September 11-13, 2026
Glenwood City, Wisconsin

The Glenwood City Rustic Lore Days Committee is pleased to announce the 2026 Grand Marshals will be Joe and Charlene Draxler, who will lead our home-town celebration this year!

​

​The Glenwood City Rustic Lore Days

Committee is pleased to announce that

this year’s Grand Marshals will be

Joe and Charlene Draxler!

​

Joe was born in New Richmond, WI to

Bob and Doris Draxler and he is the third

of seven children including: Jackie

Felling, Nancy Graese, MaryBeth Hess,

Debbie Berger, Dan Draxler and Ann

Kaiser.  He grew up living and working

on the farm, just a quarter mile from

where they now call home.  “I was a

hay-seed kid,” he said as he did not

watch or play many sports and the first

football game he ever saw, he played in

and the same went for wrestling as well. 

Joe completed eight years of school at

Saint John’s before moving to the new high school building for 9th grade and graduating with the Class of 1971. 

 

Charlene (Charl) was born in Menomonie, WI to Chuck and Zelda Alleman and she is the fourth of five children including: Juanita James, Allen Alleman, Doug Alleman, and Jeanette Lehman.  Charl grew up in the Downing area, as well as the Glenwood City area.  The family moved from the farm in Downing to a farm which is currently the Glen Hills Golf Course area.  Charl attended kindergarten in the Methodist Church basement (where she actually met Joe, not that either of them really remembers that).  For second and third grades, Charl attended country school at Broadview School.  There were four students in her grade. The country schools then closed so she was back to Downing for fourth grade.  It was a fabulous childhood, roaming the woods and riding horse with the neighbors.  The play was often interrupted by the need to rake hay or unload bale wagons.  Charl also waitressed at the golf course, The Bobber in Baldwin and as an aide at Glenhaven.  She graduated, with Joe, in the Class of 1971 from Glenwood City High School. 

 

After graduating high school, Joe attended the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and received an associate’s degree in Animal Science, Plant Science and Agriculture Economics.  On March 1, 1972, he transitioned to farming with his father on the family farm.  Charl pursued nursing school for one year at St. Paul - Ramsey following graduation.  Later she attended EMT schooling at the technical college in New Richmond. 

 

Aside from going to kindergarten together, Joe and Charl remembered meeting each other in their 9th grade of high school and quickly started dating thereafter in their sophomore year.  You could say that everything after their sophomore year in high school is history – as they have been together ever since!  They were happily married on a steaming hot July 15, 1972.  Once married, they lived in Glenwood City on Pine Street across from Joe’s grandparents, Louis and Jenny.  In the fall of 1974, the two country kids grew tired of living in town.  They cut some trees, cleared pasture, built a garage and moved into a mobile home just down the hill from the farm.  In 1978, Joe’s parents built their current home - while Joe and Charl moved to the farmhouse.  In 1997, Joe’s mother built a home in town following the death of his dad.  Joe and Charl were able to move to their current home, back down the hill to the valley they started out in. 

 

Throughout this time, Joe and Charl were able to start a family.  They have six children: Steven and Heather (Wienke), Cathy and Kyle Jenson, Mike and Rebecca (Frank), Chuck and Lara (Garner), Billy and Anne (Wells) and Angela Draxler.  Everyone lives within 1.5 hours from Glenwood City.  Along with their children, they have been blessed with 19 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren whom they love dearly.  When the Draxler farm began in the 50s, there were 140+ dairy farms in the Glenwood City township; now Lofty Acres Dairy is one of four remaining.  From 1972 to 1996, Joe farmed with his family with no disagreements or arguments, as well as from 2000 to 2026 with his sons.  Joe began milking 56 cows and farming 433 acres in 1972 with his father which grew to 96 cows in 1976 with a barn addition.  In 1978, Joe received his FFA American Farmer Degree which coincides with his granddaughter, Amalia, who recently finished serving as the Wisconsin FFA State President.  Joe also received his Wisconsin JC Agriculture Award.  In 1996, a tornado leveled the farm’s barn, as well as a roof collapse later in the year.  This resulted in a new parlor being built in 1996 while allowing 240 cows to be milked.  In 2000, Mike and Chuck came back to the farm which was handling 400+ cows.  They are the 5th generation of Draxlers to farm Lofty Acres Dairy.  Today, the milking operation is more than 650 milking cows with a farming operation of 2,200+ acres – needless to say, it is still a large farming operation.  Aside from farming, Joe and his parents built Glenwood City Storage in 1986 which he operated before selling in 2020.  Additionally, Joe served on the Glenwood City School Board for 12 years, town chairman for 18 years, 4H Dairy Leader for 10-12 years and drove an ambulance for 20 years (with Charl as an EMT until her retirement).  Joe and Charl were also instrumental in putting in the cow duo – Woody and Glenda – as well as the silo on Highway 128 welcoming all to Glenwood City.  All of these endeavors assisted Joe in his passion to help others. 

 

During this time of continuing the family farm, Charl was able to focus on raising their six children while still working on the farm until about 1990.  She would pitch silage for the young stock, fill animal bedding, assist with milking cows 3 times per day and feed the calves.  She would also assist at the school as a parent helper.  One day, Mr. Wood called her asking if she’d like a job at the school which worked out well because it started out half days.  Charl worked at the school for 18 years, mostly in the early childhood area, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classrooms.  Charl also served as an EMT for a total of 24 years, volunteering for two more years before retiring in 2020.  These careers fulfilled Charl’s nursing calling and passion by helping others as an EMT. 

 

In 2009, Joe and Charl were blessed with an opportunity to attend their first mission trip with Cedarbrook Church in Menomonie with the organization, Living Water, that assists with the water crisis in underdeveloped countries.  This had a profound impact on the Draxler’s that caused them to lead 27 mission trips following to Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.  Joe and Charl returned from their last mission trip in March 2020, one week before the COVID19 pandemic shutdown.  These mission trips have allowed for over 115 well projects and water pump fixes to be completed, as well as teaching children and adults about proper hygiene.  Joe and Charl describe these trips as “the most rewarding things we’ve ever done” and have even had the opportunity to have four of their children and spouses as well as grandchildren also accompany them on these trips.  Through these mission trips, Joe continued to foster his passion for giving, but found that the process of giving with some organizations can be difficult.  As a result, Joe was able to create a non-profit organization, Woods Valley Works, Inc., which helps with education (sponsoring students), orphanages in India and Haiti, food and clothing supplies, home and church construction and a host of other needs in foreign countries.  This impact has been HUGE – where children are no longer dying from a lack of food, water or shelter, where students are able to go to school to be educated and parents are able to have resources to make a living in their countries.  More information along with donations to Woods Valley Works, Inc. can be found at: https://www.woodsvalleyworks.org.

 

Today, in “retirement,” Joe and Charl still find many ways to stay busy and active in their communities, local and afar.  Charl says, “Joe isn’t planning to ‘retire,’ he goes to the farm daily.”  Farming is his hobby and he loves it.  With Mike and Chuck as part owners of the farm, Joe's time is more flexible.  Mike is the herdsman and manages the cattle, the barns and employees.  Chuck manages the crops, and the machinery maintenance and repairs.  Joe still does the bookkeeping for the farm, works in the fields, helps in the shop, fills in wherever needed, but also enjoys traveling, fishing, hunting and camping when not on the farm.  He has also been a part of the recent project to raise funds for the restoration of the new Glenwood City championship signs with the school district.  Charl has joined the Glen Hills Lions Club to be another person in our community to assist others.  Most recently, Charl traveled to Guatemala to help build a house for Casas por Cristo (Houses for Christ) with some local friends and family.  She also mows the lawn both at home and on the farm, tends the chickens and has a small garden.  Other activities she enjoys include: reading, any kind of handwork, quilting, turkey and deer hunting, as well as enjoying time at the lake house on Lake Magnor with their 38 immediate family members. 

 

When asked their thoughts on being selected as Grand Marshals for Rustic Lore Days, Joe and Charl said how huge of an honor it is to be selected, as they have always done their best to be involved in our community – especially Rustic Lore Days – in some capacity as long as they can remember.  “I love where I live and love what I do; we are content with what we do,” said Joe and it could not be said better than that as we think about these two as Grand Marshals, as well as our community of Glenwood City.  The Glenwood City Rustic Lore Days Committee is excited to have these two individuals fill this important role this year.  Please join Joe and Charl Draxler as they pick up their axes and put on their buffalo plaid to celebrate Glenwood City’s “Lumberjacks and Lumberjills, Come to the Hills” for Rustic Lore Days on September 11-13, 2026.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​