Peter Tauck is a lifelong Westporter. He has lived in the Old Mill Beach neighborhood for decades. He and his children are frequent customers of Old Mill Grocery & Deli. and its predecessors. (His kids’ photos were among the dozens that the owners of Elvira’s kept under glass at the front counter.)
Now retired, Peter is a former CEO and board member of Tauck, the family-owned worldwide travel business. He is still part owner of the company.
Arthur was a humble but committed steward of Westport history, culture and traditions. He never fought majority sentiment for personal victory or gain.
He always supported the little guy, the underdog. Old Mill Grocery would have been just the type of place he supported.
Old Mill Grocery: a community hub.
He would have enjoyed the picnic tables as he valued human connection and storytelling, as an enabler of a healthy community. As I reflect now, my motivation to support the store for over 20 years came from lessons I learned from my dad.
When Nick and Stacey first took over the store, they were all smiles — yet struggling. There was a rotted picnic table outside, supported by cinder blocks.
I arranged to have a new table and umbrella delivered in the night. No one ever knew where it came from, until now.
I remember thinking “that’s how dad would have done it.” It felt good. Reading how the picnic tables have become such an issue is difficult for me.
Picnic tables at Old Mill Grocery. (Photo/Dave Dellinger)
I have supported Soundview Empowerment Alliance, both in the purchase of the store and their ongoing legal battles with a group that has included a family member. While I respect the group’s right to their opinion and voice, I want to be clear that to my knowledge, no other family member actively supports the actions taken against the store. In addition, our business is in no way involved in any of these efforts.
I hope that the supporters of OMG continue in their resolve to keep it viable and vibrant. As a neighbor, and someone whose 4 children so enjoyed the store in their youth, I will continue to stand with the supporters.
Respectfully,
Peter Tauck
(“06880″‘s Opinion pages are open to all. Please send submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com.)
Arthur Tauck Jr. — a 2nd-generation family business owner whose locally based Tauck Tours revolutionized the travel industry, and who made a major mark on Westport by saving National Hall — died Wednesday at his winter home in Vero Beach, Florida, surrounded by family. He was 94.
In 1950, at 18 years old, he joined his father’s fledgling tour company, Tauck Tours, as a young tour director. He led guests through New England every summer, during his undergraduate studies at Lehigh University. He graduated in 1953, with a degree in marketing.
A devoted alumnus, in later years Arthur supported an endowed scholarship, a faculty chair in international marketing and logistics, and the Tauck Scholars Program, which has funded hundreds of rising seniors to complete international business internships.
Arthur Tauck
After graduation he entered the US Air Force as a lieutenant, and spent several years stationed in Germany.
Arthur returned to the family business in 1956. He became president 2 years later, at 27. Those formative experiences shaped a lifelong commitment to people, service and hospitality.
Arthur settled his growing family in Westport. and became active in the community. He learned to sail, and taught himself celestial navigation to pursue his passion for ocean racing. He twice served as commodore of Cedar Point Yacht Club.
Arthur was also an avid skier, golfer and scuba diver, and enjoyed biking the winding roads of Fairfield County in the early morning.
He also loved sharing summer evenings with family and friends in his gazebo, savoring a cold martini, and a smooth cigar.
Arthur Tauck with a cigar and martini, at his Westport home.
Arthur reveled in tackling new projects and interesting ideas. From 1987 to 1992 he created the National Hall Historic District in downtown Westport, preserving 19th century history at the corner of the Post Road and Wilton Road.
At the time, there was a very real possibility that the 1873 National Hall building would be demolished.
The Inn at National Hall.
Instead, he restored it into a Relais Chateaux hotel, with 13 rooms and an award-winning restaurant. The district also included the 1931 Vigilant fire station (now Oko Restaurant), and several brick buildings and walkways along the Saugatuck River.
The Tauck family also donated the old-style street lights that line the nearby Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.
The Tauck family donated the old-fashioned street lamps, on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge. (Photo/JC Martin)
Arthur forged long-lasting friendships with people from all over the world, and all walks of life. He was a master storyteller, with a great sense of humor. He believed deeply in “doing the right thing” with humility, integrity, generosity and care.
His impact on the travel industry is immeasurable. Over 75 years, Arthur’s entrepreneurial spirit led to many new ways for Tauck guests to experience the world.
In the 1960s, with the rise of jet planes, he saw an opportunity to introduce guests to the national parks of the western United States, Hawaii and Canada.
Inspired by his own passions for hiking and bicycling, he pioneered heli-hiking in the Canadian Rockies in the 1970s, and curated Tauck’s Yellow Roads of Europe in the 1990s, offering authentic experiences off the beaten path.
Arthur Tauck helped create, and popularize, both heli-hiking and heli-skiing in the Canadian Rockies.
His love of the sea and the historic waterways of Europe is reflected today in the company’s intimate and culturally rich ocean and river cruise experiences.
While these and many other innovations cemented his place as a travel industry visionary and pioneer, his personal motivation was always to the guest experience, with a strong commitment to service, value, and the human touch.
He believed deeply in the power of travel as a force for good in the world, whether by building understanding among people, preserving history and culture for future generations, or fulfilling individual dreams.
In 1994 Arthur founded the Tauck Family Foundation. The family endeavor encourages multiple generations to work together to give back, and make a positive impact on the world.
Today, the foundation supports communities to maintain healthy, regenerative ecosystems and land use practices through education and engagement.
Having lost his mother at age 5 and his father in his late twenties, Arthur valued family above all else.
He taught his young children to sail on Long Island Sound and to ski challenging terrains in Vermont. He supported his grandchildren, showing up at their games and school programs, and enjoying conversations with them.
He loved working alongside his adult children and son-in-law in the family business, and was confident that his grandchildren would uphold the company’s values and steward it successfully in its second century.
The 2nd and 3rd Tauck generations (from left): Peter, Chuck, Robin, Ronni and her husband Arthur, Liz. Most live (or have lived) in Westport. Missing: Kiki.
In addition to his wife Ronni, Arthur is survived by his sister Connie; his former wife Lee, and their children, Chuck (Fran), Robin, Peter Tauck, Kiki Mahar (Dan) and Liz Walters (Fred); step-children Bernhard Duerrmeier (Amber), Marina Rizzi (Damian), Christopher Duerrmeier (Laura), and Philip Duerrmeier; 21 grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Arthur’s family will celebrate his life in a private memorial service later this spring. Contributions in his memory may be made to Tourism Cares, a non-profit dedicated to advancing sustainability and meaningful travel within the tourism industry, or Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.
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A personal note: For nearly 2 decades, I wrote Tauck Tours’ internal newsletter, for its tour directors. It was a great gig — both for travel opportunities, and because I got to meet Arthur Tauck.
He was warm, generous, fully engaged, quite funny — and very, very active.
One memory stands out. At an annual meeting for tour directors, Arthur gave an informative, inspiring “state of the company” presentation. Then he answered a wide range of questions, with honesty and insight.
He closed with this: “If anyone wants to talk any more, I’ll be rollerblading tomorrow morning at 7. You’re welcome to join me.”
First, “06880” wondered what happened to the early 1900s fountain/horse trough located at the intersection of the Post Road and Wilton Road.
Turns out it turned up next to National Hall. Then it was established that it’s no longer there.
The fountain a few years ago, near National Hall. It’s gone now.
Crazily enough, no one knows when it vanished. Or why. Or where it is now. Even though it happened within the last decade.
What’s beyond dispute, though, is that the fountain was there in 1991, when Arthur Tauck gave Westport one of its greatest gifts ever.
National Hall had stood on the west bank of the Saugatuck River since 1873. It was built by Horace Staples — our high school’s namesake — and over the years served many purposes.
It housed Staples’ First National Bank of Westport. It was used as a newspaper office, a coffin-making business, and for many other purposes. Adjacent wharves provided easy shipping to New York, Boston and other ports.
The 3rd floor was used for everything from basketball games to concerts, said noted local historian Eve Potts. In 1884, the very 1st classes of the new Staples High School met there.
Ships lined up near National Hall (right), in this early photo.
According to the New York Times, the bank moved out in 1924. Other tenants followed. By the 1940s — with most commerce being conducted on the other side of the river — the building was sold to Fairfield Furniture.
But that store closed in the 1970s. For 3 decades the building — one of the most prominent in Westport — sat empty.
Fairfield Furniture — a hulking presence for many years.
It deteriorated. Water leaked in. Tons of bird droppings caused the roof to sag.
In 1989, the area was designated a Historic Design District. That enabled Tauck — president of the high-end tour company founded by his father, which at that time was headquartered nearby on Wilton Road — to redevelop the area, in a historically sensitive way.
Over a period of several years, Tauck renovated National Hall. He’d bought it at auction in 1986, for $1.5 million. At a cost of $6 million, he and Ferris Architects restored the building to its original brick and cast-iron facade grandeur.
Tauck created the boutique 15-room Inn at National Hall. Every room was different. Each floor included a living room, library and fireplace. A restaurant occupied the ground floor.
The Inn at National Hall, after Arthur Tauck’s restoration project.
The manager was Nick Carter. From 1979-85, the former British Navy officer was in charge of royal accommodations on the yacht Brittania.
Tauck also donated the gas lamps on the Post Road bridge to the town.
Reporting on the project in 1991, the Times described “a new landscaped plaza with a fountain as its centerpiece.”
For a variety of reasons, the Inn at National Hall did not succeed. Today, though with Vespa on the ground floor — and offices above — the place is bustling. And the building is a handsome sight for anyone entering town.
But back to the fountain. Sometime — during one of the many renovations of the property — it disappeared.
How could a handsome — and very heavy — fountain simply have vanished? And how come no one recalls when it happened, or where it went?
Bobby Werhane graduated from Cornell’s hospitality school. But he’s the first to admit he wasn’t really into the industry.
A finance major, he did “what every Cornell lacrosse player does,” he says. He went to Wall Street.
It was the summer of 2001. The economy was not great. He got a job with a “chop shop boiler room financial firm,” and an apartment in a brand-new high-rise on Chambers Street.
One morning a few weeks later, he heard a loud crash. He looked outside his window, and saw what he thought was a Cessna piercing the World Trade Center.
Bobby Werhane
He went out on his balcony overlooking the Hudson, and called his father. While on his cell, he saw a plane banking hard to the left. Seconds later, it slammed into the other Twin Tower.
Neighbors poured into his apartment. A man was on the phone, talking to his mother in one of the WTC buildings. As they spoke, the building collapsed.
“I was going to be like everyone else,” Bobby says. “That day, my path diverged.”
A Cornell lax alum hired Bobby to run his popular midtown cafe/bar, Local. At 22, Bobby was bitten by the hospitality bug.
He went on to own, operate and sell 8 different restaurants, bars and supper clubs in New York. One was Gin Lane, in the Meatpacking District. Another was Johnny Utah’s near Rockefeller Center. A 3rd — Scarpetta — earned 3 stars from the New York Times.
Bobby learned about the artisan craft of cooking, and locally sourced quality products. But owning rock-and-roll bars did not seem “genuine” to him.
His next restaurant, Dell’Anima, created a real family environment. Then came L’Artusi, which really took off.
But Bobby became a father. Life grew more complicated. He asked his partners to buy him out. He used the profits to open Spasso, a small, rustic Italian place in the West Village.
Six years ago, his wife got pregnant again. “The only people we knew with kids lived in Westport,” he says.
They moved to Saugatuck Shores. “It was a beach shack with no air conditioning,” he recalls. “But it was on the water. We thought it was a palace. We loved it.”
They moved again, to Compo Beach. Hurricane Irene deposited 4 feet of water in their home; Hurricane Sandy brought 8 feet. Their 3rd child was due 3 weeks later. The family moved to Coleytown, then Green’s Farms. All along, Bobby commuted to New York.
One of Bobby’s best customers was a principal in Greenfield Partners. The real estate investment firm is headquartered in National Hall. Bobby and he talked about the renaissance going on across the Saugatuck River from downtown. The arrival of Bartaco, the new development planned for Save the Children, the success of Arezzo and more sounded enticing.
National Hall — and the west bank of the Saugatuck River — are among the most iconic scenes in Westport. Even in snow they are alluring. (Photo/Lynn U. Miller)
“Growing up, I lived in the Midwest, Texas and Baltimore,” Bobby says. “I wanted roots.”
He found them in Westport. Now he’s digging them even deeper, on Saugatuck’s west bank.
Late last summer Bobby opened Neat. He loved the concept of the Darien spot — lovingly detailed coffee during the day, hand-crafted cocktails at night — and brought it to the former Vigilant firehouse on Wilton Road.
Neat uses the long space of the old Vigilant Firehouse well. There’s a popular bar, and plenty of room for tables. (Photo/Riscala Agnese Design Group)
“Restaurants are all about location. And this location is all about history,” he says. “I want this to be a communal place. There’s nothing more communal than a firehouse. And when it was a pizza place (Da Rosa’s Brick Oven), that was communal too.”
On Christmas Eve Bobby opened Vespa, just a few steps away. It’s on the ground floor of National Hall, occupying the space that once was Zanghi, and then a real estate office mortgage company.
Vespa’s location is even more important than Neat’s. National Hall dates back to the mid-1800s. For well over a century it served Westport as a bank, meeting hall, the very 1st site of Staples High School, and a furniture store.
In the early 1900s, National Hall (seen here from the muddy intersection of the Post Road and Wilton Road) was one of the most important spots in town.
It fell into disuse though, and sat abandoned for years. In the 1990s, Arthur Tauck rescued it from the wrecking ball. He turned it into an upscale hotel (and donated the old-fashioned lamps lining the Post Road bridge).
Bobby opened up and brightened the ground floor. He envisioned a sophisticated menu — but also a place where anyone could hang out at the bar, enjoying a bowl of homemade pasta.
He’s succeeded. Vespa is lively. It’s fun. The food is superb. And there are special touches, like a traditional “Italian Sunday supper.” (From 4-8 p.m., the food — antipasti, salads, chicken, fish, whatever the chef comes up with — just keeps coming.)
Vespa is warm and inviting. This view is toward the Post Road, where it meets Riverside Avenue. (Photo/Riscala Agnese Design Group)
There have been speed bumps. The horrendous winter kept many Westporters from venturing out. Some folks don’t realize there is plenty of parking, across the street and in the Save the Children lot.
But Bobby keeps smiling. As soon as the weather clears, he’ll put tables outside. The very cool Vespa vibe will move outdoors, making the west side of the river even more exciting since — well, the mid-1800s.
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