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Richard and Frances
Matthews
www.rdcuers.org
ROUNDALAB LRDTA
DRDC ICBDA
MRDTA
Frances and Richard met in September of 1978 when Richard was
serving as an angel for a greenie square dance class in Metairie, LA
sponsored by the New Orleans Callers' Association.
Frances enrolled for a refresher course and Richard asked her if
he could be her partner.
He assured her that there was "no
obligation on her part" and that he was just acting as her
partner for the class. Uh huh. They
were engaged in December of that year and married in July of 1979.
They are parents of two girls, now grown.
The older daughter, Kimberly, lives in Hickory, NC with her
husband Andy.
Jennie, their younger daughter, lives in Cave Springs, AR with
her husband Patrick.
Each girl has blessed Frances and Richard with a grandson and a
granddaughter.
Frances has hobbies and special interests in sewing, needle crafts,
reading, crossword puzzles as well as round and square dancing.
She is a first grade teacher at Abney Elementary School in the
St. Tammany Parish School system.
Frances began square dancing in 1968 and round dancing in 1981
with Richard as her angel.
Richard's hobbies include anything concerning videography, video
editing, photography, computers and square and round dancing.
His start in square dancing was in 1974 in a class in Metairie,
LA taught by Earl McCallum. The round dance bug bit him in 1976. His
instructors were Ted and Barbara May in a class for Happy Hearts R/D
Club in Harahan, LA.
While living in the New Orleans area, he held several positions
on the Metropolitan New Orleans Area Square and Round Dance Association
executive board, and served for 10 years as the one and only editor of
the quarterly MNOASRDA newsletter, the “HOEDOWN
HOTLINE.”
A calling interest began in 1976 and he started calling for
after-parties and progressing towards calling for clubs in 1978. His
achievements in calling include club caller for the Fascin-8-ers Teen
Club in Metairie (the
kids’ crowning achievement was doing a demonstration at the 1984
World’s Fair in New Orleans), a former member of Associated
Callers, Ltd., and a former member and 1985 president of the New Orleans
Callers Association.
He took a break from active calling in 1987, except for after-
parties, guest tips, etc. In 1995 Richard and Frances were bitten by the
“you-too-can-teach-and-cue-round-dancing” bug and they have enjoyed
this activity ever since.
The Matthews are members of ICBDA, LRDTA, MRDTA, DRDC and
ROUNDALAB. They are also members of and serve as the regular Tuesday and
Saturday night cuers for the Tammany Twirlers Square and Round Dance
Club in Slidell, LA.
When they are not cueing and/or writing new dances (see
Choreography page on their web site), the Matthews love to travel to
visit family and go to square and round dance festivals and conventions.
They attended their first ROUNDALAB Convention in 2007 and plan
to go to as many future Conventions as possible.
The Matthews enjoy dancing, teaching and cueing.
It is very rewarding to impart one’s training and knowledge so
that others may also enjoy the activity.
Revised:
6/20/10
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