Post Messenger Recorder -

It all started with an ad in a Swiss newspaper, "Yodeler Wanted." At first glance you might think this was Match.com for Switzerland, and Heidi was looking for a sweet mountain boy to come down from the high alpine pastures to sweep her off her feet. But this ad appeared just past the middle of the last century and not a year ago...long before the computer age.

Eventually, the ad, placed by the New Glarus Yodel Club in 1954, was responded to by a young Swiss yodeler, Robbie Schneider. The New Glarus Yodel Club was in need of a top notch Swiss yodeler who could teach them new traditions. The Yodel Club responded to Schneider that someone from New Glarus would be coming to Switzerland to see one of his concerts. Arrangements were made for Schneider to come to New Glarus on a hopefully permanent basis. The difficulties of getting the necessary visa put off Robbie's arrival in New Glarus by two years.

At the time, Schneider was a member of five yodel clubs in Switzerland. In addition to all of his Swiss yodeling and singing, he also was the 1952 Swiss flag throwing champion. At Schneider's memorial, held at the New Glarus Hotel, a friend, Ernie Jaggi, told a story about how he and Schneider were performing in St Louis. The pair were on stage and Robbie did a flag throwing demonstration for the audience.

"Robbie tossed the flag into the air. It was so quiet that you could hear the swish-swish of the flag on its way down." As sometimes happens with flag throwing, the flag goes astray, as it did this time. "As the flag hit the stage floor, Robbie was heard over the PA system saying, 'Oh s***!' We didn't know that the two microphones were still live." As Jaggi told this story at Robbie's memorial service, the crowd let out a hearty roar of laughter.

When Schneider finally arrived in the United States in 1956, the job that had been secured for him at Pet Milk in New Glarus had been given to somebody else, leaving him in a serious bind for employment. But as a trained electrical engineer and also trained in the culinary arts, he found a job at Gisholt Machine Company in Madison.

Former New Glarus Yodel Club member, Norbert Meier of Madison, reflected on his first meeting with Schneider. "I was walking down one of the long walkways in the Gisholt building and heard this beautiful whistling. Eventually the whistler got to where I was working. I told the whistler that his music was beautiful. That whistler was Robbie. That's how we met."

Meier arrived in the U.S. about two months before Schneider, and after their initial meeting, the two ex-pats became good friends and roommates for a while. It wasn't long until Hans Neuenschwander, Meier and Schneider began driving together from Madison to New Glarus for the Yodelers practices.

Unfortunately for Robbie not long after he began working at Gisholt the company went on strike and he was out of a job.

This led him to New Glarus and a job at Swissconsin, where he worked for 75 cents per hour. With his secondary background in culinary arts, his friends saw an opportunity for Robbie. In 1959 the New Glarus Hotel was for sale. But, because he was not a U.S. citizen, Robbie could not obtain the necessary liquor license. Several of his friends stepped in and were able to procure the needed liquor license. He quickly turned the hotel into a destination dining spot, which was no doubt one of the very first eating establishments in Wisconsin to serve genuine Swiss food.

With his expanding business, he was often unable to give the time to the Yodelers that he wanted to. He was scheduled to yodel at the annual Volksfest, but due to another obligation he asked Ernie Jaggi to fill in for him, which Ernie did. Ernie said that after this, Robbie slowly began getting out because of other obligations, enabling Jaggi to become the lead yodeler for the local group for 22 years.

Ernie related the story. "The last time Robbie and I talked on the phone he asked for my mailing address. Several days later a big package arrived. In the package were all of Robbie's yodel books, sheet music and song books. I asked Robbie why he did this and also why let me take over the yodel club. 'I asked you because I knew you could and would do it.'"

If there was something good going on in New Glarus, it's a safe bet that somewhere in that particular project you can find the fingerprints of Robbie Schneider. Some of you will remember the three Swiss Chalet telephone booths that once were utilized in New Glarus. Those were the idea of Robbie, who saw this project through to the installation of what were probably the most unique phone booths in the United States. One of those three phone booths still exists on the local miniature golf course.

Many of us each day go past another of Robbie's ideas that he brought to fruition, the Floral Clock at the intersection of HWY's 69 and 39. He knew of a company in Switzerland that built clocks for outdoor use. Working with what was known as the New Glarus Betterment Committee, this group worked hard to make the floral clock become a beautiful welcome entrance to New Glarus.

Working together, this group obtained the help of many local groups and individuals who donated time, material, services, land and money to get the clock, only the third of its kind in the US at the time installed and the corner turned into a thing of beauty.

In a letter, he wrote of all those who helped out in one way or another, the Gilbert and Dora Ott and Harvey and Sally Ott families donated the land. The Yodel Club, Mannerchor, Wieser, Schneider families and New Glarus Hotel, 4-H Club, American Legion, Lions Club, Tell Guild all donated money for the clock. The Mount Vernon Telephone Company donated poles and posts for the sign designed by Joy Anderson-Freitag, built by Abner Anderson, Harold Hoesly and Alois Buesser donated and hauled fill dirt, Vern Johnsrud, Roger Buesser and Charlie Smith donated grading services. Still short of donations, the Arnes family donated $1,000 as a thanks for the help the people of New Glarus gave them when a tornado demolished much of their farm in 1929.

It was through Robbie's connections both in the U.S. and Switzerland that the Floral Clock became a striking reality. And as is so often is the case, those who do the heavy lifting fail to be recognized for their contributions to the community. At the time of the dedication of the Floral Clock, Robbie was not invited.

Robbie, along with a number of other Swiss immigrants in the 1950's brought with them their own style of Swiss culture, leaving in its wake the richness of a new awareness of our Swiss roots for those in the fourth and fifth generations of New Glarus Swiss.

In an effort to keep the Swiss heritage and arts alive in New Glarus, Robbie contributed countless hundreds of hours teaching the youth of New Glarus yodeling and Swiss flag throwing. One faded old photograph from the 1962 Wilhelm Tell anniversary parade shows a large number of young New Glarus flag throwers, taught by Robbie, marching single file carrying the canton flags as they filled 5th Avenue, from 1st Street to 2nd Street.

On festival weekends, you could expect to see Robbie everywhere, performing, yodeling and flag throwing. Many were the days when by the end of these weekend events Robbie had yodeled so many times that his voice had given out. For those of us left behind, Robbie's beautiful yodeling can still be heard on the numerous LP albums he recorded during his years in New Glarus.

Abschied von meinem Freund!