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GIVING BACK: Laura Hand

TV personality remains active by helping young kids, teaching Italian, working with service dogs

By Norah Machia

 

This past October, Laura Hand marked five years of retirement from CNY Central News, after a career of 47 years reporting, producing and anchoring newscasts on NBC 3, along with doing community relations work for the stations.

“I was determined to be active, believing that staying involved benefits mental and physical health,” she said. “My plan was to work with my therapy dog, helping preschoolers prepare for their education.”

However, the COVID-19 pandemic hit just a few months after Hand retired, so her initial retirement plans had to be modified.

“I jokingly called it two years of house arrest, but I was still able to stay active,” she said, particularly with gardening, which can be a solo activity.

During the pandemic, Hand maintained several flower beds on the road medians throughout Syracuse.

“Neighbors dropped off pots and plant containers that they’d normally throw away and I started taking them to the city greenhouse for re-use,” she said. As part of the Friends of Schiller Park, Hand and other volunteers landscaped an entryway to the pool area. “We are still planning to do more,” she added.

Hand is also committed to helping young children develop a love of reading, an effort she started more than 30 years ago. Now retired, she has more time to bring her child therapy dog, Moose, to library programs and early childhood classrooms.

“The children get hands-on experience with a dog that helps them learn colors, letters and mostly classroom manners,” she said.

“My dog, Moose, and I host Bark in the Parks for the Syracuse Mets, supporting area rescues and encouraging dog owners to bring their pets to the ballpark,” she added.

Hand also volunteers to teach at the Oasis Senior Education Program, sponsored by Upstate Medical University. “I’m a native Italian speaker and I decided to volunteer to help teach the language to adults, first on Zoom and now in person at Oasis in East Syracuse,” she said.

She says the key to a happy and healthy retirement is to “stay involved, do new things to stay mentally and physically in shape, and age with a purpose.”


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