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Hard to believe though I am nearing my 1,000 story being written since this blog was first created in 2023.

I would like to reach 100 followers this summer! 

I thank you.

Pat Locke

offshoremuse2023.blogspot.com 

 A Western New York Couple

Builds a Colorful House

out of

Colorful Bottles

These two large scenes appear at night when the light shines through .. a beach scene with complete with palm tress and a setting sun which is a nod to their favorite place in the Caribbean.  There is a large tree made of bottles of various sizes, shapes and colors.  The couple's creation has endured Western New York winters though they have acid washed the bottles to make them shine brighter and reseal the mortar.

Some folks use empty bottles for craft projects, but one Niagara County couple took recycling to another level.

What do you get when you mix a colorful vision, some ambition and more than 3,000 wine bottles?  If you're Kitty and Kevin, the end result is something really incredible.  A backyard structure that looks more like a work of art.  Kitty got the idea while enjoying a glass of wine with her son who was enjoying a beer from a blue bottle. She liked how colorful the bottle was and thought ther had to be some sort of craft project she could create using it.

 The creation was anything but a normal craft project!

After convincing Kevin  .. it took Kitty and Kevin a year of nights and weekends to build the 10'x12' building. They had some bottles of their own and enlisted the help of friends and family to collect bottles from area wineries, restaurants and bars. So instead of ending up in the trash, the bottles ended up stacked high and kept in place with mortar.  the finished product looks like stained glass when the bottles catch the light, from within, at night. 

One thing they don't plan on doing?  Building another wine bottle building.  

Someone already asked!

 

The Disco Era

Disco is a genre of dance music and a counterculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife scene.  Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated baselines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pianos, synthesizers and electric rhythm guitars.

Discotheques as a venue were mostly a French invention, imported to the United States with the opening of Le Club, a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan, by nightclub owner and promotor, Olivier Coquelin, on New Year's Eve in 1960.  Coquelin is known for creating the first American discotheque in the United States. 

Disco music as a genre started as a mixture of music from venues popular among African Americans, Latino Americans and Italian Americans in New York City (especially Brooklyn) and Philadelphia during the late 1960s to the mid-to-late 1970s.

Several dance styles were developed during the period of disco's popularity in the United States which included recordings by Earth, Wind and Fire.  Disco crossover songs such as "September" and "Let's Groove" became massive staples of the disco dance floor though EWF are also considered an R&B band and pioneers of funk, soul and jazz. Another disco song, Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now was recorded in 1979 by American R&B duo, McFadden and Whitehead. Disco groups of the decade were The Bee Gees, Chic, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Emotions, The Jackson 5, Kool and the Gang, The Love Unlimited Orchestra, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Pointer Sisters and Sister Sledge among many others.

The Disco ee boomed in the 1970s and remains a pervasive influence today due to several key factors among them being Cinematic Magic found in the blockbuster film, Saturday Night Fever (1977) propelling the scene from underground clubs to straight mainstream living rooms. 

The most famous at the 2001 Odyssey club while the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancin'" plays.

Why It Survives Today

Disco never truly died because it simply .. evolved.  Contemporary stars consistently channel the genre's infectious, feel-good energy. At its core, the genre is all about joy, escapism and coming together on the dance floor which is a universal, enduring human desire. 

  

 

In 1946, Highlights Magazine was born in a two-room office above a car dealeship.  Garry Cleveland Myers and Caroline Clark Myers, nationally recognized leaders in education and child development filled the monthly magazine for children ages 6-12 with stories, adventures, brainteasers and iconic hidden picture puzzles. The husband and wife team created the "Goofus and Gallant" characters, initially in 1940 for a different publication.

Dr. Garry Cleveland Myers and Caroline Clark Myers

The "Brown Family" Connection:  The "Brown" branch of the family began with the next generation.  Kent Brown, Jr., the grandson of Garry and Caroline, worked in the editorial offices starting in 1971 before taking over as editor-in-chief in 1989.  Garry Myers III was grandson of the founders and a long-time executive who served as CEO until 2005. 

Highlights magazine was founded in June 1946 by educators Garry and Caroline to highlight the most important aspects of child development .. creativity, kindness and thinking skils .. under the guiding philosophy "Fun with a Purpose" motto.  The name reflects their goal to provide a "highlight" of stories, puzzles and educational content for children.  

Highlights magazine was a fulfillment of their belief that "children are the world's most important people."

Dr. Garry and Caroline, previously editors of Children's Activities aimed to create a publication that fostered "joyful learning" and helped children become their "best selves".  The original title was Highlights for Children.  The target audience originally was designed for children ages 2 to 12.  The magazine reached significant circulation milestones over the decades, peaking in the 1980s and 1990s as the most popular children's magazine in the United States.  In 1971, the magazine reached one million subscribers.  In 1981, the magazine mailed 1,250,000 copies.  In late 1990s, the magazine approached 2 million subscribers, becoming the mosty children's magazine in the United States.  In 1995, circulation grew to 2.8 million with most subscribers being families.  In 2006, the magazine delivered the one-billionth copy of the magazine on August 1.  As of 2026, the magazine has been in publication for over 80 years.  Highlights can be famously found in waiting rooms across the United States.

The main editorial offices for Highlights for Children magazine are located in Honesdale, Pennsylvania at 803 Church Street.  The Honesdale office acts as a hub for editorial work, while the nearby Highlights Foundation in Boyds Mills hosts workshops for children's authors and illustrators promoting its mission to support storytellers.  While the Honesdale site is not an amusement park or public visitor center, it is a significant location for children's literature development in Pennyslvania.  

The staff loves to hear from their readers.

letters@highlights.com 

or write to them 

Highlight Editorial

803 Church Street

Honesdale, PA 18431

Highlights for Children magazine's business offices and headquarters are located in Columbus, Ohio at 1800 Watermark Drive.  The magazine has remained family owned through four generations. 

For over 70 years, the magazine has maintained a "Dear Highlights" section, answering more than 2.5 million letters from children.  The grand expanded to include High Five for younger readers (ages 2-6), mobile apps, podcasts and book clubs. 

Highlighting the Magazines 75th Anniversary

Circa June 2021

Kent Johnson, CEO

Kent is proud to serve as the CEO of the company that his great-grandparents, Garry Cleveland Myers, Ph.D. and Caroline Clark Myers founded in 1946.  While he's always been part of the Highlights family, he worked in scientific research, development, manufacturing and operations before officially joining the company in 2005.  Today, he is still inspired by Highlights' mission to help children become their best selves and is focused on making a greater impact in supporting children and families across the globe. Kent received his bachelor's degree from Amherst College and his doctorate in physics from Harvard University.  He lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and two sons. Johnson is part of the fourth generation of the family to run the company.

Kent Johnson took over as CEO following the passing of his Uncle Garry Myers III in 2005 and is the great-grandson of Garry and Caroline Myers. 

The Highlights flagship product, now with multiple titles to engage and entertain babies, toddlers, kids and tweens. 

Highlights magazine reflects their philosophy that children become their "best selves" by using their creativity and imagination; developing their reading, thinking, reasoning skills and learning to treat others with respect, kindness and sensitivity.

Today, Highlights magazine still believes that children are the world's most important people.  Highlights has grown their family of products to find new ways to help children become CURIOUS, CREATIVE, CARING and CONFIDENT individuals.  With four age related magazines, puzzle books, activity subscriptions, kids clothes, back-to-school essentials and more, there are so many ways that Highlights support kids and the grown-ups who love them!

"Fun with a Purpose"

 

If you walked into a shop class in the 1960s, you new it instantly due to the smell of sawdust, machine oil and freshly cut metal.  For generations, shop class (or industrial arts) was a normal part of American school life.  Then it quietly disappeared.

This video explores what happened to shop class in American schools, why it vanished between the 1970s and 1990s and what we lost in the shift to college-for-all and screen-based learning.

From scarred workbenches and real industrial tools to the modern skills gap in trades like plumbing, welding and HVAC, this story of how America changed its relationship with the physical world.

Shop class didn't just teach woodworking or metalworking it taught a relationship with the physical world:  how things are made, how to fix them and the confidence that comes from building something real.  

High school shop classes declined sharply starting n the 1980s due to budget cuts though they are making a comeback.  Rather thanjust basic parpentry, moden shop classes incorporate advanced technology like robotics, 3D printing and computer-aided design (CAD).  With high demand and lucrative salaires in fields like welding and plumbing districts are investing in the trades to off viable, non-college career paths. 

Many districts now partner with local community colleges to allow high schoolers to earn professional trade certifications or college credits before they graduate.

 

What Happened to the Shoe Store X-Ray Machine?

Shoe stores once had something most people today would find hard to believe.  They used X-Ray machines so you could see the bones in your feet while trying on a new pair of shoes.

These machines, called Fluroscopes, were a common part of the shoe-buying  experience.  Children wold slide their feet into the cabinet and look through the viewer to watch their toes move inside the shoe.  It felt modern and scientific.  However, by the 1960s and early 1970s, they were removed from stores. 

The Adrian shoe fluoroscope was a popular 1920s-1859s retail device that used X-rays to show customers a live fluoroscopic image of their foot bones inside new shoes.  Manufactured by the M.B. Adrian Company & Sons in Milwaukee Wisconsin these wooden cabinet machines typically featured three viewing ports and operated with minimal shielding.   Due to significant radiation leakage and safety concerns, they were banned in the U.S. starting in 1957.

Customers stood on a platform and placed their feet into a slot at the base of a roughly four-foot tall wooden cabinet to view a 10-20 second live image, often used for children's shoes.  The machine used strong, unshielded X-ray tubes, often running between 500-700 watts emitting significant radiation for the user and particularly the salesperson.

The origin was based on a 1919 patent by Dr. Jacob Lowe with over 10,000 units sold in the United States though its demise increased awareness of radiation risks, pressure from medical societies and insurance companies led to bans, starting with Pensylvania in 1957 and spreading throughout the country by the 1960s.  These machines were found to offer negligible fitting benefits and posed a hazard to customers and staff.  

These devices, while revolutionary at the time, were quickly replaced by manual measurement techniques as radiation safety regulations tightened. 

Adrian Special 

 

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, maintained by the United States Army.  400,000 are buried on its 639 acres in Arlington, Virginia. 

It was established on May 13, 1864 during the American Civil War.  The first soldier to be buried in Arlington was Private William Henry Christman of Pennsylvania on  May 13, 1864.  There are 396 Medal of Honor recipients buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

Marine Colonel John Glenn, the first American astronaut and former U.S. Senator to orbit the Earth was laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery's Section 35 on April 6, 2017. 

Master Gunnery Sgt. John Abbracciamento of "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, plays taps during the graveside service for John Glenn.

🇺🇸 

 Memorial Day Weekend is more than considering it to be the unofficial beginning of summer. It is a federal holiday in the United states for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. 

Thank You to the brave military men and women who proudly serviced our Country and gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.