Yesterday in La Crosse
TWA almost flew to LSE, 40 years ago
In the fall of 1978, La Crosse’s airport was considered for a route by one of the country’s larger airlines, TWA. But airport manager Curtis Tripp doubted that the airline would ever serve the city. And he was right…it never did. North Central was the only major airline at the La Crosse airport in ’78. It later became Northwest, and eventually, part of Delta.
More than three dozen local charities had a windfall in ’78. It was a couple of years in coming. The city refinanced some of its funds, and came up with $1.4 million to give to charitable groups. One night in 1976, the groups spent several hours at the Hotel Stoddard, whittling down their wish lists so every organization could get a piece of the pie.
Dinner theater was an attraction at the Stoddard. The fall production of the musical “Pippin” in the hotel ballroom turned out to be the last show for the three-year-old Cabaret Dinner Theater. A block away, at the La Crosse Community Theater, the fall shows were “Godspell” and “The Time of Your Life”…40 years ago, yesterday in La Crosse.