CITY VIEW: A Hamilton storyteller

Annette Hamm is about to retire after being part of the CHCH News team since 1986. We talked to her about her career and what Hamilton means to her.

ANNETTE HAMM is retiring next month after a 40-year career at CHCH. She's spent the last 21 of those years co-hosting Morning Live from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays. Hamm is an Alumni of Distinction (2016) from Mohawk College, and was named a Hamilton Woman of Distinction in 2015. She is also a Paul Harris Fellow from Rotary International. She's proud to be involved with Theatre Aquarius, gritLIT, Women 4 Change, and the YWCA Hamilton Turning Point Giving Circle. Hamm grew up on a tobacco farm outside Langton, Ont. and lives in Hamilton with her husband Daniel, and their cat Betty.

What’s it been like since you announced your retirement?
It’s been lovely. I went and got groceries yesterday, and three people stopped me and just told me how great retirement is going to be. I have hundreds and hundreds of messages and and I feel bad because I haven't even started getting to them yet. I will eventually, but it's been really nice.

What prompted the decision to retire?
We knew last spring, Daniel (who worked in IT at Wescam/L3 Harris and then MDA Space) and I, that we could both go. He just retired in January of this year. I wanted to hit my 40th year, which is next month, but I didn't want to go right after that. I made my decision on the first day of summer last year. I was coming down the Queen Street hill, going to meet a friend for a walk, and it was the summer solstice. And I'm like, I'm going to start with summer. So that's why my date is the last Friday in spring. I've never had a summer off since I was 13 years old.

We're the last couple of our group of friends where both of us are still working and I hear how great their retirements are. I'm not fed up with work, and it's not like I can't take the hours anymore. It's just that I'm very blessed that I'm able to leave, especially a broadcasting job, on my terms. And I don't take that lightly.

What brought you to Hamilton?
I came to Hamilton to go to Mohawk College in 1985. I enrolled in the broadcast journalism program. It was writing and reporting for radio and television. I had applied for university but wasn't sure I would get in. I applied for psychology because I just didn't know what I wanted to do. And then my dad kind of took me aside and said, ‘How about something that you're going to get a job at? So I literally went to the guidance counsellor the next day and opened up the first catalogue, because it was still catalogues then. I found broadcast journalism. I loved writing and reading and I was interested in the news.

How did your journalism career begin?
CHCH came to Mohawk and opened up invitations for a part-time writer. I'd only had a few months of school, and so I applied. And it was great. And Mohawk was great because they accommodated my schedule. I was working while I was finishing up my second and last year. And they were very accommodating.

How did your career progress?
Eventually I became a reporter, kind of by accident, because there was a fire that was happening across the street from my apartment. The assignment editor said to go with the camera. It turned out to be a pretty serious fire. There were no cell phones or anything, so I went back to my apartment to call the newsroom to say it was pretty bad. They said to ask questions of the firefighters, ask questions of the neighbors, and that became my first story.
And then eventually a reporting job came open when Stan Keyes left. That was about 1988.

In the late 1990s, there was a business show called The Morning Market. It was a partnership with Bloomberg and so I hosted that. It was very bare bones. It was me and an editor in the morning, and we would come in and we would pre-tape the segments and then send them out to air. That went on for about three years. It was a grind, but it was a really good exercise in writing fast and writing concisely and getting stuff done quickly.

When they cancelled that show, I went back to reporting. It was a few years and I did some fill-in anchoring here and there. Then Morning Live started. I didn't want to do another morning show because it's a lot of work. But when Cathy Wagner left, I was asked to fill in. And so I filled in for a week, and then I put my name in the running for the job because I really enjoyed it. It was very different. It was relaxed, and we could have fun, and I didn't have to worry about the clock all the time for that show.

I worked alongside Bob Cowan until he retired in 2024 and then Tim Bolen and now Rick Zamperin. I keep going through co-hosts. It’s not me, I swear.

What are a few words you would use to describe the career you’ve had?
I'd have to say it's pretty much a well-rounded adventure. It has been so much fun. I've learned so much, I've experienced so much and met so many cool people, and been to so many cool places, done so many cool things, especially as a reporter, that I can't imagine a better career.

What qualities do you bring to your work as a journalist?
I'm nosy. I also really like to listen to things. I like to listen to conversations and or when I was the crime reporter, I carried the scanner around with me all the time. My ears would perk up when I heard a certain code, and I memorized all the codes. I think I still know most of them, if they even use them anymore. From my days of being a reporter, you see the ups and downs of all kinds of lives. And I think I learned a lot of empathy from things I saw, or things I experienced.

Are there particular stories or people you've talked to over the years that stand out to you?
When I was a crime reporter, there was one trial that I covered, and I can't get this woman out of my head. She was killed by her husband in Hamilton, and her body wasn't recovered, and I still remember that court case. There have been happier things I've got to do, like going up in the Lancaster. How many people get to go up in the Lancaster? I got to go to Quantico to follow a Hamilton police officer who was part of the international program there. So I went with a camera down to the FBI Academy in Virginia just to see how they train international officers, which was really cool. I got to do one of the first satellite broadcasts from a cruise ship. I got to go to Vimy for the 80th anniversary. I was the first TV reporter at the Hagersville tire fire. I went with a cameraman who had been in the industry forever. And he was like, “It's gonna be nothing. We're driving all the way out here for nothing.” And then even he was impressed at the size of that fire. Again, there were no cell phones. So I had to go to somebody's house and call the newsroom and tell them it was huge. Because I was the junior reporter, I didn't get to go back. I don't think I ever covered it again, but I got to be there first.

Is there a celebrity that you've met that stands out for you?
Alex Trebek because I love Jeopardy. And it was the worst interview I've ever done, because I was just gobsmacked to be talking to him. I cringe when I watch it. It was so bad. It was a learning lesson to focus.

What kind of changes have you seen in your career?
There is constantly technology that changes, and downsizing and just dealing with different realities. Like when I started on Morning Live, there were two guys that were writing overnight, and Bob and I just came in and went over our stuff before we went on the air. And with downsizing in the bankruptcy (in 2015), it meant we come in at 3:30 a.m. now, but I kind of like that, because I love writing.

I think the biggest change is the newsroom. I think about how loud and bustling the newsroom used to be. It was like a cacophony of sound, and especially when we had typewriters, and people yelling and all this stuff going on, and phones ringing. And now everybody, and I do it myself, work with headphones on. When I'm at my desk and it's so quiet, and sometimes I'm like, this doesn't sound like a newsroom. It's just very odd and I'm glad I got to be in that kind of circus-like atmosphere.

What's the greatest joy in your work?
I’m always learning things. I discovered one of my favourite hobbies through the show. It's making cards. We had a great guest come on, who teaches it and it's just something I can do with my hands. So now I make greeting cards. I've learned so many tidbits of stuff to do and places to go. I love welcoming people to the station. It really is almost like, “Here, come to our living room, and we’re just going to talk.”

What’s the greatest challenge?
Well, for me right now it's getting up at 2:30 a.m. I can't say that's ever been easy, right? It's like it's just something you do. So that's what I'm looking forward to the most. When I’m at something, I'm always thinking, I'm gonna be so tired tomorrow, or I'm gonna get two hours of sleep. I’m looking forward to being on a more normal schedule.

Who has inspired you in your life?
Kathy Renwald [former CHCH reporter] was my mentor when I was a reporter. I was inspired by her work ethic and her creativity with coming up with story ideas. She could make a story out of anything. That's a great talent to have. I will see stories and I'll think, oh, that's a Kathy Renwald-type idea.

How will you spend time in retirement?
I'm really looking forward to getting through my stacks and stacks of to-be-read books.
I’m sure I'll never really get to the end of it. I love to read and I love to interview authors and talk about books. I don't live very far away, but I’ve never been to the Eramosa Karst. And I haven't walked all the way from the Red Hill Valley Trail down to the waterfront. So that'll be another thing. I'll be walking a lot more. We will also travel more. We are big Disney fans. So next year, we're going to every park in the world on one trip. I think there's 11 parks.

What neighbourhood do you live in and what do you love about it?
So I live on the east Mountain. I love the view. I love that we have the rail trail right down below. So just a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were walking on the trail, and I still can't believe that this is in the city. You go down a few steps and you're in the woods.

Favourite hangout in Hamilton?
I'd have to say it's the Ale House at Upper Gage and Mohawk. It’s sad, but we went there the day that my mother-in-law died. We took my father-in-law there because he lives not too far from there. And we went, and it was just so welcoming. And then we just kept going and going. And now the owner is our next-door neighbour. We go in and we know everybody. It's kind of like that Cheers thing. And that's such a great thing to have in your neighbourhood. It's great food. And it's really reasonable. It’s not a fancy place, but it feels like a second home.

Favourite meal in Hamilton?
My favourite meal is from La Spaghett and it's the shrimp aglio linguini. I have that every single time I go.

Is there a Hamilton arts or cultural event you look most forward to attending?
All things Theatre Aquarius, of course. And I love gritLIT and Fringe and I’m a member at The Playhouse. I love going to a movie by myself at The Playhouse. I’m not a fan most times of big blockbusters but I love indie films. I’m a member at the RBG and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. And I look forward to going out to comedy clubs and concerts at the waterfront.

What's Hamilton's best-kept secret?
There is a little park. If you walk from Sam Lawrence Park along the escarpment, there is another tiny little park that's hidden away, and you'd never know it was there. It’s the tiniest little thing, and it's got beautiful flower beds.

What's something you brag about Hamilton to outsiders?
The Lancaster and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. We have the only flying Lancaster and the museum is a fascinating place.