Were I a reporter, I would start with the facts – the who, what, when, where, and why. I would talk about how Ken Cashman moved to New York from Jersey in 1983, how he was active in his community right from the start, taking on leadership roles in Little League baseball and Pop Warner football.

I would talk about how after retiring from careers at Prentice-Hall Publishing and Met Life Insurance, Ken joined the Cornwall Local, where he would stay for two decades. I would note that he became the editor in 2008 and set the tone for the paper that we still read today.

But I’m not a reporter, and those bald facts don’t come close to capturing what I think of when I think of Ken Cashman. They don’t call to mind the warmth with which he reported on the local community, and the dedication needed to keep the lights on in a landscape where more and more local papers were calling it quits.

An avid sports fan, Ken loved to cover local sports, and reported on high school events with enthusiasm and excitement. He covered local organizations like Vet Rep, Canine Companions, and Wreaths Across America, elevating their profiles and giving the community a chance to take part in what these volunteer organizations had to offer.

He covered school plays and celebrated anniversaries of our small businesses like they were his own. He was honest and wrote events just as he saw them, doing the work of holding local officials to account.

Most importantly, when you read Ken Cashman’s words, you heard his love, compassion, and respect for the community in them. That’s what made the work Ken did for the Cornwall Local so important. It wasn’t about who won the high school track meet, or who was at the Fall Festival, or when 9W was going to be repaved. Ken Cashman understood that we don’t live globally. We don’t live online. We live right here in our town and village, and it was that community that always took pride of place for Ken.

It was an honor to know him and have my work reported on by his thoughtful, straightforward coverage. He will be missed.