Priscilla Richardson

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When I first met Daleville's Linda Allen, she offered me some of her healthful salmon cakes to try. I sampled a bite out of one and quickly took an offered second. Hers were the very best salmon cakes I'd ever tasted. And so I persuaded her to share her recipe, which she said was her mother's. "I've never seen one like it in any book." (See box for recipe.)

But the reason why I was meeting Allen was to attend a session of the Botetourt Swingers Square Dance Club. It meets at 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday at the Troutville Town Hall. If you know how to square dance and have a partner, you can just drop in to check it out. Then you can join the club for $36 a quarter for a couple.

If you don't know how to square dance, and either have a dance partner or would like to find one, be watching next fall for an announcement of how-to classes. Don't be misled by the word "swingers" in the name of the club. It refers to "swing your partner." And the club rules prohibit drinking, smoking and cussing, Allen said.

Two squares of four couples each take the floor at any one time. After their two dances, they sit down and two new squares form. The professional caller, Troutville's Paul Booze, does take a rest along with everyone else occasionally. During the break, the president, Cave Spring resident Helen Bailey, makes announcements about things such as the Christmas party. Her husband, James, follows this with a joke or two. Then the dancing starts again. "Square dancing is such good exercise," Bailey said. "And it's a good way to get to know people, too."

Some people feel that square dancing is too difficult or complicated to learn. But Troutville's Al Campbell, who dances with his wife, Jenny, says it's not really. "All you need to know is how to count to four, walk and listen," he explained.

Allen, a widow, just started square dancing two years ago when she showed up without a partner for one of the how-to classes. In the course of the lessons, she acquired a regular partner, too, so she can come to dance every Tuesday. She doesn't need dancing to fill her time, however. She works as a substitute teacher at Lord Botetourt High School. Her three children are grown now, but her grandchildren occupy her. One of her daughters, Kim Arney, has just purchased the White Oak Tea Tavern business. So Allen occasionally helps Arney there, just as she would when Arney was catering.

Not satisfied with just dancing, Allen grows a huge garden every year.

"All my life, I always had a garden." All those fresh vegetables give her the stamina to go hiking as well as dancing. She hails from a family of 11. "That's 11 children plus Mom and Dad."

Her father, a Methodist minister in West Virginia, didn't marry until age 32, and then made up for lost time. Allen recalls having "a wonderful life" and is so close to her siblings that they all get on a conference call almost every Sunday night.

Allen attributes her health to "eating right and staying physically fit, and a good mental attitude. Working at the school with teenagers makes you appreciate life, keeps your mind young. You stay real busy all the time, so you don't sit around and watch TV."

And if that isn't a great formula for a healthy Botetourt dancing life I've never heard one.