Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/406201
NOVEMBER 2014 12 THE JOURNAL A A l Hesselbart, who served the RV/MH Hall of Fame & Museum for 20 years, announced that he is retiring at the end of the month. Hesselbart is well known as an RV/MH historian, librarian, lecturer and author. Al said, "I've always dreamed of having the independence and freedom to do what I want to do, when I want to do it." Al started his career in the RV/MH industries in October 1994 when Carl Ehry, then president of the RV/MH Heritage Foundation in Elkhart, recruited him as vice president and general manager. "Little did I know it at the time" Al recalled, "but that turned out to be a life- changing experience." Al remembered that during those first few months the Foundation was nearly bankrupt. As a matter of fact, when Carl joined the Foundation a few months earlier, there was less than $2,000 in the bank. Accord- ing to Al, the board told Carl that if he expected to be paid, he'd have to raise money fast. Fortunately, Carl was an excellent fundraiser. But that meant he spent most of his time traveling across the country solic- iting donations while Al held the fort down in Elkhart. For the first five years, he said he was a "one-man army" serving as museum manager, historian, bookkeeper, janitor, as well as Carl's sec- retary. He said, "During this period I created and organized the library from a large collection of boxed books and magazines." According to Al, Carl had a vision of building a new grand facility to house the RV/MH Hall of Fame, museum, and a conference center with easy access off Interstates 80/90. Al continued, "He started looking for available property and working with architects to design the facility. "Then, in 1999 the decision was made to begin raising funds toward the new building, so I also became the bookkeeper/scorekeeper for the capital campaign." During those early years Al immersed himself in this history of the RV and manufactured housing industries by reading hundreds of books and magazines in the library that he was developing and by picking the brains of industry pioneers who visited the facility frequently, such as Hall of Fame members Harold Platt, Herb Reeves, Carl Edwards and Pete Callander. By the late 1990s Al's reputation as an authority on the history of the RV and MH industries began to blossom, and he was frequently invited to speak at RV rallies and shows. He credits Hall of Fame member Dan Holt, editor-publisher of RV News (retired), as launching his career as an author. Al said, "Dan invited me to write a monthly column on the heritage of the RV industry. Later, when I wrote my book, 'The Dumb Things Sold...Just Like That,' a history of the RV industry in America, the articles I wrote for RV News became the foundation of my book." Hesselbart speaking at the 3rd Annual Hangzhou China Outdoor Lifestyle Show in Hangzhou, China RV/MH Historian Al Hesselbart Retires