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Then the chief of police had the temerity to cite the shooters for violating ordinance No. 381, which is “for the protection of squirrels within the city limits of the city of La Crosse.”
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Bob Taunt (right) and Troy Buddenhagen of the Company B Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Reinactors fire a gun salute at the Hixon House in La Crosse Tuesday after a re-enactment the signing of the La Crosse city charter. The event kicked off La Crosse's Sesquicentennial cellebration which will continue into October.
PETER THOMSON photo |
According to the ordinance, “No person shall within the city of La Crosse molest, injure or in any manner interfere with any squirrel of any kind.”
Don’t worry, the soldiers of Company B Second Wisconsin Infantry didn’t end up paying a fine. Mayor Mark Johnsrud announced at lunch that he would take care of the tickets.
It was all part of the celebration Tuesday of the 150th anniversary of the signing of La Crosse’s city charter.
The sesquicentennial event began at the historic Hixon House with a re-enactment of the original signing — Mayor Thomas Stoddard, played by former La Crosse mayor John Medinger, meeting with William Oldenburg as Gov. Cole Bashford and Peter Peterslie as Dr. Dugald Cameron.
When Cameron and Stoddard wanted to share a little too much of their personal histories with the audience, La Crosse County Historical Society Director Carl Miller accused them of being long-winded. Lunch was waiting, you know.
At the luncheon at Western Wisconsin Technical College, present-day Gov. Jim Doyle — playing himself — talked about what a great city La Crosse is and how those signers of the first charter would be proud of how the city has grown.
“La Crosse has not only made it, but has excelled,” he said, calling La Crosse the perfect blend of picturesque countryside and hard-working business community. “It has one of the most remarkable groups of people anywhere in the country.
“You can see where I think the capital of Wisconsin should be,” he said to loud applause. “La Crosse represents the very best about Wisconsin.”
Doyle said the original signers of the La Crosse city charter were forward-thinking people who were committed to a better future, and they knew that future was connected to education.
“This is a community where commitment to education is profound,” Doyle said.
Johnsrud talked about La Crosse’s present, and how diversity of culture made the city strong 150 years ago and makes it strong again today. “Growth was important then and it’s important today.”
Finally, Dave Skogen, a lifelong resident of Onalaska, Wis., talked about La Crosse’s future and how he considers himself a part of that future.
“All of us together are much wiser than any of us alone. I’m proud we’ve learned to get along with each other,” he said, referring to La Crosse’s and Onalaska’s contentious past.”
La Crosse is a great city, Skogen said, because people keep working to make it better.
“La Crosse has never gotten caught up in how good they are,” he said. Instead it’s about what is missing and how can the city become a better place to live.
“Twenty-five years ago, downtown was kind of dismal. Today, we’ve turned the corner.”
It would be easy to settle for the good life, Skogen said, but La Crosse instead keeps striving for the great life.
“I feel like I live in La Crosse even though I’ve lived in Onalaska my whole life.”
Geri Parlin can be reached at gparlin@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8225.
