Yesterday in La Crosse
Deke’s friends and family headed to Florida, 42 years ago
Sparta astronaut Deke Slayton was supposed to fly on one of the original Mercury space missions in the 1960’s, but a heart problem kept him grounded for more than a decade. When Slayton finally made it onto the crew of a joint American-Soviet mission in 1975, about two dozen relatives went to Cape Canaveral for the lift-off. Several Sparta area businesses ran advertisements in the La Crosse Tribune to wish him luck, including Felland’s Shoe Store, H and R Block, and the Morrow Memorial Home.
The New Villa restaurant on Ward Avenue had more than just fine dining at times. Doerflinger’s department store put on a fall fashion preview at the New Villa in ’75. And during an anniversary celebration, the bar featured Bob Hirsch’s jazz band and local comedian Ronnie Eastman.
At the Embers restaurant on Rose Street, you could buy two eggs, hashbrowns, and toast for only 79 cents. Embers was later replaced by a Walgreen’s store, but it was a popular place to eat in 1975, Yesterday in La Crosse.