The Villages - November 2020 - 50

{ FOR THE

Love

OF PUZZLES }

LARRY PATTON TALKS (WOOD) SHOP
FORMER RADIO PERSONALITY TURNS PUZZLE MAKER
STORY BY RICA KEENUM | PHOTOS BY BRANDON AT WELL
His is the robust, early morning voice you heard while
pouring your first cup of joe.
A former WVLG radio personality, Larry Patton has put
down the mic and picked up his woodworking tools. It's a
passion he's had since his youth.
"When I was a kid, my dad was a woodworker - I
helped out, which really means I got in the way," he said,
laughing. Decades later, on a snowy day in Michigan, his
wife proposed a project he hadn't yet done.
"My daughters were coloring pictures with their pencils
and crayons," he said. "At some point, my wife ripped out a
page from each of the girls' books and said, 'These would

50	

NOVEMBER 2020

make great puzzles,' so
that was my clue. Those
were the first puzzles I
made, and I was kind of
hooked then."
Patton's projects advanced
when he moved to Florida and
bought a scroll saw. Now, on a table in
a Villages restaurant, he sets down a coffee mug. But it's
not just a beverage container.
"Take a look inside," he urges, tipping the mug.
Seventy-three interlocking pieces of smooth maple
tumble out. Patton's creation is two gifts in one: an
interactive seven-layered puzzle and a ceramic drinking
mug. It's a clever idea, one he came up with several
years ago.
"I was sitting in a traffic jam," he said."
I thought, 'What can I make for the
grandkids that will be different and
interesting?' Jigsaw puzzles are jigsaw puzzles. I
reached out and grabbed my coffee mug, and that's
how it hit me."
The grandkids approved, and Patton then tested a new
audience.



The Villages - November 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - November 2020

Contents
The Villages - November 2020 - Cover1
The Villages - November 2020 - Contents
The Villages - November 2020 - 1
The Villages - November 2020 - 2
The Villages - November 2020 - 3
The Villages - November 2020 - 4
The Villages - November 2020 - 5
The Villages - November 2020 - 6
The Villages - November 2020 - 7
The Villages - November 2020 - 8
The Villages - November 2020 - 9
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The Villages - November 2020 - 11
The Villages - November 2020 - 12
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The Villages - November 2020 - 18
The Villages - November 2020 - 19
The Villages - November 2020 - 20
The Villages - November 2020 - 21
The Villages - November 2020 - 22
The Villages - November 2020 - 23
The Villages - November 2020 - 24
The Villages - November 2020 - 25
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