All this week, we have been recognizing our very own Laura Hand’s accomplishments throughout her distinguished career here at NBC3. Now Laura is taking some time to reflect, remember and recount all she has done over the last 47 years.
For nearly 5 decades, viewers have welcomed Laura into their living room, reporting and anchoring the news, covering some of the biggest local stories impacting our community. Now as Laura prepares to turn off her microphone, she is looking back on her remarkable broadcasting career. “I was privileged to fly in an F16. I did a 10,000 foot straight up climb off the runway and pulled way too many G’s of gravity on that flight, but it was really exciting and certainly a highlight,” she said.
Laura vividly remembers covering the Tully mudslide in 1993 and interviewing former Governor Nelson Rockefeller and former First Lady Nancy Reagan. “She had an event and she finished. It was at the airport and then she was just there and I said would you like to talk to us and she said sure so we set her up and we had a very extensive conversation. And there was no one around. It was just the first lady and me,” Laura said.
Laura began her broadcasting career in 1972 when newsrooms were dominated by men. Breaking barriers, she became the first female reporter at WSTM-TV. “I was told so many times oh we would never hire a woman, but once I got working I opened my own doors,” she said.
This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com/fl1 or learn how you send us your local content here.