Mr. Zielke becomes the mayor, 42 years ago

It was no April Fool’s joke on the 1st of April in 1975, when La Crosse voters ousted two-term mayor Peter Gilbertson in favor of city council president Patrick Zielke.  The race was fairly close, with Zielke winning by nearly 600 votes.  He had also been the top vote-getter in the primary.  The Tribune considered Zielke ‘less combative’ than the younger Gilbertson, and Zielke called for more teamwork at City Hall.  Taking Zielke’s former aldermanic seat would be Helen Kelly, becoming only the second woman on the La Crosse Council.
 
Vernon County had a female judge, and voted her out in 1975.  Olga Bennett had been on the bench for five years, but she was replaced by Walter Block, who had criticized her as being too lenient.  Bennett was the first woman elected as a county judge in Wisconsin.
 
The Mel Brooks comedy ‘Young Frankenstein’ was playing at movie theaters early in 1975.  A couple of TV specials based on Brooks characters were aired that April…a pilot for a proposed weekly version of ‘Blazing Saddles,’ and an animated cartoon about ‘The 2,000-Year-Old Man.’  That was 42 years ago, 1975, Yesterday in La Crosse.