Toni Blum Seitz

Toni is a native of the New Glarus, Wisconsin area.  She lives with her husband and four children on the family farm which was homesteaded in 1848.  Toni is a 6^th generation Swiss whose descendants came from the towns of Bilton and Hatzingen in the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland.

Toni began her interest in yodeling when very young.  She had 3 older sisters who took lessons from world-renowned yodeler and flag thrower, Robbie Schneider.  As her sisters practiced at home, Toni began to pick up the finer points and practiced as well.  From nine to twelve years old, she performed with her sisters at establishments such as The New Glarus Hotel.

Toni graduated from Edgewood High School in Madison, WI.  She joined the United States Army, Military Police Corps, after high school and was stationed at Presidio, San Francisco, California for three years.  After she finished her tour of duty, Toni continued working in the San Francisco area for a year and a half before returning home to Wisconsin.

Toni met her husband, Bob, while they were both working for Wisconsin Governor Tommy G. Thompson.  They married in 1993.  Toni is now a stay at home mom with their four children who range in age from 12 years old to 3.

Since Toni had only yodeled at her own wedding and a family reunion since the age of twelve, her husband encouraged her to rekindle the yodeling talent within her.  In August 2004, at Bob’s suggestion, she entered a yodeling contest in New Glarus, and won first place.  She has yodeled at Swiss entertainment events such as Old World Wisconsin, New Glarus Volksfest, New Glarus Historical Village, Turner Hall in Monroe, WI as well as Cheese Days in Monroe.