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“Are you from here?” he asked.
I nodded and he proceeded to tell me how “awesome” our downtown looked, with all the historic buildings.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.
He said he was from Seattle, and he was in the military, just passing through. He stood in the street and took a photo of St. Joseph Cathedral, sitting atop a small hill at the bend in Main Street.
As local residents, we probably don’t think enough about the beauty of the area and the heritage of our city. This Saturday is an opportunity to do that.
Downtown Mainstreet Inc. and downtown businesses are holding Historic Downtown La Crosse Day — which will feature music and dance, free trolley and carriage rides, historic tours, arts and crafts demonstrations, children’s activities, a farmers market and even a chili cook-off.
You can even get a free shoe shine.
When I came to La Crosse as a young reporter in 1974, there was no mall, and downtown was the main retail center. It’s been through a lot of changes since then — first declining and then rising again on the strength of a mix of retail, government, financial institutions, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues — and housing.
It’s been a success story, and Historic Downtown La Crosse Day is a good time to celebrate that.
Children’s activities, trolley rides, the farmers market and other events begin at 10 a.m. Most continue until 5 p.m., although there are some craft demonstrations that end at
6 p.m.
Music starts at 11 a.m., and continues until 5 p.m. (That will be me behind the mandolin in front of Grounded Specialty Coffee from 3 to 5 p.m., playing fiddle tunes with the string band Grand Picnic.)
Sorry about that shameless plug (is there such a thing as a shameful plug?)
Saturday is a good opportunity to enjoy the historic downtown — and to see what someone from Seattle thought was so impressive.
Richard Mial is the Tribune Opinion page editor
