Kim Lemon, who will retire after 42 years, reflects on her time at WGAL ‘You had to wait until the film was developed’

On the day that Kim Lemon celebrated her 42nd anniversary at WGAL News 8 — the station that she grew up watching — she announced online and later at the end of the 6 p.m. news broadcast that she will retire from the television station on Nov. 24.

Lemon was hired in 1979 as a weekend weather reporter. After nine months as a reporter and morning news anchor she was named the first WGAL co-host of the nationally syndicated show “PM Magazine.” During that time she also anchored the weekend news. In 1985, she moved back permanently into the News Department and was named as co-anchor for News8 at 6. It’s a position she has held since. She is the longest serving anchor in WGAL history.

Lemon said in a telephone interview on Friday with PennLive just minutes after she told viewers she was retiring, that now was just a good time to retire.

“Forty-two years is a long time,” she said. “It just felt right. I’ve had just a spectacular career.”

Lemon said there’s one thing, above all else, that she plans to do after she retires.

“First thing I’m going to do is rest,” she said

And then she hopes to travel. And she can see herself down the line writing a book and maybe starting a business.

Lemon said that the biggest difference between now and 42 years ago when she started at WGAL is technology.

“When I started reporting, we shot film,” she said. “I had a camera -- you had to wait until the film was developed.”

And last year and this year during the pandemic, Lemon was reporting the news from her home on her cell phone.

“To be able to broadcast from your home, it’s just crazy,” she said.

Lemon said that some of her most memorable stories came when she traveled the world hosting PM Magazine. As the co-host of PM Magazine, she traveled to and reported from countries that included Greece, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico and Brazil.

“I met so many people, including Muhammad Ali,” she said.

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Lemon has interviewed personalities ranging from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Ali as well as music legends like Julio Iglesias and Huey Lewis. But she is most proud of her work on WGAL 8′s Chronicle: ‘the Power of Prayer’, in which she interviewed leaders of different faiths, including cloistered nuns and an Iman.

“This special was important to me because it stretched my boundaries personally and professionally,” she said.

“During her 42-year career Kim had a front row seat to landmark Susquehanna Valley stories including the Camp Hill State Prison Riots, the Amish School Shooting, the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic during which she broadcast live from her home using a cell phone,” WGAL said in a news release. “In addition to her duties as a news anchor, Lemon also served as an emcee for countless Susquehanna Valley events, introducing the likes of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, William F. Buckley Jr, Colin Powell, and Walter Cronkite. When the state had its official day of remembrance one year after the September 11th terrorist attacks, she was asked by then Governor Mark Schweiker to emcee the ceremony.”

Lemon said as a Lancaster native one of the things she will miss covering and that has also been most memorable is the “Extraordinary Give” -- a 24-hour fundraising marathon that raises millions of dollars each year for nonprofit organizations in Lancaster County.

Lemon was born and raised in the Lancaster area and graduated from Manheim Township High School and Clarion University. During a series of reports exploring genealogy and heritage, she discovered that she is tenth-generation Lancastrian on both sides of her family, with both Amish and Mennonite lineage.

She said there’s two things she will miss most.

“I will miss my talented and kind co-workers,” she said. “It’s just a privilege of working with these smart and capable people. I will also miss the chance to serve the community. It’s so rewarding.”

Lemon has also worked as an adjunct professor at Elizabethtown College in the Communications Department and is a strong advocate for families struggling with dementia and the long-term care of loved ones. She is an advocate and care partner to her husband, John, who has Lewy body dementia. They have two daughters.

“It was my lifelong dream to work at WGAL 8,” Lemon said. “This is the TV station I grew up watching and it’s been a privilege to come to work every day with a servant’s heart for a community I love. I want to say ‘thank you’ to our loyal viewers. It has been an honor to bring you the news for the past four decades.”