whom she calls Angel Share’s “patron saint.” 

“All ladies from the South, we grew up loving Dolly Parton,” Angel says. “She made such an influence on my life. She was simply so deeply beneficiant, unpretentious, and type in approaching everybody with love and acceptance, with the objective of lifting everybody round her. She was an early instance of being a lady who was unapologetically herself, working towards quiet inclusivity and supporting and serving to the individuals who can’t assist themselves.”

The dedication is additional solidified by the bar’s makeshift shrine—a portray of the Queen of Nation and a close-by chalkboard message reminding everybody of Angel Share’s devotion. “All people is aware of Dolly Parton, however not everybody is aware of how onerous she works for the betterment of the world round her,” it reads. “She is an advocate for little one schooling and a donor to trendy vaccine analysis. We see you, and we love you, Dolly.”

That message hits even tougher this week after social media exploded with tributes for Parton, who died on Tuesday, August 25, at age 80 following a battle with most cancers.

“I cried like a loopy individual,” says Angel. “We’re kindred spirits, me and Dolly. …She resonates with everybody.”

Parton was the prolific songwriter behind greater than 100 million data bought and three,000 songs, together with the Grammy Corridor of Fame’s “Jolene” and “I Will At all times Love You” — however this week, it’s her legacy as a humanitarian that’s resonating most.

Since 1995, Parton’s Creativeness Library has mailed a free ebook each month to enrolled kids from beginning by way of age 5, a program she began as a tribute to her father, a person who by no means realized to learn however whom she at all times known as the neatest individual she knew. It now reaches 5 international locations and has put greater than 300 million books into small palms—a scale that makes it one of many largest childhood literacy efforts on the planet. Her giving reached past books. Early within the pandemic, she donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt College Medical Middle after studying researchers had been near a breakthrough. That cash helped fund the early testing behind Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Regardless of the critics, who usually attacked Parton’s appears, she remained largely unbothered. “She knew who she was and knew she had a great, form coronary heart,” Angel says. “That’s inspiration—to see somebody who treats somebody with heat and stays deeply humbled.” It solidified a message for Angel: “It doesn’t matter who you’re and the place you got here from. Even when it’s not on a grand scale, you can also make a distinction.”

In 2021, Angel received her shot. After serving as basic supervisor on the now-shuttered Downtown bar OKRA Charity Saloon, the place she helped run its fundraising program for 2 years, the earlier homeowners bought her the bar and every part in it for $10. They suggested her to not proceed it as a charity bar, apprehensive that she wouldn’t make any revenue. “I used to be poor,” she recollects. “I didn’t have all this cash.” Nonetheless, she resolved that persevering with the charity facet was the correct factor to do. She was going to make it work—similar to Dolly.

“Dolly Parton got here from the bottom up,” she remembers considering. “If she will do it, I can do it. I’ve the identical generosity and love in my coronary heart. I’m scared, however I’m nonetheless gonna attempt to do it.”

Angel took over the bar, renamed it, and put her personal spin on it—commissioning a portray of Dolly Parton from Kati Ozanic-Lemberger, a neighborhood artist whose works have been prominently featured at Houston’s beloved Artwork Automotive Parade. Hoisted within the again half of Angel Share underneath the sunroof, the eye-catching portray usually catches a heat, pure glow.

At the moment, the bar, which is nestled in an Eighties constructing, is a standout mixture of previous and new, with authentic brick, glamorous plush velvet seats, a photobooth to doc recollections, a pool desk for the aggressive, and neon-glowing reminders like “change the world.” 

All of it labored out. 

However like Dolly, who did tons of charity work and infrequently talked about it, Angel says she, too, prefers to work quietly, which means many individuals aren’t conscious of her bar or its backstory. “When [people are] doing the work that’s of their coronary heart, you don’t have time to market your self,” she says. As a substitute, she brings the main target and visibility to the nonprofits she goals to boost cash for. Every month, 4 charities are featured, with their missions defined on a plaque above a field the place bargoers can solid their vote. Not solely does it give these do-gooders an opportunity to obtain more cash, however it additionally educates guests on who they’re and what they do. 

Since its earliest inception, the bar has raised round $1.4 million, all of which has gone to domestically based mostly nonprofits. “It’s slightly bit at a time, however it provides up,” Angel says. “It makes a distinction to those nonprofits who’re boots on the bottom.”

Now, following the outpouring of messages she’s obtained within the wake of Parton’s dying, Angel is planning a tribute to the girl who impressed all of it. “I really feel like I’m grieving, too, and it’s sort of onerous for me. I knew this present day would come,” Angel says. “It’s unhappy, however I additionally need everyone to be completely satisfied.”

Angel Share will host a Saturday celebration that includes a playlist of her music, themed cupcakes, and butterfly decor, all of the whereas encouraging attendees to don their fanciest rhinestones and wigs. The featured cocktail will embody a formidable printed picture of a smiling Dolly herself; a portion of the earnings from each drink will go to the Dollywood Basis, which advantages Parton’s Creativeness Library, scholarships, and different types of schooling for youth.

Like Dolly, Angel says she didn’t come from a lot, and he or she doesn’t have kids. As a substitute, her legacy is lifting the folks round her—a philosophy she believes everybody can emulate to make the world a greater place. “I simply really feel just like the universe is at all times looking for us, even when it appears like we’re shedding,” Angel says. Dolly Parton has been a reminder of that, particularly at Angel Share. “Her power and vibe nonetheless reside on this house, and our hearts—everyone’s coronary heart.”

Know Earlier than You Go

Sport your greatest wig, rhinestones, and butterflies for Angel Share’s tribute to Dolly Parton on Saturday, August 29, at 4pm. Entrance is free. Meals and drinks might be out there for buy. 924 Congress St, Downtown.