Jim DeLa

1 month ago | yourobserver.com | Jim DeLa

A local fishing tournament and charity auction April 5-6 is raising money for the Tidewell Foundation that will help terminally ill patients in honor of a young man whose life was cut short by cancer. The seventh annual Chad Day Memorial Fishing Tournament is a catch-and-release tournament and charity event, headquartered at Tarpon Bay Grill & Tiki Bar, 7150 N. Tamiami Trail.

1 month ago | yourobserver.com | Jim DeLa

Nearly 30 Tara residents attended a seminar at the Golf and Country Club Feb. 25 to learn how to potentially save a life. The 90-minute class was designed to teach the basics of CPR and how to operate an automated external defibrillator, or AED, a portable device that can help restart a person's heart if it suddenly stops. The class, organized by the Tara Golf and Country Club social committee, was prompted after a club member recently experienced a medical emergency on the driving range.

1 month ago | yourobserver.com | Jim DeLa

Amy Bradley has played the clarinet most of her life. In fifth grade, her school band director was introducing students to all the available instruments. “They try to fit you to an instrument,” she explained. The teacher told her she should play the trumpet. “I'm like, ‘I don't want to play trumpet,’” she said.

2 months ago | yourobserver.com | Jim DeLa

It was the first hour of the three-day St. Barbara Greek Festival and the parking lot at the orthodox church on Friday was already filling up. NIck Rantis, the general chairman of the festival, said the weekend was the culmination of nearly a year’s work. “We start planning for the next year, like a couple weeks after this starts. It's like a 10-month ordeal, because we're always trying to make it better.”One thing that will improve this year is something they had little control over — the weather.

2 months ago | yourobserver.com | Jim DeLa

Most people on Valentine’s Day think about a nice dinner and a romantic evening. On this Valentine’s Day, more than 150 people were gathering in a 90-acre field near Parrish, towing loaded horse trailers and supplies as they prepared to spend a week in the saddle on a 116-mile ride to recreate a piece of Florida history. They wouldn’t want it any other way. “I mean, you disconnect,” said Ardicio Galvao, who has done this ride with his wife, Christie, seven times.