DATE:     12/18/98
CONTACT:  David Snodgrass, (803) 275-5602
          Bill Craven, (706) 554-4300
          Dr. Steve Meadows, (803) 284-3343
WRITER:   Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343

Ag Heritage Center Receives $10,000 Donation

     BLACKVILLE -- An Edgefield County contractor who loves
horses has donated $10,000 to the Agricultural Heritage Center
(AHC) at Clemson University's Edisto Research and Education
Center.
     David Snodgrass made the donation after taking part in an
Old Time Horse Farmers Gathering sponsored by the AHC in
September. More than 2,000 people attended the two-day event, at
which horses and mules were used to show how farms were once
worked.
     "My wife Nancy and I enjoy taking part in plow days like the
one at Blackville and working horses with kids," Snodgrass said.
He worked a team of eight Percheron draft horses during the
plowing demonstrations at Blackville.
     Bill Craven, president of the AHC, thanked Snodgrass for his 
contribution. He said AHC volunteers have made great progress in 
restoring three buildings at Edisto REC.
     "One building will be a Discovery Center on the Heritage
Corridor which goes from Clemson to Charleston. The second will
be a learning center which will teach the history and the future
of agriculture, and the third will be an Agricultural Museum," 
Craven said.
     "We have raised more than $300,000 in money and in-kind 
contributions, and much more is needed for our effort to make the
AHC a meaningful display for our state," he added. "Its people
like David Snodgrass who allow all this to happen."
     Snodgrass believes in keeping the knowledge of traditional 
agriculture alive for future generations.
     A native of Kentucky, he came to Edgefield County in 1970 to
visit a brother after a tour of duty with the Army in Vietnam. He
liked the Trenton area and decided to stay. His wife is a native
of Traveler's Rest in Greenville County. They have a 240-acre
farm, most of which is in coastal bermuda hay for their 25 horses
- mostly Percherons and a couple of quarter horses.
     "Horses are my hobby, since I'm not into fishing or anything
else," Snodgrass said.
                          END