NEW GLARUS — The New Glarus Yodel Club will be celebrating its 90th anniversary Oct. 19 with a gathering and performance at the New Glarus Hotel and to pass on traditions and customs to new members.
The New Glarus Jodlerklub was organized in 1928, with the first formal meeting and rehearsal held Oct. 19 of that year. The group was made up of five individuals: Hans Furrer, Ernest Thierstein, Karl Mueller, Caspar Yaun, and Ernst Burkhalter, who were all Swiss-born. The group decided to focus their performances on traditional Swiss yodeling songs of the mother country, unlike their counterpart the New Glarus Mannerchor which was started in 1912 and sang four-part harmony of Swiss and German hymns and folksongs. The New Glarus Jodlerklub’s first appearance was in 1929 at Volksfest in New Glarus. Volksfest is the celebration on Aug. 1 of Switzerland’s Independence and the same celebration is held each year in New Glarus on the first Sunday in August. In 1930, there was a performance on the Voegeli Farm in Monticello, Wisconsin, for a meeting of the Brown Swiss Breeder’s Association of America.
A decade later, club membership increased to nine. As the group became more established, their repertoire consisted of yodeling, alphorn blowing and cowbell ringing. Performances were both local and out of the state as the group traveled to such places as Highland, Illinois, for their centennial; Pine Island, Minnesota, for a Swiss festival; Sauerkraut Day in Forreston, Illinois; and for Swissfest in Cleveland and Sugar Creek, Ohio.
Members of the New Glarus Yodel Club in the top photo include, first row, from left, John Colstad, Matt Streiff, Dennis Streiff, Dwight Truttman, Tim Pauli, Damion Babler, Tony Zgraggen, Ernest Jaggi, Dave Hustad, Kim Bright, George Albright and Heinz Mattman. Second row, from left, Dave Wyttenbach, Howard Christensen, Edward Brand, Nancy Streiff, Peter Etter, Tim Nybroten, Ernie Halbheer and Gottlieb Brandli. Third row, from left, Dean Streiff, Wayne Kuenzi, Jeff Palenik, Tim Wurgler, Jim Hoesly and Johann Bayer. In the fourth row, left to right, are Richard Arn and Steve Streiff.
The original group started with Hans Furrer as the yodeler. He was followed by Oswald Buesser and Hans Neuenschwander. As these individuals retired, the group felt there was a need to have a yodeler from Switzerland lead the group, and an ad was placed in the Swiss newspaper. The ad was answered, and in 1956, Robbie Schneider emigrated from Zurich and became lead yodeler of the group. He had been the lead yodeler of many groups in Switzerland and was also an accomplished flag thrower.
During the first few years with the club, the idea of going to Switzerland as a concert tour was presented and became a reality. A total of 149 passengers embarked on the first trip in 1960. With the first trip being such a success, a second trip in 1964 was taken, with many more to follow. Schneider left the group in the late 1970s and moved to Colorado. Ernest Jaggi, who had also come from Switzerland and joined the group in 1961, and his wife Therese assumed the role of lead yodelers. Ernest retired in 2018 and the role of lead yodelers has been passed on to Tony Zgraggen, Tim Pauli and Nancy Streiff.
The New Glarus Yodel Club celebrates its 90th anniversary with a total membership of 32, ranging in age from 25 to 88, showing the vitality of the group for years to come. Not all have emigrated from Switzerland, but many are of Swiss descent, along with a mix of other nationalities. Current members include George Albright, Richard Arn, Damion Babler, Johann Bayer, Edward Brand, Kim Bright, Howard Christensen, John Colstad, Joel Dieckhoff, Peter Etter, Kaye Gmur, Ernest Halbheer, Jim Hoesly, David Hustad, Joanne Kruse, Wayne Kuenzi, Zachariah Kuenzi, Greg Long, Heinz Mattmann, Tim Nybroten, Jeff Palenik, Tim Pauli, Andrew Schulz, Dean Streiff, Matt Streiff, Nancy Streiff, Steve Streiff, Dwight Truttman, Dave Wyttenbach, Tim Wurgler, Tony Zgraggen and Steve Zipsie. Since its 80th anniversary, the group continues to think and pray for the families of Therese Jaggi, Gottlieb Brandli Sr., Kris Gmur, Frank Rear, Dennis Streiff, John Wegmueller and Erwin Zweifel.
This year, the yodel club competed at Sangerfest in Toledo, Ohio, on June 30. The group performed “Klontal”, a song that portrays the beauty of the Klontal Lake in the canton of Glarus, for which the performers received a Silver rating. The next competition will be the end of June 2020 in Davos, Switzerland, for the Eidgenossisches Jodelfest. When the group is not practicing a competition song, it continues to improve the existing repertoire and add new songs, such as Ewigi Liabi – a song about eternal love.
The group performs many of the same songs that the founding fathers of the club performed. The club members are broken into four parts for each song – 1st and 2nd tenor, baritones and basses. The group wears the traditional “Berner Oberland” hat and jacket. Performances include yodeling, alphorn and buchel music, schwyzeroergeli (swiss accordion) music, Thalerschwingen (milking bowls that a five Swiss franc coin rolls around in), and Fahnenschwingen (flag throwing). Most of the venues are local or in Wisconsin, including Green County festivals, state fair, World Dairy Expo, church services, funerals and weddings, totaling 10-20 per year. The yodel club meets at 8:30 p.m. Monday at the New Glarus Home Chapel for rehearsal and always welcomes walk-ins.
