DATE:     10/16/97
CONTACT:  Lansing Brewer, (803) 432-9071
WRITER:   Bill Baker, (864) 656-3875

Lansing Brewer Stays on the Run

     CAMDEN - Whether teaching kids respect for the environment,
organizing 4-H Clubs in local schools, or completing 60-mile
marathons for charity, Kershaw County Extension Agent Lansing
Brewer stays on the run.
     As part of his most recent charity effort, Brewer ran the 63
miles from Camden to Camp Bob Cooper near Summerton in just over
16 hours. The July 30 effort was a memorial run to honor the late
Richard Spray, a Clemson Extension agricultural engineer who died
of cancer earlier this year. It was just one of many grueling
runs he has undertaken for charity over the past 15 years.
     "I dedicate my runs to my father, because he had emphysema
through smoking, and died of lung cancer," Brewer said.
     The run raised over $2,000 earmarked for either the Richard
Spray Foundation or for use in the 4-H electricity program.
     "Lansing likes a challenge, as evidenced by his
long-distance running, and he uses this characteristic to his
advantage when creating programs with volunteers and other
staff," said Judy Brock, Extension cluster director
for Kershaw, Lee and Sumter counties.
     His colleagues echo those sentiments.
     "Lansing is a forward-looking Extension agent," said Barbara 
Speziale, an Extension water quality specialist. "He is able to
work with new clientele and take advantage of new opportunities.
He is not afraid to try novel approaches or programs."
     Indeed, Brewer manages to find many less visible - and, one
hopes, less physically strenuous - ways to help others. Among his
many Extension duties, the 51-year-old Brewer manages the 4-H20
Summer Pontoon Classroom, a water camp program he began three
years ago.
     The 4-H20 program grew out of a Keep America Beautiful
event, an island cleanup on Lake Wateree called "The
Garbage-Grabbing, Litter-Picking Trash Tournament."
     The event was sponsored by Clemson Extension and the Lake
Wateree Homeowners Association, and was designed to teach kids
the importance of keeping waterways clean.
     "I started thinking that we needed to get the kids involved
in learning about the ecosystem along waterways, and how
pollution and debris can upset this system," Brewer said. "I
thought we could come up with an annual program to involve the
kids in some of these things."
     Since he is not an expert in such subjects as water quality
and forestry, Brewer called on experts from several sources. They
included Clemson Extension specialists Barbara Speziale and
Rockie English, S.C. Forestry, the state Department of Natural
Resources, and 4-H volunteers.
     Beginning in the summer of 1995, the program initially took
20 kids ages 9-14 to the lake for three days and allowed them to 
rotate through different learning activities.
     Brewer's thinking was, "If the kids are involved and doing
hands-on activities, then when they use the lake to fish or camp,
they'll remember that it really belongs to them, and they need to
keep it clean," he said.
     "Lansing helps create an environment in which youth can
learn about and enjoy the natural beauty of South Carolina,"
English said. "Science and nature are always mixed with music in
a Lansing Brewer program. He can get children to join in a
sing-a-long better than any person I have ever seen."
     All involved agreed the 4-H20 program was a success in its
first year. "The kids enjoyed it, and the Wateree Association
members thought it was really a neat idea," Brewer said.
     This summer, the program included 30 kids and last an entire
week. Organizers are planning to expand the program to 50 kids
next year.
     A little brother to the 4-H20 program was begun this year by
Brewer. Called "Mud, Muck and Other Wonderful Things," it catered
to kids ages 5-8.
     "This program is similar, but the kids aren't involved in
highly technical activities," he said. "We try to tie into their
natural curiosity about things, such as the types of wildlife 
found in and around the pond." He added, "We want to teach kids
at a very young age respect for the environment so that we don't
have another generation of litterers and polluters."
     A music major at the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, Brewer taught music for a few years, and played tuba
for a brief time with the Barnum and Bailey Circus. But his
career soon turned toward what would become his forte, working
with young people and volunteers.
     At first, Brewer served as an executive with the Boy Scout
program in Kershaw, Richland and Fairfield counties. But when he
was offered a promotion involving a transfer to Georgia, he
decided against pulling up roots. "I had been with them for quite
a few years and decided it was time to make a change," he
recalled.
     At that time, Clemson Extension had an opening in Kershaw
County. Brewer was offered the job, and began work in October
1988, just after Hurricane Hugo wreaked havoc on the coast. "I
remember my first duty was to put together a lot of information
on hurricanes," he said.
     He soon began working in the 4-H program, and became the
youth development coordinator as well as the agent in charge of
the Keep America Beautiful effort and the Adopt-A-Highway
program.
     Although agent-led, in-school 4-H clubs are a rarity these 
days in South Carolina, Brewer and fellow agent Joyce Collins
both lead classes in Kershaw County public schools.
     "I meet with no less than 25 individual classrooms every
month," Brewer said. "A lot of what we do is what many schools
are trying to get to -- the hands-on, learn-by-doing type of
teaching."
     While it wasn't his original intention, Brewer found himself
following in the footsteps of his grandparents, who were
Salvation Army workers, and his father, who was a community
volunteer in several capacities.
     "Somehow, without really planning it, that's the way I wound
up," he said. "It's amazing when I think about it, but I guess it
rubbed off a little bit."
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