Edgewood set to dedicate ‘Ron Kash Court’ at Saturday’s opener

Ron Kash will attend Edgewood High School’s boys basketball season opener Saturday, just like he attends many Cougar home athletic events.

But this night will be a little more special.

Edgewood is naming its basketball court after him and will dedicate “Ron Kash Court” between the reserve and varsity games against Fenwick.

“Everybody kept it a secret for a while. They did a good job of that,” Kash said. “I appreciate all the efforts on a lot of people’s part.”

The 74-year-old Kash was a longtime administrator and graduated from Trenton High School in 1960. Edgewood opened in 1970 when Trenton combined with Shiloh (Wayne Township and Seven Mile had previously merged to become Shiloh).

Kash said he was floored when Edgewood coach John Thomas and board member Gary Gabbard recently came to his house and told him about the court dedication.

“I thought they were coming about something else totally. They knocked me over with a feather,” Kash said. “I said, ‘No, I earned my way. I don’t need anything else.’ They said, ‘A lot of people want to do this for you.’ Then they got me all emotional and I said, ‘All right,’ and I’ve been worked up since.

“I agreed, so I’ll go through with it. I love the idea of being honored — I’m glad somebody cares enough to do that — but I don’t know if I deserve this. I’ve been around a long time and been pretty loyal to the district, but there’s been a lot of other people who have done the same thing.”

Athletic director Greg Brown said the dedication ceremony will include a short video.

“He’s just one of those loyal guys,” Brown said. “In a time when people jumped ship because of money, he remained a community guy. He’s a pillar of our school district.”

Thomas said the idea has been floating around for a while.

“It’s been brought up a few times by a number of people,” Thomas said. “Greg thought it was a great idea, I thought it was a great idea, we had board members who thought it was a great idea, and it just all came together.

“I’ve never, ever, ever heard anybody say a bad thing about Ron Kash. Never. That’s how well respected and what kind of guy he is. He really cared about kids. He was always checking up on you to see what you were doing long after graduation.”

Kash retired as Edgewood’s superintendent in 1994. He spent most of his career in various positions throughout what is now the Edgewood district, though he did move to Madison for two years and was the athletic director there right before EHS opened.

A former social studies teacher, Kash coached quite a bit of basketball in the younger grades. He was Edgewood’s varsity head coach in the first two years of the school and was later the head coach at Miami University Middletown for one season.

“I still love the game,” Kash said. “It’s just been a way of life for us, attending ballgames and following the school. Our grandkids play basketball and football at Edgewood, and my daughter coaches elementary sports.”

Kash has some physical limitations these days because of arthritis, but he gets around and works as a sales agent at Woodlan Realtors in Middletown.

He lives in Trenton with his wife Sandy.

“Been in the same house for 41 years,” Kash said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Most of his family will be in attendance at the dedication ceremony. He smiled at the thought of some of his high school buddies coming as well.

Thomas said Kash’s name will be painted on the floor over the summer.

“It will be strange seeing that,” Kash said. “I’ve been out of the school district going on 23 years, so a lot of people in the community have never heard of me. If they go to the games, they’ve seen me, but they don’t know who I am a lot of the time.”

Kash said one thing about Saturday night is a pretty good bet … he’ll need some tissues.

“I start crying over everything. I can’t watch a sad movie without crying,” he said. “So I’m sure I probably will. But I do want to say thanks to the people of the community for supporting this. It turns out in everybody’s favor, so it’s a positive thing.”

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