Telleta Bourne Atwell fiddles her way to 101

To celebrate her 101st birthday, Telleta Bourne Atwell joined with friends from the Tampa Bay area and fiddlers from New York for an afternoon of old-time music.

She was born Sept. 7, 1909, in Rome, N.Y., to Jesse and Bertha Bourne.

Mrs. Atwell began studying the violin at age 7. She received a master's degree from Syracuse University and for 32 years taught instrumental music to students at schools in the Catskills and New York's Westchester County.

She played violin with the Utica and Syracuse symphony orchestras; organized several dance bands and chamber music groups; and made regular appearances at fiddler's gatherings. In 1984 she helped co-found the Clearwater Symphony, now known as the Suncoast Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, she was inducted into the North American Fiddler's Hall of Fame, an organization that recognizes outstanding fiddlers throughout North America.

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The Rev. James and Anne Carter of Largo celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Aug. 29 with a blessing during the service and a reception during the coffee hour at Calvary Episcopal Church, Indian Rocks Beach.

The couple married Sept. 1, 1950, at the Christian Church, Ingalls, Ind. The Rev. Estal Taylor officiated.

The Rev. James Carter served in the Army in Okinawa from January 1949 through May 1950, and then in the Korean War from October 1950 through September 1951. He fought in three major battles and was wounded while a tank driver.

He was a printer for more than 30 years, serving a six-year apprenticeship in composition and as a machinist, and worked at various newspapers and commercial job shops in Indiana, Montana, California, Wyoming and Florida.

While living in Wyoming in the early 1970s, the Carters worked at the Ponderosa Lodge in Pinedale Wyo. He even served as an outfitter guide for a season.

The Carters owned and operated a printing business in Pendleton, Ind., before he studied and was ordained in 1982 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Anderson, Ind. While in Anderson, he served as chaplain at St. John's Hospital and Community Hospital and was in charge of the County Food Bank.

They came to Largo in 1988 when he took a position of full-time assistant to the rector at Calvary Episcopal Church. They also lived in Indian Rocks Beach for six years before he retired in January of 1996, after which they moved back to Largo.

They worship at Calvary Episcopal Church and St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church. The Rev. Carter is now serving at the altar and preaching at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church.

He also works part time at the Missouri Avenue Kmart in the garden shop and plays golf when he can.