Saying goodbye after 30 years at Discover Vintage America Al Hedrick:
The man, the myth, the legendOver the past 30 years, he has been the “voice” of Discover Vintage America and an important member of the team. As the senior advertising account representative, most people calling to advertise have spoken with Al on the telephone at least once. His comforting voice evokes confidence that running an ad in Discover will bring shoppers to stores and visitors to events. He took an interest in his clients and remembered to ask about their kids… that’s just the kind of guy he was.
Al Hedrick joined the Discover team in 1996 when he was closing his design business and wanted to sell the computers and other office equipment he no longer needed. Ken Weyand, then owner and publisher of Discover, took him up on the offer and then asked if he might want to try his hand at selling ads for the publication. Obviously, that worked out well. He may have been a little oldfashioned in his approach, but he had his own style of selling and it seemed to work for him.
And if that wasn’t enough, he also had a side business selling vintage art posters, magazines, maps and hand tools from his personal collection.
In recent years, the days of road trips to neighboring states to sell ads were over, but he
remembered fondly and liked to reminisce about his past trips to Omaha, St. Joseph, Wichita,
Weston, Ottawa, St. Louis, and many other Midwestern towns.
Al once said that most salespeople are either good at new sales or at recurring accounts, but he
was good at both. We were blessed to have him with us here at Discover for 30 years, keeping the sales machine running every month and he will be sorely missed.
I’d like to say that Al is finally enjoying his well-earned retirement, but unfortunately, I must share the sad news of his recent passing just two short months after celebrating his 88th birthday. He was dedicated to the job until the very end, when his body said, “enough is enough.”
You can read Al’s obituary at www.legacy.com. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on
October 3 at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Liberty, MO.
Godspeed Al. Rest in peace, dear friend.