Dear Mr. Leonard,

I was pleased to hear about your community's Ohio Bicentennial celebration.  Having people dress up as prominent Ohioans from the past, like Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman, is a fun idea!  Chapman was a folk hero and native Ohioan, famous for planting apple trees along the frontier.  This is a great idea.  Trust me: kids love Johnny Appleseed!  Ask any young person, and they'll say there's nothing more exciting than planting apple trees. 

I am an actor, and an expert on all things Johnny Appleseed.  You see, for the past three years, I have made my living touring grade schools and speaking as Hugo "Lemontree" Chapman, Johnny Appleseed's lesser-known twin brother, and arch nemesis.  Hugo was physically identical to Johnny, apart from his goatee.  In all other ways they were opposites: Hugo hated his brother, and the proliferation of apples.  All along the frontier, wherever Johnny planted trees, Hugo was behind him, uprooting them and salting the Earth so nothing would grow there again. 

Hugo opposed the sweet crunch of the apple, preferring the sour sting of a lemon.  He had an idea that the American frontier would become a vast thicket of lemon trees.  In all his 33 years, he never learned that lemons only grow in the tropics, and a temperate zone like Ohio cannot support his most beloved fruit.    

Johnny eventually tired of his brother's scheming, and the two fought a climactic battle on the edge of a deep ravine.  After a dramatic grappling, during which Johnnys beloved wife didn't know whom to shoot at, Johnny got the better of his twin.  Hugo "Lemontree" Chapman plunged to his death, and into historical obscurity, on that dark day in 1796.     

I propose that I come to your Bicentennial Event and reenact this famous encounter with your Johnny Appleseed impersonator.  I know most all of the Johnny Appleseeds in the country, so I am sure this won't be a problem.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully,

Ryan Arey