Juicy burgers sizzling on the grill. The last, languid sunny days spent at the beach or the campgrounds. The final, fleeting gasp of summer fun before the inevitable flurry of the first day of school.

Host Jerry Lewis is overwhelmed as Anchor Ed McMahon reveals Telethon '97's record tote board figure.

Labor Day means all of those things. It's also the day Americans reflect on our debt to organized labor and the tradition of honest work that helped shape and strengthen our nation.

But for people affected by the muscular dystrophies, spinal muscular atrophies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and related neuromuscular diseases, Labor Day means something else again. It's the day when the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon sounds a call to arms to Americans nationwide to strike back at these life-threatening disorders.

This year's Telethon will begin at 9 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 6, and continue for 21½ hours. The broadcast, emanating from CBS Television City in Hollywood, will feature MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis in the role for which he's become world famous, as champion of some one million Americans faced with progressive neuromuscular diseases.

Last year, Lewis' 32nd nationally televised MDA Telethon earned a special place in history when the national tote board figure rolled over to a new high: $50,475,055. It was a record in giving to support MDA research and services.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

Tumultous times for Co-Host Jann Carl, who was hours away from giving birth during last year's Telethon.

Proud as he was of last year's outcome, Lewis is quick to place the credit for that milestone figure with the American public, where he feels it truly belongs.

"They believe, as I do, that we're going to see concrete results very soon from the research that MDA's funding, whether it's through gene therapy or one of the other myriad approaches that scientists are taking," Lewis says.

During the greater part of the years he's served as Telethon host, Lewis has received tremendous support from longtime Telethon Anchor and MDA National Vice President Ed McMahon, one of the most notable broadcasting professionals of recent times.

McMahon's stalwart friendship and unshakable professionalism even during the most spontaneous of Telethon moments has caused a grateful Lewis to refer to him as "my own personal Rock of Gibraltar."

TERRIFIC TEAMWORK

In 1998, award-winning "Entertainment Tonight" correspondent Jann Carl will return for her third year as a national Telethon co-host. Carl won special admiration from Telethon viewers last year by ably peforming her Telethon duties while in the very late stages of pregnancy; in fact, she ended up safely giving birth less than 24 hours after Telethon '97 went off the air!

"No one's done more to spread the word about MDA's mission," says Lewis of his new co-host, Walter Anderson.

A cherished friend to MDA and a recurring Telethon guest, Parade Magazine Editor Walter Anderson, will now assume Telethon co-hosting duties. Anderson has earned MDA's undying gratitude by featuring MDA-related stories year after year in Parade's Labor Day weekend issue to educate the public about the Association's war on neuromuscular diseases.

A most welcome recent addition to MDA's Telethon family is VH-1 personality Cynthia Garrett, returning for her second stint as a Telethon co-host. Garrett, like Carl and Anderson, is an MDA national vice president. Once again, she'll be bringing her top-notch interviewing skills, unbridled enthusiasm and a selection of guest musical performers courtesy of the 24-hour music video network.

Further co-hosting support will be provided by comedians Kevin Meaney and Max Alexander, favorite Telethon guests and good friends to the Association. Lewis' co-hosts will help introduce special guests ranging from entertainers to individuals affected by neuromuscular diseases to representatives of MDA national sponsors.

NETWORK OF CARING

Other indispensable members of MDA's Telethon family will co-host local broadcasts on major "Love Network" stations, joining the national broadcast at strategic intervals.

They'll include vocal artist Maureen McGovern, fresh from her smash starring performance in a touring revival of "The King and I." She'll be co-hosting at KCAL 9-TV in Los Angeles, along with television and film comedian Max Alexander. (See Max's story.)

VH-1 star Cynthia Garrett is back as co-host on Telethon '98.

Joining them will be broadcasting legend Casey Kasem, who, like McGovern and Alexander, is an MDA national vice president. His wife, actress Jean Kasem, will be there, too, as will KCAL co-anchors Pat Harvey and David Gonzales.

The similarly impressive Telethon team at WGN-TV in Chicago will include MDA National Vice President Bart Conner, his wife, Nadia Comaneci, comedian Tom Dreesen and WGN co-anchors Allison Payne and Steve Sanders. Violin virtuoso Rachel Barton is also slated to make an appearance from Chicago.

MDA National Vice President Denise Richardson will contribute her energy and passion as co-host of WWOR-TV's broadcast in New York. She'll be joined by MDA National Vice President Ed Fry and WWOR sports anchor Russ Salzberg.

DISTINGUISHED GUESTS

MDA National Goodwill Ambassadors Aubrey Olson, 11, and her brother Nicholas, 9, will appear on the national broadcast. The youngsters hail from Pine City, Minn., and have Friedreich's ataxia. They've spent much of this year traveling the country to spread awareness of MDA's mission.

Mandy Van Benthuysen, an 18-year-old from San Diego who has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, will return as MDA national youth chairperson, introducing and chatting with representatives of youth organizations that have gone out of their way to help MDA during the year.

In addition, the Telethon is slated to offer a smorgasbord of exciting talent, including Latin singing and dancing sensation Charo and other musical luminaries such as Ray Charles, Chuck Mangione, Michael Feinstein, Patti Page and Julie Wilson; top comic talent, including Louis Anderson, Carrot Top, Jeff Foxworthy, Rip Taylor, Bob Zany and Cathy Ladman; a special segment featuring Pam Tillis from the Cyprus Bayou Casino in Charenton, La.; the Emmy-nominated Anita Mann dancers; and a host of other favorites ranging from magician Lance Burton to skating star Scott Hamilton.

WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON

And in order to make the Telethon a truly international event, for the first time the national broadcast will be available -- both video and sound -- worldwide as it unfolds on MDA's Web site at www.mda.org.

The Telethon reflects the strongly held American conviction that any job worth doing can and will get done. Come Labor Day, with the help of the American public, Jerry Lewis vows to bring MDA's mission measurably closer to a definitive conclusion, the end of neuromuscular diseases.