Frances and Richard met in September of 1978 when Richard was serving as an angel for a greenie square dance class in Metairie , LA.   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.  They were engaged in December of that year and married in July of 1979.  They are parents of two girls, now grown.  The older one, Kimberly, is married to a Lutheran chaplain in the USN and living in Alexandria , VA.    Jennie, their younger daughter, lives in Cave Springs , AR with her husband where she is employed as a vendor of Wal-mart.  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 teacher in a St. Tammany Parish School where she is the Title I Reading Lab Specialist..  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.  When 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 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 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, 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 a most rewarding to impart one’s training and knowledge so that others may also enjoy the activity.