Rochester’s Cronkite signs off 

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Two hours before he steps into the studio on a spring afternoon, longtime 13WHAM news anchor Don Alhart is chasing people down at the station. Not for a story, but because they almost left without getting his signature.

Alhart published a children’s book in 2020, “Sibley’s Christmas Adventure,” and he regularly signs copies around town. He told the guests to stop by WHAM-TV’s Henrietta building and he’d do it personally.

That behavior might be typical of famous local news talents driven by a love of the spotlight. But Channel 13’s white-haired staple, who turned 80 in May, is a different breed.

“I've always felt that if people feel comfortable in the newsroom environment, they'll feel more comfortable on the air,” he said, “and the viewer will feel more comfortable.”

Alhart, a Rochester Rotary Club leader who wears a pin with the group’s logo on his lapel, lives by one of its chief mottos: “service above self.” For nearly 60 years, that work has encompassed being a trusted news voice across the region and focusing on positivity during his signature “Bright Spot” segments.

When he signs off the evening newscast for a final time on June 6, it’ll bookend his career — 58 years to the day since he first began at the station in 1966.

“That's the first thing that I will miss, the ability to put other people on the news,” Alhart said. “That’s always been the biggest thrill for me.”

His tenure is historic. He’s recognized by Guinness World Records for the longest career as a male television news broadcaster. He has emceed charity dinners for guests like Gerald Ford, Colin Powell and Walter Cronkite, presenting poems he wrote for them.

Rather than lining his walls with the photos from these events, he keeps them compiled in an unassuming black book in a desk drawer.

Alhart’s office is instead decorated with ordinary items that, when asked about, become inspirational. A giant candy dish invites staff members to say hi. A 45 RPM record of Noel Harrison’s “A Young Girl” calls back to his days as a Top 40 DJ in Ithaca.

And a black-and-white framed photo of two grinning animal control workers gives Alhart a little perspective. “Their job was to pick up dead animals,” he said. “If those two guys can be that happy, I can never complain about anything at my job.”

Sports Director Mike Catalana has worked with Alhart for nearly 40 years. He called him arguably the most famous person in Rochester (with apologies to George Eastman) and said 13WHAM’s entire culture stems from what Alhart does.

“He set the tone for the whole place,” Catalana said.

All current and former 13WHAM employees interviewed for this story said the same. Ginny Ryan, who co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast with Alhart for three decades, praised his “quiet commitment” and “keen ability to read the room.”

“He was the steady presence that we knew we could always rely on as a newsroom and as a community,” Ryan said. “There's something to be said for that quiet voice, the person who is always going to be there.”

That voice was also used widely for humor. Ryan called Alhart a “library of puns, bad jokes, and stories that fit the situation.” In the 1990s, when the Tickle Me Elmo doll was the hot-ticket holiday kids toy, the pair journeyed to Walmart after midnight to locate one for Ryan’s son.

“We both got one,” Ryan said. “I go, ‘What are you doing with it?’ Don says, ‘I have no idea.’”

Doug Emblidge, who retired from anchoring 13WHAM in 2022, called Alhart an “organized and meticulous” guy who could also wire a telephone hookup and work new gadgets better than some of the younger folks on staff.

That came in handy years ago, when Emblidge’s wife unexpectedly went into labor at a Channel 13 party — and Alhart pulled out a primitive cell phone for Emblidge to use to call the doctor.

“It’s easy to take things for granted, right? It's hard to take Don for granted,” Emblidge said. “What he's done is so extraordinary, not just because of how long he's done it, but because of how well he did it and how truly sincere he was in considering his job to be a calling.”

As the clock nears 6 p.m., Alhart reviews his scripts, bolding certain words for emphasis. When he pulls up his Outlook calendar, long blue blocks fill each day with podcast appearances, doctors appointments, and other tasks.

Before he walked the long yellow hallway to his office today, he’d already had a haircut and gotten some light exercise in. Keeping busy and regimented is how he has made sense of the world for decades.

“Where a normal person might call in sick, you’ve got to be there, but you’ve got to be there,” Alhart said. “You have to look presentable, be on the air, and be your normal self whether you feel like it or not.”

He’s still figuring out what his schedule will look like on June 7, when he doesn’t have to come into Channel 13 for the first time since he was 22 years old. The station’s vice president and general manager, Chuck Samuels, said whatever it is, Alhart has earned it.

“Don was the Walter Cronkite of Rochester,” Samuels said. “He was the example for everybody, not just in the newsroom, but elsewhere in the building and in the community.”

Naturally, there are some loose ends. Alhart personally fits WHAM-TV’s new hires for their custom-molded on-air earpieces. “Who’s going to do it now?” meteorologist Scott Hetsko wondered aloud during a commercial break in the studio.

As for a successor, who could ever fill the shoes of Rochester’s Cronkite?

Alhart appreciates the comparison, but references another broadcasting legend he aimed to emulate: Johnny Carson, who hosted NBC’s “The Tonight Show” for 30 years and had a reputation for helping build other comics’ careers.

“I've always admired that he was there every night,” Alhart said. “He didn't have to steal the show. He didn't have to be the star. He could put the spotlight on someone else, and I’ve said that. I can shine the light on someone, and the reflection is all the light I need.”

Patrick Hosken is an arts writer for CITY. He can be reached at [email protected].