MONROE — Tony Zgraggen is the face of Wisconsin on the tourism commercial where he can be seen yodeling an opening song to a group as the camera pans back to a bustling crowd at Turner Hall. It’s meant to reflect the “spirit of Wisconsin” and Zgraggen seemingly emits that essence wherever he goes.

And although life hasn’t always been easy for the Swiss immigrant, he said “the yodel” — and God — have been there to help him always get back up, dust himself off and try again. 

“For me, the yodel is like religion, like God,” Zgraggen said. “He comes with me each day, wherever I go — I know the Lord is with me when I need it. The yodel is also with me, it has helped me through the downfalls I had. There were times I didn’t have anything but myself and the yodel. I always had to pick myself up again. The yodel helped me do that.”

He was born in Erstfeld, Switzerland in 1954, a canton of Uri. His parents were dairy farmers and they raised eight children on less than 20 acres of land, he said. They weren’t wealthy people, but worked hard to put food on the table for their children. 

Zgraggen recalls helping out by feeding calves and pigs and milking cows. Everything was done by hand — the farm had no machinery or tractors — and he recalls vividly his father carrying in hay on his back. He sometimes tried to help by carrying a little on his own. 

The family got a radio when Zgraggen was about 5 years old. They kept the electronic limited to the news and a couple of programs. 

“It was a different life,” he said.

After church on Sundays was the only time Zgraggen recalls being allowed to play. The family took up games of Jass, a Swiss card game, with neighbors and each other. In the summertime, they would hike together as a family and play long games of hide and seek. 

In school his teacher was a nun who alone taught a classroom of 43 boys, including physical education and music among the rest of the courses. School lasted from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. six days a week. They were released early on Wednesdays and Saturdays but the extra time was spent helping on the farm. Zgraggen recalls cleaning rows of shoes for the family to be ready for church on Sundays.

Zgraggen enjoyed school for the most part, and was involved in sports like wrestling and soccer, which were very different then. 

After six years of grade school and three years of secondary school, Zgraggen decided to continue. He was the seventh of eight children and his older brothers had already started taking over the family farm. He attended ETH Zurich, a local, highly-ranked college, and hoped one day to teach agriculture classes.

Plans changed, however, when Zgraggen saw a sign hanging in one of the hallways. It featured an exchange program to America — he pulled off a phone number and found a phone booth to call. He was accepted after a lengthy interview.

In 1978, Zgraggen came to the United States under the eye of a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who was researching peas and soybeans. Zgraggen spent his days at the research farm working in the fields, measuring meticulously the growth of different beans and peas against disease. 

“I loved it,” he said. “I worked in the field all day. And I learned English.”

Although he didn’t do well back in his classroom English classes, he learned quickly and enjoyed the U.S. greatly. He also found love here. 

“I loved the openness, the big fields, the wide roads, everything,” he said. “It was definitely all new to me, but it was nice.”

After a few months, the exchange program was over and Zgraggen went home with a goal to finish school. He took on another U.S. exchange, this time with a dairy farmer in Mt. Horeb, but again returned to Switzerland to finish school. Once he did, he and his first wife were married and he officially immigrated in 1981. 

The couple began farming together and had two daughters. Hard times fell on the family, he said, when his cattle herd fell ill and interest rates were high and unforgiving. As the economy slowed, Zgraggen was forced to file for bankruptcy and his marriage fell apart.

But he had found love again, in a place unexpected. He met Esther, a foreign exchange student from Switzerland, at their farm. She returned to Switzerland for two years, and they kept in touch by phone and letters while Zgraggen got back on his feet. 

With the help of his brothers in Switzerland, he was able to rent a farm; and this time, he did well. 

“There is no other way (than to keep trying),” he said. “My folks did that. I can tell you — 37 years ago I immigrated — May 13, 1981, I landed in Chicago. I didn’t have $700 to my name. I had two suitcases of clothes and a few boxes of books. Today, I’m good.”

Esther returned to the U.S. with their son two years later, and the couple never lost their connection. They married in 1989 and farmed together. They hoped to purchase their own farm, but it wasn’t meant to be. Instead, they took an opportunity and together managed the Chalet Landhaus Inn in New Glarus. 

They loved the work, the people and the tourism. 

 “It was a very good experience,” he said.

However, they still hoped for something of their own and moved on after about six years. They ran the Whistle Stop in New Glarus for a short time but needed something to sustain them. When an opportunity to purchase Robert’s European Imports in New Glarus came, they took it. Today, Esther still runs the successful business, now called Esther’s European Imports. While Zgraggen helped her, he also became an insurance agent for a handful of years.

“It was OK, but the ups and downs of investments didn’t excite me,” he said.

When opportunity knocked again in 2009, Zgraggen didn’t let it pass — he purchased Alp & Dell Cheese Store in Monroe, leasing space from Emmi Roth. 

“With my work ethic and my knowledge of cheese, I’ve done well here,” he said. 

Zgraggen said over the past nine years the business has grown greatly and the volume has tripled in that time. He credits his time spent learning about each of his products and the interactions he spends with his customers. He loves to visit other cheese factories and offer their niche products. He can be found in the store nearly seven days a week — and loving it. 

“We have a wealth of award-winning cheese products in Green County,” he said. “My goal was to have excellent quality, a great selection and at a price where a family can afford to buy cheese here.”

The size of the store has also doubled, he said, and he offers tours where he teaches and talks about the cheeses and their makers.

At 64, Zgraggen said he looks forward to several more years at the store but hopes eventually one day to find someone to continue the success. He has four successful children of whom he’s proud — and his oldest daughter lives in Switzerland with her family. 

He said he likes to get back to Switzerland about every other year when he can and has been there countless times through the years.

Zgraggen still also finds time to yodel whenever he’s able. He learned the craft as a young man in Switzerland, teaching himself while working in a milk parlor alone for hours at a time. When he earned his first paycheck, he spent the money on cassette tapes of favorite yodelers and would sing along with them, teaching himself. 

He’s now been a member of Jodlerklub New Glarus for more than three decades. He took a group to Switzerland’s national yodeling festival in 2008, where he also participated. He also takes up private yodeling gigs when asked, recently traveling to New York City to perform at the Swiss Ball. 

Throughout his life, the yodel, he said, has been there through it all.

 “I had to go far away to find what was closest to me,” Zgraggen said about yodeling and why he continues to do it. “You sometimes have to go far away to discover that you already found what you were looking for.”

Zgraggen is living his dream of finally having things of his own. He and Esther built a home recently. They enjoy going for walks together and spending time with their children and grandchildren.

 “I’m very proud today for what we have,” he said. “We built our home in New Glarus. That was my goal — to have something of my own.”

He said he’s also very proud of his wife, Esther, who had to work hard to make it as well — now also running a successful business in New Glarus. 

“She is my sunshine,” he said of his wife. “She’s here for me. She helps me too. Without her, I don’t think I would have made it. She was part of a driving force and we pushed each other to good.”

Zgraggen often follows the golden rule of doing unto others as you would want done to you, and his final quote is one that’s stayed with him through the ups and downs of his life and the chances he’s taken. 

 “Opportunities never cease,” he said. “They’re just taken advantage of by others.”