Yesterday in la Crosse
- Mayor Zielke was here to stay, but Man-Lay went away, 50 years ago January 31, 2025WIZMnews.com The year 1975 was a time for change in La Crosse. Lots of old buildings along the riverfront were being torn down in the 1970s, with the goal of improving that section of downtown, partly through a project called Harborview. La Crosse elected a new mayor in the spring of ’75, who stayed in […]
- Remembering La Crosse’s Freedom Fest, that brought groups like Chicago, REO Speedwagon and John Fogerty, to help area veterans January 24, 2025WIZMnews.com For a decade, Freedom Fest was more than just a summer event “Yesterday in La Crosse” — it was a heartfelt celebration of our veterans and community spirit. From 2008 to 2017, the festival brought together thousands each year, blending the thrill of music and motorcycles, while raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for […]
- When La Crosse had two Kmarts and three Shopkos — a look at the area’s lost big box stores, from Sears to Bell Discount January 17, 2025WIZMnews.com Big box stores are slowly becoming extinct. The La Crosse area has a few examples of those that are no more, including multiple Kmarts and Shopkos, a Sears and perhaps some remember the Bell Discount Store. Kmart was one of the first discount store chains in the U.S., launching in the early 1960s. La […]
- The origins of La Crosse’s sister cities, including children’s lanterns down the Mississippi, making it to Russia January 10, 2025WIZMnews.com For more than 40 years, La Crosse has developed sister-city partnerships with communities in several foreign countries. Visitors to north side of Riverside Park can see symbols of those partnerships by touring the International Gardens, featuring landmarks representing communities around the world. The first official sister-city bond involving La Crosse traces back to the […]
- Remembering former President Jimmy Carter’s visits to the La Crosse area, including a trip down the Mississippi on a paddlewheeler January 3, 2025WIZMnews.com He went from being ‘Jimmy Who’ to the president in a very short time. Jimmy Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981, making a few stops to the La Crosse area along the way. Mr. Carter passed away at the end of 2024, shortly after turning 100. During his 1976 campaign, and once […]
- In 30 years of La Crosse’s Rotary Lights, only once did a storm take it out — a weather system like no other December 27, 2024WIZMnews.com The Rotary Lights display in La Crosse’s Riverside Park is now a 30-year tradition shining along the riverfront every night from Thanksgiving weekend to New Year’s Eve. Three years ago, though, never-before-seen weather shut everything down in the middle of the season, but volunteers worked tirelessly to get some semblance of Rotary Lights back […]
- When Mike Ditka, Ricky Williams and the New Orleans Saints called UW-La Crosse home with players like Joe Montana paying a visit December 20, 2024WIZMnews.com It was called the Cheese League. NFL teams holding minicamp across Wisconsin, and UW-La Crosse was host to one of those teams for a dozen years. Beginning in 1988, the New Orleans Saints called the UW-L campus home for a few weeks in the summer. From coach Mike Ditka, a rookie RB named Ricky […]
- A look back to 1959, as Mt. La Crosse celebrates 65 years December 13, 2024WIZMnews.com In December of 1959, the Mt. La Crosse ski hill opened for business, near Highway 35 in the town of Shelby. Ted Motschman and his wife Sue were able to lease 200 acres of hillside land for the ski slope, but more atop the hill was needed for the project. Five donors helped Ted […]
- Before the mall, Sears, J.C. Penney and Herberger’s ruled in downtown La Crosse December 6, 2024WIZMnews.com Before Valley View Mall opened in 1980, shopping in La Crosse happened downtown, mostly between 4th and 6th Streets. The big local name was Doerflinger’s at 4th and Main. At the opposite end of the same block, you could find Herberger’s on 5th, and not too far from there were Sears and JCPenney. For […]
- Did Wisconsin voters still love Lucey, 50 years ago? November 7, 2024WIZMnews.com In November of 1974, Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey spoke in the new North Hall of UW-L, now called Wimberly Hall. Democrat Lucey was seeking a second term, and told students he could not support a tuition cut approved by the Board of Regents, because that would put more burden on taxpayers to fund the […]