The first singles title for one Gullikson twin…32 years ago

In 1985, Onalaska tennis pro Tom Gullikson won his first singles title in 11 years on the Grand Prix circuit.  Gullikson took the championship at the Volvo Tennis Hall of Fame tournament in Rhode Island.  Tom retired from the tour two years later and concentrated on coaching.  Tom and his twin brother Tim had some success as a doubles team, reaching the finals of the men’s doubles at Wimbledon in 1983.

NASA had been looking for a school teacher to fly on the space shuttle, and in the summer of ’85, it chose Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire to become the first American teacher in space.  McAuliffe was aboard the Challenger when it exploded shortly after liftoff the following January.  Some U.S. schools have been named after her, including one in Hastings, Minnesota.

The Tribune noted that it had mixed up the names and photos of a couple of local men in stories on the business page.  One of the men misidentified in a story about a screen printing company was one “Donald J. Weber.”  Mr. Weber’s name and face would become much more familiar in the future, after he founded Logistics Health.  Mistaken identity 32 years ago, 1985, yesterday in La Crosse.