Did “Bo” know how to run the country, 26 years ago?

James “Bo” Gritz was running for president in 1992, and campaigned at the La Crosse Center that June.  Gritz was a former Green Beret who had led missions to find missing POW’s in Vietnam.  Flanked by local law officers, Gritz told La Crosse reporters that President Kennedy was killed by the CIA, and that Bobby Kennedy was shot by his own Secret Service agents.  Gritz campaigned to get rid of the income tax and the federal reserve, and he pledged to abolish the Department of Education and to promote home schooling over public schools.  He got 100,000 votes in the November election, won by Bill Clinton.

Ed Sullivan won an important election in La Crosse, for Riverfest Commodore.  Riverfest had been around for just about a decade in 1992.  Sullivan is known for his restaurant in Trempealeau, and for the long-running “Blarney Party” radio show in La Crosse with his wife, Sally. 

Country Kitchen had “eggs Benedict, Wisconsin style” on the menu.  The Wisconsin touch was a tangy cheese sauce.  There were four Country Kitchens in La Crosse and Onalaska in 1992, 26 years ago, yesterday in La Crosse.