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Trailblazing For Bike Paths
July 30, 2014

Efforts have been underway for a few years to lay out a bike path linking the main part of Oriental with the White Farm Road part of town. By going across the headwaters of Whittaker Creek, pedestrians and cyclists could travel from one part of town to the other without encountering the traffic on Hwy 55 and Straight Road.

A Letter to the Editor reminds us that this idea of linking the two parts of town in a bike friendly way is not a new one. Liz Lathrop remembers her friend, Margaret Madgwick, who died last month and who in the 1990’s was a force in putting in place the bike lanes that Oriental does have.

To the Editor:

Several friends of former Oriental Town Board member Margaret Madgwick got together on Saturday to remember our dear friend who played tennis with us and with whom we enjoyed many delicious dinners, Margaret being a very creative cook.

Both Margaret and George Madgwick were born in Australia and built their home in the Sea Vista area on Pierce Creek after circumnavigating the globe on their boat Bunyip for six years. They spent their working years in South Charleston, West Virginia, where George was employed with Union Carbide in research and development.

Margaret was on the Oriental Town Board in the 1990’s and was responsible for writing the grant for the soccer/recreation field and getting the bike paths built, as she rode her bike a lot and realized the need for bike paths. Every time I see the “Share the Road” signs, I think of her.

She tried to get the bike paths extended through the White Farm area back to town but that did not happen.

Margaret died June 13 from lymphoma and her husband George died two years earlier at their home in Brevard where they moved in 2000.

We have several contributions in their memory for Oriental’s Dottie Gray Ambulance Fund but need 10 to get George and Margaret’s names on the plaque. If you would like to remember Margaret with a donation to the ambulance fund, you can send your donation directly to the NCCF.

Any amount will count. Make your check out to The Dottie Gray Ambulance/NCCF and put it in memory of Margaret Madgwick. Their address is:

Dottie Gray Ambulance/NCCF
4601 Six Forks Rd. Suite 523
Raleigh, NC 27609

Please include the Madgwick family address for the acknowledgment:

Susan Madgwick Causey
105 Palisades Drive
Brevard, NC 28712

Thank you for remembering Margaret.

Liz Lathrop
Oriental
7/30/2014

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