Yesterday in La Crosse

The superintendent was moving on, 42 years ago

Published

6 years ago

March 20, 2019

In March of 1977, the La Crosse School Board accepted the resignation of superintendent Eugene Balts, who was leaving after six years to accept the same job in Rice Lake. The district hired an Illinois man to succeed Balts…Dick Swantz, who later went on to sit on the La Crosse city council. The school board also supported plans for a new Logan High School, which would open in 1979.

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 more modern civic center.

That March, CBS aired the last episode of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ after seven seasons, and ABC debuted a new comedy called ‘Three’s Company’…in 1977, yesterday in La Crosse.

Related Topics:dick swantz Sawyer Auditorium The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.