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 of Fame during a ceremony at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

“I knew as a child I wanted to spend my life being involved in sports after learning how to pole vault the pasture fences with Mama’s bean poles,” said Parker, who is retired as an Ashdown School District coach and athletic ...

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