RANGER WILLIE B. SAFE CATCHES ON

He's not an American icon yet, but ranger Willie B. Safe is trying.

Actually, it's the mission of his creators, employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who oversee operations at Wappapello Lake. They want to make their life-vested cartoon ranger as synonymous with water safety as Smokey Bear is with stopping forest fires.

Although Smokey has a 50-year head start on Willie B. Safe, Wappapello Lake ranger Andrew Jefferson said his homemade ranger is gaining ground. Jefferson pointed to presentations of Willie at the two previous International Boating and Water Safety Summits.

"Anybody who has anything to do with water comes to these," he said. "People from South America and Japan took our activity books, music cassettes and everything else back with them."

What has become a kind of cottage industry for the Wappapello park rangers started at a Poplar Bluff Boy Scouts meeting on April 25, 1996, said ranger Kathy Dickson. She was presenting a program to about 100 Scouts on water safety with Sarah Burton, a friend of Dickson's who teaches mentally and physically handicapped children.

They decided to dress up their presentation, with Burton putting on a much-too-small life jacket, huge diver's flippers and a heavy coating of sun-repelling zinc oxide on her nose.

"She had that zinc on her nose for a week," said Donna Adams, administrative assistant at Wappapello Lake. "It wouldn't come off."

Burton played Willie as a youth with more enthusiasm than sense about water.

"When she came in her gear went flying and falling everywhere," Dickson said.

The Scouts enjoyed the show so much, the rangers performed similar skits during water safety programs on the beach. At that point they caught the attention of the Corps' former district operations manager, Michael McClendon.

"He told us Willie was a good concept, but he needs to be a ranger," Adams said. "So, in a few months, Willie grew up and became a park ranger."

Making Willie into a ranger rather than an animal, boat or other mascot was a thoughtful decision, Jefferson said. It's an easy image for others to incorporate into water safety presentations. An elaborate costume isn't necessary because being Willie is just a matter of putting on a life jacket.

A ranger is also easier to approach for teen-agers than a man in an animal suit, Adams said.

"I'm glad he's not a bear or an owl because kids tend to hang back after a certain time because they don't want friends to laugh at them," she said.

But Willie can get along with the bears and owls. This was an important idea Jefferson and the others got across to Lynda Nutt, chairwoman of the National Water Safety Products Committee, when she came to Wappapello Lake in 1997. Nutt expressed doubts that Willie could be used widely, because lakes managed by the Corps of Engineers nationwide have mascots. Willie would be excess alongside Safety Squid, Freddie Fish and about 50 other mascots, Nutt said.

"But we convinced her that this complements the mascots," Adams said. "Ranger Willie is a friend to all of these mascots."

Nutt agreed and released funds to pay for the printing of 300,000 Willie activity books to distribute nationally.

Prior to that, the Wappapello group had printed 5,000 books with Jefferson soliciting funding from area businesses.

Jefferson stresses their success is home-grown, which has built the platform for national recognition.

Jefferson has pulled in his local electrical co-op to include Willie's safety message on a program for its annual membership meeting. A bank has put Willie on its deposit envelopes. Poplar Bluff's chamber of commerce also advertises Willie on its literature.

The creative abilities of Wappapello's staff have also helped.

Diane Stratton, a ranger, has started a billboard campaign that places 10 Willie billboards with changing themes throughout the state each year.

A Willie screensaver for computers was the brainchild of Gary Stilts, operations manager for the Corps of Engineers St. Louis District, which includes Wappapello Lake.

Thanks to Dickson, Willie has a face. The ranger has illustrated all of the Willie material, including the activity book. Before drawing Willie, Dickson won national awards for wildlife art, including accolades from the National Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited.

"For her, drawing Willie is dumbing down," Adams said.

Adams expanded herself by writing the words and music for five songs that make up a music cassette called "You Can't Keep a Good Life Jacket Down."

The music varies from rap to blues to ballads, but there's no country twang here. Nutt, of the water safety products board, wouldn't allow it.

Adams had made up comical songs for friends before. However, this was her first serious recording. She recruited rangers, maintenance and other staff at Wappapello Lake to sing on a demo tape. A professional recording was finally made for mass distribution at a studio in Huntsville, Ala.

"That's the great thing about this," Adams said. "Everybody's playing."

Wappapello staff members have created a litany of ready-made safety programs. Interpretive activity outlines for hunter safety, bicycle riding and boating are available to any agency or group as part of a comprehensive safety program.

As Jefferson's group continues to get invitations to present the Willie program in states like Florida, North Carolina and others, their homemade safety message will only get bigger.

"Everybody's taking it and using it now," Jefferson said. "That's what we want."