Document:

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                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.5.1

                The First Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This First Amendment October 8, 1996 is made between Madison River Telephone
Company, LLC ("Holdings") and J. Stephen Vanderwoude, ("Executive") pursuant to
paragraph 11 of the Employment Agreement between Holdings and Executive dated
April 17, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

1.   The last sentence of Section 3.4 of the Employment Agreement shall be
     amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

         "Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary (except for
         (i) the legal fees referred to in Section 8 hereof which shall not
         require further approval and (ii) the costs of the directors and
         officers insurance referred to in Section 13 (b) hereof and other
         insurance (including property and casualty) which is reasonably deemed
         necessary by Executive and is approved by the Board (which approval
         shall not be unreasonably withheld)), prior to the First Acquisition
         Closing Date, Executive is authorized to incur, and shall be
         reimbursed, only for items approved by all of the Institutional
         Investors (as defined in the LOI) (it being understood that the listing
         of such costs in a budget attached to the LOI that has been approved by
         all of the Institutional Investors constitutes approval by all
         Institutional Investors)."

2.   Section 5.5 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended and restated in
     its entirety to read a follows:

         "5.5  Restrictions on Transfer of Incentive Equity.  Other than
               --------------------------------------------
         pursuant to Tag-Along Rights, Registration Rights, and Other Exit
         Rights with respect to his vested Incentive Equity (as such terms are
         defined in the LOI and as such concepts may be incorporated in the
         agreements referred to in Section 5.4), Executive may not transfer his
         Incentive Equity at any time (other than transfers of Incentive Equity
         for estate-planning purposes to immediate family members and trusts
         and/or other vehicles for the benefit of immediate family members)
         without the approval of members of the Board holding a majority of the
         votes of all members of the Board who do not have a pecuniary interest
         in such transfer, which majority shall include approval by members of
         the Board holding a majority of the votes of all of the members of the
         Board designated by the Institutional Investors."

3.   Section 6.1(b)(i) of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by adding
     the following  parenthetical to the end of such Section 6.1 (b) (i):

         "(and not cured after 15 days prior notice to all of the members of the
         Board)."

4.   Section 6.5 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended and restated to
     read as follows:

         "6.5  Termination Prior to First Acquisition Closing Date.
               ---------------------------------------------------
     Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, in the event
     that the enterprise contemplated by the LOI is abandoned or otherwise
     terminated in accordance with the terms of the LOI prior to the First
     Acquisition Closing Date (such date being referred to herein as the "LOI
     Termination Date"), then Executive shall not be entitled to any amounts
     pursuant to Section 3 (other than accrued and unpaid amounts

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         through the LOI Termination Date pursuant to Section 3.4), Section 4 or
         this Section 6, other than salary and benefits accrued but unpaid as of
         the LOI Termination Date."

5.   The last sentence of Section 14 of the Employment Agreement shall be
     amended and restated to read as follows:

          "Prior to all of the Institutional Investors becoming a party to the
          LLC Agreement, (i) all references to an action, decision,
          determination or approval of the Board shall only be made with the
          prior consent of all of the Institutional Investors and (ii) all of
          the Institutional Investors shall be a third party beneficiary under
          this Agreement."

All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this First Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                         Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                         by: Paul H. Sunu
                             --------------------------

                             J. Stephen Vanderwoude
                         ------------------------------
                         Executive<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.5.2

                The Second Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This Second Amendment dated January 24, 1997 is made between Madison River
Telephone Company, LLC ("Holdings") and J. Stephen Vanderwoude, ("Executive")
pursuant to paragraph 11 of the Employment Agreement between Holdings and
Executive dated April 17, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

1.   Section 3.1 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by adding the
     following paragraph 3.11:

         "Beginning February 1, 1997 and continuing until the closing of the
         Company's First Acquisition Closing Date, Executive shall accrue but
         not vest in any base salary compensation. Executive shall accrue his
         unvested base salary compensation at the rate of $8,333.33 per month
         for full months and pro-rata amount for partial months. Executive shall
         vest in his accrued base salary compensation on the First Acquisition
         Closing Date. In the event there is no first acquisition of a business
         in any form by the Company or the enterprise contemplated in the LOI is
         abandoned or terminated, Executive will not vest in his accrued base
         salary compensation and Holdings shall not owe any base salary
         compensation to Executive and the Executive shall have no claims for
         any base salary compensation against Holdings. Beginning after the
         First Acquisition Date, Holdings shall pay Executive a base salary
         ("Base Salary") at the annual rate of $100,000 under paragraph 3.1
         above unless adjusted under paragraph 3.2."

All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this Second Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                         Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                         by: PAUL H. SUNU
                            ----------------------------

                             J. STEPHEN VANDERWOUDE
                         -------------------------------
                         Executive<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.5.3

                The Third Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This Third Amendment dated October 16, 1997 is made between Madison River
Telephone Company, LLC ("Holdings") and J. Stephen Vanderwoude, ("Executive")
pursuant to paragraph 11 of the Employment Agreement between Holdings and
Executive dated April 17, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

1.   Section 3.1 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by inserting the
     following after the first full sentence:

         "Notwithstanding the foregoing, the closing of MebCom Communications,
         Inc. shall not be considered the first acquisition and its closing date
         shall not be considered the First Acquisition Closing Date for purposes
         of paragraph 2 (Term of Employment), this paragraph 3 (Compensation)
         and paragraph 6 (Termination of Employment)."

2.   Section 8, third sentence shall be amended by replacing the place of
     arbitration submission from "Chicago, Illinois" to "Raleigh-Durham
     metropolitan area of North Carolina" and by replacing the language "in
     accordance with Illinois law" with "in accordance with Delaware law".

All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this Second Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                         Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                         by: PAUL H. SUNU
                            --------------------------

                             J. STHEPHEN VANDERWOUDE
                         -----------------------------
                         Executive<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.5.4

                 Fourth Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This Fourth Amendment dated September 15, 1999 is made between Madison River
Telephone Company, LLC ("Holdings") and J. Stephen Vanderwoude, ("Executive")
pursuant to paragraph 11 of that certain agreement for employment between
Holdings and Executive dated April 17, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

Section 5.1 and 5.3(b) of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by replacing
said sections with the following:

5.1  Purchase Rights; Vesting.
     ------------------------
(a) As of the date hereof, Executive shall have the right to purchase at any
time from Holdings Class B equity of Holdings equal to 30% of the total Class B
equity of Holdings for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000 and Class C equity
of Holdings equal to 15.5% of the total Class C equity of Holdings for an
aggregate purchase price of $1,550. Hereafter, Class B and Class C equity
collectively shall be referred to as "Incentive Equity"). Within 30 days after
each time that Executive exercises its right to purchase Incentive Equity, the
Executive will make an effective election with the Internal Revenue Service
under Section 83(b) of the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations promulgated
thereunder. The parties hereto agree that the fair market value of the Incentive
Equity allocated to Executive as of the initial Employment Agreement date for
Class B is $3,000 and as of the Gulf Closing Date for Class C and for a period
of at least five business days thereafter is $1,150 and that parties shall use
such value for all Federal income tax purposes.

(b) Twenty percent (20%) of Executive's Incentive Equity will vest on the First
Acquisition Closing Date and, provided that (except in the case of vesting
pursuant to Section 5.3(a)) Executive is still employed by Holdings, the
remainder on a daily basis over a four-year period beginning with the First
Acquisition Closing Date and ending with the Closing Date for Gulf Coast
Services, Inc. ("Gulf Closing Date") and any unvested remainder after the Gulf
Closing Date shall vest on a daily basis over a new four-year period beginning
with the Gulf Closing Date. All unvested Incentive Equity will become fully
vested immediately prior to the occurrence of a Liquidity Event. "Liquidity
Event" means (i) any sale of all or substantially all of the assets of Holdings
on a consolidated basis in one transaction or series of related transactions
(but excluding sales to affiliates) for cash or marketable securities, (ii) any
sale of 50% or more of the Investor Equity (as defined in the LOI) in one
transaction or series of related transactions (but excluding sales to affiliates
and, with respect to individuals, related persons) for cash or marketable
securities or (iii) a merger, share exchange or similar transaction which
accomplishes one of the foregoing.

     5.3  Repurchase.
          ----------

(b) Executive's vested Incentive Equity will not be subject to repurchase in
whole or in part by Holdings.
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     All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this Fourth Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                         Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                         by: PAUL H. SUNU
                            -----------------------

                             J. STEPHEN VANDERWOUDE
                         --------------------------
                         Executive

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