Wisconsin

Troubled times for Oktoberfest, 53 years ago

Published

5 years ago

October 1, 2019

Just before the 1966 Oktoberfest in La Crosse, a cartoon in the Tribune asked “How’s this for an image?” The cartoon promoted the six-year-old festival as a time for fun, joviality, friendship, and non-violence. A near-riot during fest weekend led to almost 200 arrests, and to the long-standing ordinance against public consumption of alcohol.

Violent acts dominated news in 1966, with a mass shooting at the University of Texas, the murders of eight student nurses in Chicago, and the slaying of Valerie Percy, the 21-year-old daughter of future Illinois Sen. Charles Percy. The Percy murder occurred the same week that CBS was scheduled to air the movie “Psycho,” but the film was cancelled, and CBS never did show “Psycho.” Valerie Percy’s killer has never been caught.

That fall, TV watchers were introduced to the Monkees, Marlo Thomas as “That Girl,” and to Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock on “Star Trek,” yesterday in La Crosse.

Related Topics:oktoberfest Star Trek

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.