THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604070068
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY DAVID MCCARTER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
When Connie Hardee picked up the phone in 1973 shortly after she arrived at the Outer Banks with her family, she was interested in finding only a part-time job.
``It was the middle of June, and I saw an ad in the paper for a clerk,'' she said.
``We were relocating, but I wasn't really planning to do anything too time-consuming because we had four kids, and our youngest was still only two years old.''
That phone call to the Nags Head municipal offices - which were then housed in the town fire station - put her in touch with former Town Manager Herb Dugroo, who would not take no for an answer.
``The next day,'' Hardee said with a laugh, ``I was typing letters for the town on an old Royal electric typewriter.'' ``Two weeks later I was taking minutes at a meeting where I knew absolutely nothing about what was being discussed.''
After 23 years as town clerk, 63-year-old Hardee closed the books at the end of March on a career that both tracked and mirrored enormous growth and expansion in Nags Head. She was feted on her last Friday as clerk to an afternoon reception at the town hall attended by dozens of colleagues and well-wishers.
During her years as clerk, Connie Hardee went from knowing nothing about Nags Head to being the person in local government who always had the answers to whatever question a resident, visitor or town commissioner might have.
``When I started as clerk, there were 468 residents in Nags Head, and we had 12 employees,'' said Hardee, who was the town's senior employee when she retired Friday. ``Now we have over 2,000 residents, and there are 86 people that work for the town.''
Hardee became a dependable constant and an able instructor through all the town'schanges, according to those who worked alongside her.
``She simply was the epitome of the town,'' said Webb Fuller, the third town manager with whom Hardee served.
``When I first came here in the early '80s,'' Fuller said, ``I met with the past manager to discuss the nuances of the job and how things were done in the office.'' ``He just kept saying, `Ask Connie. . . . Ask Connie.' ''
Nags Head Mayor Renee Cahoon agreed.
``Connie was an indispensable source of local information.
``When I started my first term as mayor, I didn't even know the first thing about conducting a meeting,'' said Cahoon, the fourth mayor elected during Hardee's career. ``She taught me about all the protocol involved and why it is important. She could even remember the tone of a meeting.''
As town clerk, Hardee said, her main duty was ``to preserve the permanent records of the town.'' However, that was a limited job description, she said.
``Town clerks have to wear a lot of different hats. I served as a secretary to several city boards, and as the police department secretary for years. Until the early '90s, I was still recognized as the assistant to the city manager.''
Hardee said her job was made easier by co-workers and elected officials who were unusually conscientious. ``I would stack the elected officials I have worked with up against any other town in North Carolina.''
As a token of gratitude, the city administration acted to send Hardee to the May convention of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, which will be held in Albuquerque, N.M.
``That should be rewarding,'' Hardee said.
``I was active in the group for a lot of years, and this is their 50th annual convention.''
The recognition from the town has been gratifying, Hardee said. ``I really didn't have the answers to all the questions, but I usually did know who to talk to.''
Meanwhile, Hardee hopes to spend more time at home in Manteo with husband, David, and her family, which now includes seven grandchildren.
How did she spend her first day of retirement? ``We did our taxes. It was good to get that out of the way.''
Fuller, the town manager, said that Hardee's former assistant, Carolyn Morris, will pick up some additional duties to help in the transition phase, and that he will soon hire a permanent replacement.
``Nobody will fill her shoes, but we will fill the position,'' Fuller said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ROBIE RAY/The Virginian-Pilot
When Connie Hardee started working as clerk, Nags Head had only 468
residents in Nags Head.
by CNB