City Hall says no to buying a new ambulance, 56 years ago

In 1962, the La Crosse City Council was offered the chance to convert an old station wagon into an ambulance, and turned it down.  Police chief George Long said the city already had two ambulances, and the La Crosse Hospital had three, so that was plenty.  Those were the days before La Crosse was served by private ambulance companies.

Folks in north La Crosse wanted a swimming pool in ’62, but they couldn’t agree on where to put it.  The Redevelopment Authority was asked to decide.  The parks commission wanted a pool at the Black River beach, but a group of citizens lobbied for Swanson Field, where there didn’t seem to be enough room.  Eventually, Logan Middle School became the pool site. 

The Pizza Villa had its grand opening on South 3rd St., between Main and Pearl.  You could get two free bottles of Pepsi with any pizza order, and the restaurant was also giving away new 45 rpm records.  Elvis had a #1 hit in early 1962 with “Good Luck Charm.”  So did a future Elvis co-star, Shelley Fabares of “The Donna Reed Show.”  Shelley topped the charts for two weeks with “Johnny Angel,” 56 years ago, 1962…yesterday in La Crosse.