Cornerstone Award marker unveiled at downtown site
By From staff reports
Published in News on April 27, 2012 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
Former recipients of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce's highest honor, the Cornerstone Award, join this year's recipient, Ed Borden, second from right, at the unveiling of Borden's commemorative brick at the Cornerstone Commons at the corner of Center and Chestnut streets on Thursday. From left: Wes Seegars, Dr. Ed Wilson, David Weil, William T. Winslow, Borden and Ollie Toomey. Borden received the award at a ceremony in January.
After a career in public service that has spanned decades, Ed Borden has finally been permanently honored as one of Wayne County's chief community contributors after the unveiling of his commemorative brick at Cornerstone Commons in downtown Goldsboro Thursday afternoon.
Borden was announced as the winner of the Wayne County Cornerstone Award at the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet Jan. 26 and was on hand Thursday at the dedication ceremony.
Borden, whose family founded the former Borden Manufacturing Co., was instrumental in the development of the Goldsboro Family Y and the Veterans Memorial -- projects that were years apart and demonstrate his long commitment to making Wayne a better county in which to live.
Borden, 77, refuses to take full credit for the Veterans Memorial, which was dedicated on Veterans Day last November, insisting that it was a community effort, but it's commonly believed that the monument park would not be a reality without his leadership on the board of trustees.
His wife, Mary Martin Borden, who worked alongside him during countless projects herself, likely spoke for many following the banquet in January, saying he has contributed more to his community than anyone else she knows in Wayne County.
The Cornerstone award is given annually to an individual that has truly been a "cornerstone" for Wayne County. Symbolically, the Chamber considers the cornerstone to be a fundamental building block on which the foundation of something else rests.
Past recipients of the award include Richard Moffatt, Hal Tanner Sr., Clarence "Icky" Peacock, William Dees Jr., Hal Plonk, Bertha Shepherd Wooten, Ollie Toomey, Troy Pate Jr., Jimmie Edmundson, William Kemp Jr., Edward Wilson Jr., David Weil, William Bryan, Wes Seegars and Bill Winslow.