To the editor:

Your excellent front page story, “40 bucks and no luck,” prompts me to tell you about Heart of America Teen Challenge, which visits young men in jails and prisons and offers them more than hope; it offers opportunities to train as apprentices after they’re released to re-enter society with heads held high!

When I had some remodeling done, the contractor brought a Teen Challenge apprentice with him. The young man was a diligent and skilled worker, and he and I became friends. What a success story he is!

Heart of America Teen Challenge is at work in Douglas County, but is operating on a frayed shoestring.

To help this really excellent work, Clyde Bysom and my singing group, Attune, will be teaming up on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. in the Mayflower Room of Plymouth Congregational Church to present a concert of music from the Big Band era, called “Swingtime & Lemonade.” Clyde will be leading some 20 players in the Jazzhaus Big Band, and I’ll be accompanying five of my best singers from the Ballad of Black Jack, in a two-hour-plus concert of the kind of beloved music you seldom hear played live today. Bob Newton will emcee.

No tickets needed. The lemonade and the homemade cookies will be free, and served by young men from Teen Challenge. I promise that our concert, “Swingtime & Lemonade,” will be a delight.

Oh, yes, there’ll be an offering basket to benefit Teen Challenge. And you’ll be glad there is!

Don Mueller,

Baldwin