ELIZABETHTOWN — Eddie Madden’s final meeting with the Town Council was to have been Monday night.
There’ll be one more, courtesy of a recess to handle business in a timely nature. But the mayor, council members and the town’s attorney lavished him with praise as his departure to become county manager in Columbus County nears later this month.
“We wanted to do something public, but with COVID, it’s sort of restricted,” Mayor Sylvia Campbell said. “We will get the board together before you leave and present you with a plaque.
“Words can’t express the appreciation we feel for you for what you’ve led Elizabethtown through in the past 13 years. Our downtown redevelopment, our farmers market, our airport, and all of the good things that have happened at the airport, our Browns Creek, our Greene’s Lake — I could just go on. All of them are too numerous to imagine.
“We’ve had 13 years of great success,” she continued, “and you’re going to leave your imprint not only on the town of Elizabethtown but on our hearts. We’re just very thankful. You’ve given 100 percent from the first day you got here, and you continue to do that even in the last days. We’re forever grateful for that. We wish you the same success in Columbus County that you have had here.”
Mayor Pro Tem Rufus Lloyd, Paula Greene, Herman Lewis, Howell Clark, Rich Glenn and Ricky Leinwand echoed the mayor, concluding a lengthy session with several approvals of financial business. Goldston Womble, the town’s lawyer, also offered a heartfelt thank you.
The group will meet again Monday at 7 to consider a request for support in a bridge naming that honors J.C. Batchelor.
Howell offered thanks and shared a light exchange with Madden about fiscal questions.
“You made me feel like Elizabethtown is the best little town in North Carolina,” Lewis said.
Lloyd, like others, said Madden always gave 100 percent.
“I’m just so happy and proud of the kind of relationship we had,” he said.
Greene called Madden a “visionary leader.”
“You had so many wonderful ideas,” she said. “You’ve been so creative in helping us come up with the funding to make those ideas a reality, which everybody knows from our budget, is a necessity. We would not have been able to accomplish all of this without you.”
Leinwand rattled off a number of projects accomplished, and followed them by saying, “What I really liked, you kept us informed on just about everything, whether it be the hurricane or whatever. You always looked out for the best interests of our town, even if we disagreed with the county. You were a master of grants.”
Glenn, the newest board member who was appointed to fill his father Dicky Glenn’s seat after his death Dec. 20, 2019, mentioned he first knew Madden as a friend. Since coming onto the council, he said the town manager has been more than supportive and a guide to help him learn.
Womble described Madden as beyond reproach in ethics, particularly his neutrality.
Madden accepted the overwhelming comments and thanked each as they went along.
“I love each one of you,” he said. “You’re like family to me. I felt that affection and dedication and loyalty from the day I stepped foot in Bladen County. It’s one of the things I’ve valued the most. I’m thankful for the Lord’s blessing over this community, and this town board, and this staff, and over me.
“I hear you all say a lot about me, and I’m grateful, but I’d be foolish if I didn’t say that a lot of our good work has been because of the work of the department heads, and the town staff, and the community, and partners like the chamber of commerce. All of these things that you are saying to me are well received and appreciated, but I hope it’s a conduit through me to the folks who have worked so hard in the organization to make all these things come to fruition. I’m grateful to each and every one of you. These are days I will never ever forget, and will cherish.”