The superintendent was moving on, 40 years ago

In March of 1977, the La Crosse School Board accepted the resignation of superintendent Eugene Balts, who had accepted the same job in Rice Lake.  To succeed Balts, the district hired an Illinois man who is still active in La Crosse government today…Dick Swantz.  The school board also supported the plans for a new northside high school to be opened in the fall of ’79.  That school would become the new Logan High. 
 
The man in charge of the Sawyer Auditorium, Michael Gebauer, said he was getting offers to run civic centers in other cities, but he wanted to stay in La Crosse.  The city council was looking into replacing the 22-year-old Sawyer with a newer building.  The number of events booked at the auditorium had risen about 50 per cent in just five years, with 22 basketball games played there in 1976.
 
CBS aired the last episode of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ that week, while a new sitcom on ABC made its debut…’Three’s Company.’  Top contenders for the Oscars, being given out that month, were ‘Network,’ ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘All the President’s Men,’ and ‘Rocky.’  That was 40 years ago, 1977, Yesterday in La Crosse.