A new dorm opens near the college stadium, 56 years ago

In the fall of 1962, the La Crosse State College dedicated White Hall, just north of the Memorial Stadium parking lot.

The new men’s dorm was named after Orris O. White, who taught for 38 years in the college English department.

When the New Orleans Saints had their training camp at UW-L in the 80’s and 90’s, White Hall was often the dorm where visiting media would stay.

It’s rare for the quarterback of the Packers to visit La Crosse so a live appearance by Bart Starr was a big deal in ’62.

Starr came to Quinn’s Sport Shop on Main Street for an autograph session. Starr’s team was advertised as the “World Champion” Packers…years before the Super Bowl began.

In those days, the movie “The Wizard of Oz” was shown on TV only once a year.

The 1962 broadcast on CBS was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon in December. In La Crosse, “Oz” would have kept Packers fans from watching an important late-season game against the 49ers, so WKBT made an urgent appeal to the network, to be allowed to show the Green and Gold instead of the Emerald City.

CBS said OK, and local fans saw the Packers win the game, on their way to another championship.

The Wizard showed up on Channel 8 two days before Christmas in 1962…yesterday in La Crosse.