Area woman, 80, to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Parker’s coaching career spanned 46 years at Ashdown

By: Jim Williamson - Texarkana Gazette

Helen Parker, retired athletic director of Ashdown High school, speaks with Ashdown residents Jerry Goodman, left, and Hugh Rhodes Friday at the Senior Citizens Center in Ashdown. Parker visits and helps to serve food at the center daily. She is scheduled to be inducted into the Arkansas Athletic Di...

Helen Parker, retired athletic director for Ashdown High School, brings food to seniors at the Senior Citizens Center in Ashdown on Friday. Parker is scheduled to be inducted into the Arkansas Athletic Director’s Hall of Fame tonight in Hot Springs.

As a child playing in a pasture near Okolona, Ark., Helen Parker would jump fences using her “mama’s bean poles.”

She was a barefoot tomboy developing her athletic skills and the results have carried her far in life. Tonight she will be inducted into the Arkansas Athletic Directors Hall o...

Published: 03/16/2009