Betty Leeth Haynes remembers when dancing was not allowed at Holly Pond High School. That didn’t stop her. Not only did Haynes dance, she taught the other girls to dance.

“As the ‘city girl,’ I knew how to dance,” said Haynes. Born in Birmingham but living in Holly Pond since she was a girl when her family moved there to be closer to her mother’s side of the family, Haynes wasn’t going to let the “no dancing” rule stop her. She said the Holly Pond girls would sneak into an empty room and dance with each other.

Haynes, who turns 90 on Tuesday, has been a mover and shaker ever since.

The youngest of seven children born to Marvin and Henrietta Shaw Hooten, she played basketball, got good grades and graduated as salutatorian of her class. She received a scholarship to Sacred Heart Academy.

“I was busy,” she said of her high school years. But the same could be said of every year of her life.

She entered her first pageant – Miss Cullman County Strawberry Festival – as a teenager, and, while she said she was “coerced” into the first one, she came to love them. “I got the fever,” she said.

That fever led her to compete in several more pageants, and culminated in her being crowned Ms. Senior Alabama in 1997 and going on to compete in the Ms. Senior America pageant. A poem she wrote as her talent, “I Am a Senior American,” became the official creed of the pageant.

She remained active with the Ms. Senior America pageant for many years, but it was just one of many activities she’s been involved in. The list is long: from the Cullman County Chamber of Commerce to the Cullman Regional Medical Center Auxiliary to the American Heart Association to many others.

She has also been a supporter of Wallace State Community College, where she was a founding member of the college’s Future Foundation. In 2009, the college auditorium was named after her. Haynes said that moment was one of the highlights of her 90 years.

At the dedication ceremony Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolweics said, “Betty has done so much for our community and our college that she has left an indelible imprint on our lives. We celebrate her contributions to the arts and to this college by sharing with the community this theatre named in her honor.”

Haynes said she counts Karolwics as one of her dear friends, a feeling that is mutual.

The two first met during the search process to replace the former college president. Karolwics was one of the finalists. “Betty made such an impression on me that evening,” she said. “It was immediately obvious to me how highly respected she is in this community but also how much she was committed to Wallace State’s future success.”

The two became friends, and Haynes even introduced Karolwics to her now husband, Vincent. “Betty and I fondly refer to each other as sisters,” said Karolwics. “She has been a constant in my life in Cullman and I love her dearly.”

Haynes has been a constant at Jimmy Drake’s salon, as well. She visits once a week, maintaining the stylish appearance that she is known for.

“The three words I’d use to describe her are graceful, classy and stylish,” he said.

Haynes met her first husband Cal Leeth while she was working as a dental hygienist at the Bledsoe Clinic. He died in 1988 and in 1990 she married Earnie Haynes, a retired submariner and nuclear engineer.

Earnie was the father of the bride at a wedding Betty directed. “They sat us at the same table,” she said.

She directed many Cullman weddings over a 65-year period and delights in being dubbed “the Sergeant” at one by groomsmen on the receiving end of her speech directing them to pay attention at the rehearsal “or you’ll be embarrassed at the wedding.”

“I’d tell them all that same rule,” she said. “And then I’d be the one to break it.”

“I do enjoy life,” she said. “I love people and I do give myself to people.”

She credits the people in her life for contributing to a long, happy life. “I think it’s my association with fine, lovely, likable people,” said Haynes.

She also loves her hometown. “I love Cullman. I think it’s the best place in the world,” she said.

On Sunday, Cullman residents will be able to return the love at a drive-thru birthday party in the parking lot at First Baptist Church from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

The woman who has received many honors and awards throughout her life including “The Emma Marie Eddleman” Citizenship Award from the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce, the “Henry Casper Arnold Humanitarian Award” from Cullman Regional Medical Center, the “Olympic Gold Medal” for fundraising for Hospice of Cullman, the “Top Fundraiser Award” by the American Heart Association, and the “Personality of the South Award” will receive one more recognition, that of a life well-lived.

“Life is short,” she said. “I feel like everyone should have a shake at it.”