FINAL ENCOUNTER: End of an era with auction at Lunch Encounter

La Crosse Tribune, Jan 19, 2005 by Cahalan, Steve

It was a restaurant for decades, until Darrell and Nancy Hanson closed the Lunch Encounter at 301 Seventh St. S. in October 2003 and retired.

But the interior of the old-fashioned eatery remained frozen in time, until the equipment and furnishings were sold at an auction Tuesday afternoon.

As the auction began, calendars on walls still said it was October 2003.

The menu board above the kitchen still said "Breakfast cheerfully served anytime" and "Have a good day." And it still listed the restaurant's food selection and prices. For example, "hamburger $2.70." And "cheeseburger $2.95."

"I'm going to start with the platters and the plates," auctioneer Jon Schuster of Rainbow Auction & Realty Co. told the 20 or so people who showed up for Tuesday's auction.

He quickly switched to auctioneer's lingo, using quick, short bursts of words to get higher and higher bids for dining room furnishings such as counters, stools, salt and pepper shakers, napkin holders, coffee mugs and Formica booths.

Later, he auctioned off kitchen equipment and bakery equipment.

"I'm just here checking it out," Carole Arenz of Onalaska said as she sat at a counter, watching as the last vestiges of the restaurant were sold. "I worked here in the early 1970s as a waitress," she said. That's when it was known as Cy's Bakery.

Cy's Bakery, which earlier went by the name Cy's Liberty Confectionary, was a bakery and restaurant and also sold groceries. It was operated by Cy Krebsbach, who died in 1973.

From 1980 to 1984, Steve Siegle and Gretchen Cook operated the Cass Street Corner restaurant at that location, according to newspaper clippings in the La Crosse Public Library Archives and Local History room. One article described it as La Crosse's first vegetarian restaurant. The Hansons opened the Lunch Encounter in 1985.

City directories from the 1920s list a confectionary there. In those days, that typically meant a candy store.

Auctions at old fashioned restaurants are "pretty common these days," said Tom Myers, owner of Myers Bakery in Arcadia, Wis., as he examined bakery equipment. Mom-andpop restaurants are having a tough time competing against company-owned restaurants, he said.

Another Arcadia businessman, Pat's Country Market owner Tony Johnson, bought shelves, holiday decorations and other items for his business. "There's St. Patrick's, Christmas and Easter decorations," he said, adding that he and his wife, Marie, may use some of them in the restaurant part of their business.

La Crosse businessman John Desmond recently purchased the Lunch Encounter building and contents from the Hansons. He owns Midwest Garment Inc. and plans to move the custom sewing and tuxedo repair part of his business to the building.

The Hansons listed the business and building for sale soon after the Lunch Encounter closed.