VOLUNTEER TRAINER HELPS PEOPLE WORK UP A SWEAT

When Red Williams is at his kindest, people work up a sweat.

Williams, a Cape Girardeau resident, has volunteered as a trainer at Southeast Missouri State University's Recreation Center since 1991.

He designs fitness and rehabilitative programs for individuals and also trains university students on how to work with people while setting up wellness programs.

"We have people coming in from 16 to 88 to work out," Williams said. "It's a lot of fun."

Williams worked as an athletic trainer at the university from 1967 to 1988 when degenerative heart disease forced him to retire.

"At one point, I was up for a heart transplant," he said. "Then the medication and the treatment kicked in and dropped my priority and I didn't have to have the transplant. My heart had stabilized and stayed somewhat decent."

When he was on the payroll, Williams often worked with coaches in the area to help train high school athletes and gave a lot of free advice to people recovering from sports injuries.

When L.G. Lauxman, now the director of the recreation center, called him in 1990 about setting up a fitness and recreation program at the university, "that was just a continuation of what I'd been doing," Williams said.

Lauxman and Williams checked out the fitness and recreation program at Southern Illinois University and got to work at Southeast.

"We had students that maybe had knee surgery while they were at home and now they're on campus and they had to do rehab and what do they do and where do they do it," Williams said. "Then they turned it into kind of a fitness program."

About a year and a half ago, the recreation center added a program for seniors. "It's quite effective," Williams said.

Williams' co-workers and clients say he has the knack for making fitness fun.

"He's always very upbeat," Lauxman said. "He's very personable with the individuals, especially our senior citizens."

This semester, Williams has been working with Cindy Keesee, 21, a junior majoring in business. Keesee has cerebral palsy and says the program of stretching and weightlifting that Williams designed for her has shaped up her self-confidence as well.

"He pushes me a lot," she said. "He's always thinking of something new. I'm learning that I can go out there and do things that I didn't think I could do. When I was growing up, I always thought I couldn't play sports or do things because of the cerebral palsy. Now I realize that if I'd had therapy I would have been able to do that. I even give speeches now to the physical education classes here on campus now. I've gotten really involved."

Keesee said Williams "is like a father to me."

Debbie Jackson, 26, and a dietetics major, is one of the students who "shadows" Williams at the recreation center.

"Red will come up with special exercises to work with them in specific ways" and the students help monitor clients' progress. Jackson also works with clients on nutrition counseling.

"Red's great. He works on one speed and that's fast. Every time I come in and say, `Hi, Red,' he's already into telling me what to do that day," she said. "He's really a sweet person, takes very much interest in the people he works with on a personal basis. You can hear his laugh all over the rec center. He's a fun person to work with."

Williams said he likes working with people and seeing the progress they make.

"It's kind of scary, yet it's really gratifying. Some people come in and they've got a lack of confidence or they're not comfortable and they have some success and you can see development growth. That's a fancy word, but you can see them maturing."