(NewsUSA) - Once upon a time, many people proposed to their significant other with grandma’s engagement ring. There’s something to be said for family tradition. However, whether or not you inherit a piece of heirloom jewelry, there’s something unique and personal about a modern, hand-made, custom engagement ring.     

“Bold and beautiful; modern and contemporary,” says the website of award-winning jewelry designer Cornelis Hollander.     The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company has four decades of awards and testimonials for its dramatic engagement ring designs inspired by the eye-catching geometry and clean lines of Art Deco style.       

“Our diamond rings are exceptional because they are made uniquely for the wearer, making them exclusive, memorable and personal. Your ring is the ultimate storyteller of your style and commitment,” according to Cornelis Hollander’s son, Walter Hollander, who inherited the company from his father.     The signature design collection of Cornelis Hollander includes styles for every taste.     

- Strong but sweet: The Burcht setting features an arc of pave diamonds that sits beneath a precious metal bridge holding a stunning center stone.     

- Clean and classic: The Een is a best-seller with its clean setting and timeless appeal.  Four elongated prongs showcase a center stone, with two additional diamonds on each side, plus a row of bead-set diamonds along the band.     

- Ultramodern and edgy: The Kader pushes the envelope of boldness in jewelry, perfect for those who embrace the unexpected. The ring features a thick channel that holds an off-center stone in a way that maximizes its brilliance.     

- Perfect fit: The Zwaar is “our boldest and most beautiful setting,” according to the company website. The square design can accommodate most gemstone shapes, and a center stone between two walls that allows the matching wedding band to slide through the middle for a unique piece that catches eyes and turns heads.     

For a truly personal touch, the Cornelis Hollander team can help you design your own unique engagement ring, and turn any vision into a reality. Any Cornelis Hollander designs can feature moissanite or diamond as the center stone. The company remains in the hands of the Hollander family, and all designs are manufactured by skilled craftsmen in their Scottsdale, Arizona, studio.     

Visit cornelishollander.com for more details and to explore a distinctive collection of handcrafted engagement ring designs. 

(NewsUSA) - Despite the documented success of the various COVID-19 vaccines in preventing serious illness and death across a range of ages, many people in the United States, especially in rural communities, remain hesitant to getting vaccinated.     

However, a new public service announcement focusing on love, respect, and humility is making inroads to encourage COVID-19 vaccination in rural communities. The GreenShoots Foundation, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to uplifting people across the social fabric of America, was launched in 2021 by Arkansas native and NYC-based financial services veteran Ted Huffman and his wife, Cheryl Huffman.     

The foundation’s inaugural project is a COVID-19 vaccine awareness campaign focused on rural communities. The “Please Consider Vaccination” campaign includes outreach on radio, TV, digital media, and social media.     

In the campaign’s signature video, a father in a rural community, travels from his farm to a church and then a school, where he sees children safely crossing the street under the supervision of a crossing guard. In the next shot, the father arrives at a local vaccination clinic and says, “Let’s do this.”     

The campaign was first launched in communities in Arkansas in November 2021 but has proven so successful that it has appeared in areas of Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Montana, Maryland, Wisconsin, Idaho, West Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, Alaska, Michigan, Wyoming, Illinois, Tennessee, Utah, and Kentucky.     

In the three months after the release of the PSA campaign, Pulaski County, which contains Little Rock, Arkansas’s capital and largest city, saw an increase of 9% over similar markets in neighboring Mississippi without access to the PSA campaign. In fact, the areas without access to the campaign saw a drop in vaccination rates among the unvaccinated population during the same time period.     

“When you look at the success of this campaign, I believe it comes down to the representation of core human desires and needs, which are universal and apolitical, such as respect, health, and safety,” concludes Ted Huffman. ”We hope the word will continue to spread and encourage even more people to consider vaccination.”     

Looking ahead, the goals of The GreenShoots Foundation include shelter for the homeless, U.S. military veteran advocacy, and increased participation in the exercise of self-government.     View the video, titled “Life. Your Journey. Your Choice” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXnZMKqLkfk     

For more information about the GreenShoots Foundation, visit thegreenshootsfoundation.org. 

(NewsUSA) - Marine Toys for Tots is the Nation’s flagship children’s Christmastime charity, but the Program offers more than holiday hope. Marine Toys for Tots has expanded its reach to help families in need throughout the year, and its support has  been more valuable than ever as many families struggle with inflation and continue to experience challenging circumstances.     

Marine Toys for Tots is conducting their third annual Christmas in July event -- part of the organization’s DoGoodNow initiative to bring educational toys, books, and games to children in need -- no matter what time of year they need a helping hand. The generosity of the American public allows Marine Toys for Tots to provide these gifts to children in need across the United States, as well as refill “Santa’s bag of toys” in preparation for what will likely be another busy holiday season.     

“We didn’t want to wait until the holidays to support families in need, so with help from our distribution partners at Good360, we are delivering another one million educational toys, books, and games throughout the spring and summer,” says LtGen Jim Laster, USMC (Retired), President & CEO of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.     

“Thanks to the generosity of the American public, we’re able to provide these gifts to children whose families are struggling to make ends meet. The primary goal of our Christmas in July campaign is to restock our inventory of toys, and we could use everyone’s help in preparing for a busy holiday season,” he emphasizes.     

“Donations made through our Christmas in July campaign will make an amazing difference for an underprivileged child.”     

The support and generosity of the American public makes an extraordinary impact on the lives of children in need. Earlier this summer, Agape Distribution, a local charity in Sidney, Ohio, hosted a distribution event for the families living in the area to receive the toys and gifts provided by Marine Toys for Tots. A total of 1,600 toys were distributed to 553 children whose families have been hit extremely hard due to the downturn of the local economy.     

The DoGoodNow initiative will continue to positively impact children in need in communities that face ongoing hardships because of the current economic situation. The emotional support offered to these communities is made possible by the kindness and generosity of Marine Toys for Tots supporters whose donations make a real and genuine difference to families in need.Visit toysfortots.org/ChristmasinJuly for more details or to make a donation. Be sure to follow Marine Toys for Tots on Facebook and Instagram to see how Toys for Tots is continuing to DoGoodNow and deliver a Summer of Smiles!

(NewsUSA) - One of your next vehicle’s most crucial safety features may not even be visible until you need it. A first-to-market product called “Breakthrough Lighting” offers consumers new ways to personalize and interact with their vehicles while helping improve safety through greater visibility.     

Global automotive supplier and mobility technology company Magna has developed the innovative lighting solution. It is featured on a thermoplastic liftgate known as Litgate. The lighting solution can be used communicatively or functionally -- and its “coolest” feature is arguably that it remains discreetly hidden until it needs to signal for something and illuminate. Compare that to today’s lighting elements, which are always visible on your car’s exterior, even when not in use.     

The sophisticated lighting offers unique designs and customizations using various patterns, colors and shapes, providing a creative way for car companies to re-brand and style the vehicles of the future.     

In addition to enabling more creative styling, Magna’s technology offers exciting opportunities with the rise of electric and autonomous vehicles.     

For example, the technology can light up the word “autonomous” to tell other drivers what mode your self-driving vehicle is operating in, or a battery symbol in red to conveniently notify you that your EV (electric vehicle) is running low on charge.     

The ability for communication outside of the vehicle becomes ever more important as autonomous vehicles proliferate.     

We’ve all experienced walking up to an intersection, and just as we start to cross the road, a vehicle approaches the corner intending to turn right, yet doesn’t signal. Cue the apologetic wave from the driver insisting the pedestrian cross.     

Today, this common situation is resolved by way of a simple hand gesture between two people, but imagine if that car were driving itself. How would the pedestrian know the car’s intentions and whether it was safe to step into the street?     

As our society gets closer to integrating fully autonomous vehicles to our roadways, miscommunicated intentions can result in severe accidents on the road -- especially for those on foot.     

In 2020, nearly one in six traffic deaths was a pedestrian death, with 77% of pedestrian fatalities occurring after dark. Seeing and being seen are critical to helping all road users avoid tragic crashes.     

Through clearer communicating and signaling between drivers and others on the road such as pedestrians, bicyclists and e-scooter riders, Breakthrough Lighting reinvents the function of your vehicle’s exterior lighting, while enhancing its overall appearance.     

Magna has the unmatched ability to imagine and develop automotive technologies under one roof, and continues to leverage its in-house engineering power to address real-world transportation challenges to help make roads safer places for all.

(NewsUSA) -  

“Slay the Dragon”
by William McGinnis       

A police officer is brutally murdered in a “mostly peaceful” Oakland protest. City hall shuts down any serious investigation. Ex-Navy SEAL Adam Weldon and his cop buddy, BC take up the search for the killers only to find themselves hunted, outmatched and at risk of being killed at any moment.  

As they fight for their lives, they discover the murder is part of a relentless, 40-year, “unrestricted warfare” assault on America by an implacable, seemingly all-powerful foe -- a sovereign state with vast resources determined to bring America to its knees and to become itself the dominant power.

Can Adam and his team survive? To find out, plunge headlong into this rousing, upbeat, rip-roaring Adam Weldon thriller by award-winning author William McGinnis.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3xUzi3l.

“The Wrong Kind of Woman”
by Sarah McCraw Crow  

A powerful exploration of what a woman can be when what she should be is no longer an option.  

In late 1970, Oliver Desmarais drops dead while hanging Christmas lights. In the year that follows, his widow, Virginia, struggles to find her place on the campus of the elite Clarendon College where Oliver was a professor. While Virginia had always shared her husband’s prejudices against the four outspoken, never-married women on the faculty, she now finds herself depending on them.  

Soon, though, reports of violent protests across the country reach the campus, stirring tensions. As authorities attempt to tamp down “radical elements,” Virginia must decide whether she’s willing to put herself and her family at risk for a cause that had never felt like her own.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3rt7Y8x.

“From the Flood”
by Suzanne Jones  

The true story of a devastating flood that destroys six-year-old Suzie Jones’s house and calls into question everything she thought she knew about home, family, and God.  

It’s the summer of 1972, when six-year-old Suzie Jones and her siblings are whisked away from their home in the middle of the night, never to return again. Hurricane Agnes has triggered a devastating flood that destroys the family home and business. Suzie and her family are then set on an exhausting four-year journey to build back their lives.

This tale of loss, love, and discovery is at times laugh-out-loud funny, at others deeply poignant, and chock full of 1970s nostalgia. The book teaches us that even the most difficult life circumstances provide unexpected gifts.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3n4BgaU.

“Liberty”
by Dyanna Morrison  

“Liberty” is a must read for every American concerned about the senseless proliferation of gun violence and mass shootings in the United States!  

Few issues merit as much debate in the 21st century as Second Amendment rights and gun control versus gun rights issues. “Liberty,” the second play in this trilogy, shines a spotlight on Second Amendment abuses/protections, with our founding fathers witnessing the hypothetical trial of the President of the National Rifle Association through a one-way window in the courtroom.  

The proceedings are interspersed with the rationale our framers used in penning the Second Amendment, questioning its applicable use as a defense for military assault style rifles commonly used in mass shootings, that are so easy to purchase. “Liberty” is a Book Excellence/International Book Award Finalist.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3zkRpAh.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - As the world reopens, savvy travelers want to make the most of every opportunity for unique and indulgent experiences.     

Today, seekers of luxury adventure travel may include singles, couples, retirees and families.     

Some people want to plan the ultimate destination wedding, others are looking for the ultimate golf outing.     

Whether they are celebrating a milestone event or just want to enjoy an unforgettable adventure, travelers have high expectations.     

Companies such as Adventure Travel 365 fill this niche by curating and selecting the top destinations, cultural experiences and adventures for their clients.     When seeking a top-notch travel service, look for features that will make your travel:     

• Easy. Booking with a company that specializes in luxury travel means that all you have to do is pack and go, knowing that your destinations have been selected, verified and approved by experts in the field.     

• Unique. The right luxury travel company has the resources to offer exclusive opportunities that fit your interests, whether it is extreme mountain sports, indulgent spas or whatever else you had in mind.     

• Incredible. Top-notch luxury travel companies have done their research and identified amazing experiences that will stay with you for a lifetime.     

Adventure Travel 365 is a company created to meet the needs of modern adventure travelers. It provides clients with all the information needed to plan the ultimate luxury vacation. Its luxury adventure magazine, “Explore Luxury,” is published digitally each month, with a yearly print edition. The digital and print versions showcase stories and photos of the world’s most prestigious resorts, and hotels, along with a range of activities, spas and restaurants to suit any taste and appeal to any interest.     

The company’s 365 Excellence Award is given to only the top-tier travel destinations and signifies that its staff writers, editors or influencers have visited these properties and confirmed that they meet the highest standards for luxury adventure travel.     

The company’s website stays current with the latest articles, reviews and listings of the most luxurious vacation properties and activities in top destinations worldwide. Options range from exotic luxury safaris, amazing theme park adventures, must-see cultural attractions, blissful spa retreats, and extreme (or not so extreme) outdoor pursuits.     

Nominations are ongoing for this year’s 365 Excellence Award, and travelers can stay tuned to the Adventure Travel 365 website and subscribe to “Explore Luxury” magazine for the latest. The awardees will be the best of the best in luxury travel.     

Visit adventuretravel365.com for more information. For additional details and photos, visit Instagram https://instagram.com/adventuretravel365 and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/goadventuretravel365.