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Lowell arrived one day straight from the campus of Marshall College, where he was a student. He had just been hired as a part-timer by the AdvertiserÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s sports editor, Ernie Salvatore. He was wide-eyed, eager, smiling beneath a flock of red hair. He wanted to please from Day One. It was a quality that never left him.

I had been hired straight out of high school by Salvatore only a year or so before, and was only a few months older than he, yet he treated me with the respect one would give a veteran, which I certainly was not.

We were joined by another Marshall student whose name was Tom Miller and who later became one of the stateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s most outstanding investigative reporters. But at that time he was a highly talented beginning sportswriter.

Salvatore, the legend for whom the press box at MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s football stadium is now named, had a vision for our young sports staff of four. We would not focus on accounts of games as morning newspapers did. We would be different, going behind the scenes, interviewing coaches and players, getting the stories behind the stories. Also, we would give equal coverage to all the schools in our area, including the segregated, all-Black Douglass High. In fact, that was my first assignment.

In a short time we became, in my admittedly biased view, one of the best sports staffs in the state. And one of the reasons was Lowell Cade. He covered a bit of everything ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” youth sports, high schools, outdoor sports, whatever needed to be done, no matter how long it may take. In those days no one complained about long hours or lack of overtime pay or boring assignments. You just did the job. And Lowell did that more than anyone, always with a great attitude..

I remember one day pointing something out to him, saying, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œLowell, you canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t do that.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� He looked at me quizzically, those eyes wider than ever, and said, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWell, I did.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

He developed sources and established contacts easily. He was impressed by a young quarterback/pitcher at Ceredo-Kenova High named Don Robinson. When Robinson graduated and signed a minor league pitching contract, he had his address and phone number and stayed in touch. And when Robinson went to the major leagues, pitching for years for the Pirates and Giants, Lowell had the inside track. He was also immensely proud of Robbie, as if he had discovered him.

Nothing stays the same, of course. After seven years I moved out of sports over to the news side, as did Tom Miller. Salvatore moved to The Herald-Dispatch. And Lowell became sports editor of the Advertiser.

And in 1979 the Advertiser merged with The Herald-Dispatch and Lowell moved to that newspaper.

As the years passed and we all retired, Lowell spent his time on his Wayne County farm and with his wonderful family. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œYou can take the boy out of Wayne County but you canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t take Wayne County out of the boy,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� he said to me.

I had been transferred to Arizona, where I stayed for 22 years before retiring a second time. When I moved back to Huntington, almost immediately the old, original Huntington Advertiser sports staff of Salvatore, Hatfield, Miller and Cade got together over lunch at JimÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s. And the stories and laughs lasted all afternoon.

Somewhere along the line somebody at The Herald-Dispatch got the great idea of honoring Lowell by naming its annual sports award after him. It was a great choice. There was never anyone quite like him.

Farewell, my dear friend. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for everything.