Town of Addison, Wi – In an era of grocery store chains and overnight shipping, there’s something refreshingly timeless about hearing the familiar hum of a delivery truck pulling into the driveway and hearing the clink of glass bottles filled with fresh milk. For many in Cedar Grove and the surrounding towns, that sound means one thing — Dave Touw has arrived.
Touw is the milkman for Farm Staples, a family-run creamery out of Cedar Grove managed by brothers Jory and Brody Stapel. Their creamery bottles its own A2 milk — rich, creamy, and fresh — in old-fashioned one-gallon glass jugs.
The bottles have become a hit at local stops like Schmidt Century Farm on St. Anthony Road in the Town of Addison, where folks line up early for gallons of white and chocolate milk.
And if Dave’s running a little late, people will just wait. Often times there’s a line. That’s how much people love him — and the milk.
There’s good reason for that. For Touw, the milk route isn’t just a job — it’s part of who he is.
“The story is my dad was a milkman pretty much his whole life,” Touw recalled. “I helped him deliver in New Jersey — Pumpkin Plains, a little tiny town. Everybody knew my dad as Abe the Milkman.”
Touw smiles when he talks about those early mornings. “We’d start at one in the morning, load the truck, and be done by eight so everybody had their milk when they woke up. We’d put the bottles right in the milk boxes or the little chutes that went into people’s houses. If it was hot, we’d put ice on top of the milk bottles.”
There were handwritten notes, too — sometimes tucked under the lid of the milk box. “‘Abe, can you bring two extra gallons?’ or ‘We don’t need milk this week.’ We delivered eggs, orange juice, cottage cheese — the works.”
Half a century later, Touw is back behind the wheel of a milk truck. “Brody called and said, ‘Hey, we’re opening our creamery. Can you deliver?’” Touw said. ‘You bet. I’d love to help.’”
Now, instead of New Jersey, his route winds through Cedar Grove, Oostburg, Belgium, and nearby towns. The bottles are still glass, just like the old days. Customers still rinse and return them. And people still look forward to seeing their milkman.
“The demand has been unbelievable,” Touw said. “We never expected this much. People just love the freshness — and I think they love the connection to something real.”
At Farm Staples Creamery, the milk is processed right on the farm, giving it that just-bottled taste that reminds folks of a simpler time. For Touw, it’s a bit of déjà vu — history repeating itself in the sweetest way.
“I started delivering milk with my dad 50 years ago,” he said, “and here I am doing it again. Same glass bottles. Same smiles when people see the milkman pull up.”
And in small-town Wisconsin, that’s a tradition worth keeping alive.
