Many say that growing up on the farm taught them work ethic and how to appreciate life. For one man, life on the farm inspired him to become an accomplished pole vaulter-- even at the age of 77.
To understand Cook Holliday, you must first take a trip back in time.
At the age of seven on the ride back from school, Holliday happened to past by someone pole vaulting. He immediately became infatuated with the sport, even though he did not even know what it was called.
“I said ‘my goodness, I think that I could do that,’” he said.
He immediately picked out a bamboo pole, dug a couple holes and started jumping from the memory of what he saw. From that day forward, he was hooked.
“I didn’t even know it was pole vaulting,” he said.
He would go on to set state records both in high school and college, even securing an athletic scholarship to the University of Wyoming. He would later become a track coach and be inducted into the Georgia Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame. He still competes to this day.
“I don’t think I would be where I am today had it not been for growing up on a farm,” he said. “It’s a parallel there that keeps me going because I learned to work, and if you are going to be successful in anything you do, whether it’s farming or whatever, you better be hungry and want to do it.”