A walk through history with “Mr. Empire”

By Helen Westie
Sun contributor
Some residents of Empire refer to Dave Taghon as “Mr. Empire”. He certainly deserves such an appellation because he has done more for the town than any other single person. Affable and always upbeat, Dave knows everyone in town and also knows every facet of Empire history. Born in the downtown in 1943, he is a third generation American of Belgian descent. Dave’s service to the village includes: Membership on the Village Council from 1967 to 1994, Village President from 1989 to 1994 and active museum member since 1974. He is now the president of the museum, and his wife Diane is secretary treasurer. Dave has also been an active member of the Empire Lions Club for over 30 years. He was honored as Citizen of the Year by the Leelanau County Chamber of Commerce in 1998. He received the Edgar Guest Award from the Empire Masonic Order.

Asked about working with him, Dave’s friend Diane Oberschulte stated: “Throughout the 11 years that I worked with Dave on the Empire Village Council, he maintained a constant vigil of respect for each and every member of our community, for our form of participatory government, and for the community as an entity. He provided leadership, support and follow-up. In the future, I would support him in any endeavor he wishes to pursue.”
Dave met his wife, the former Diane Novak of Cedar, in 1962 and they went on just two dates before he joined the service. Dave did his stint at McDill Air Force Base in Florida. In 1964 Dave and Diane were married. They have four children: Roy, Kathy, Lou Ann and Fred, and one grandchild.
Now retired, Dave and Diane devote much time to St. Philip Neri Church and to the Empire Area Museum. Dave enjoys fishing, kayaking and golf. Recently, he caught a huge salmon but left his net at home. His fishing cronies, Tom Rose and John Peterson, are not letting him forget this gaff.
Dave’s grandparents, Charles and Louise Taghon, immigrated to this area from Belgium in 1905. Charles found employment at the Empire Lumber Mill. When a fire destroyed the mill, they were able to farm on property they had leased on the corner of M-72 and M-22. Grandma Taghon had a store and boarding house. They built a gas station on the northwest corner now occupied by the Lakeshore Inn Motel. Their son Fred, Dave’s father, helped run the station and when the elder Taghons retired in 1945, Fred took over. Later, he bought a second gas station on the opposite corner of M-72 and M-22. This station was destroyed by fire but Fred had it rebuilt and improved with a three-bay unit. All of Fred’s and Reva’s children, Mike, Sharon, Dave, Pat, Rockie, Jeanine and Charles helped with the business. To this day, it has been known as Mike’s Garage.
In 1966, Fred Taghon and his son Dave formed a partnership until 1980 when Fred retired. A new modern gas station and store had been built on the northeast corner of M-72 and M-22. Known as Taghon’s Corners, this was a unique enterprise. It became a convenience store with various products: groceries, T-shirts, souvenirs, candy and drinks. But Taghon’s Corners had an outstanding attraction: a replica of an historic gas station was inside the store with five restored antique gas pumps in an old-time Standard gas station. This reconstructed station was moved to the Empire Area Museum in 2002 when Diane and Dave retired and sold the business.
The walls of the Taghon living room are lined with antiques. Fully functional, hand-operated musical furniture items, which give forth a distinctive sound of their own and are indeed musically charming. Some are cylindrical recordings; others are on metal discs. At one time the Taghons owned 50 of these, but they are now down to 25. As with many unique items, they may end up in the museum, which has an interesting history of its own. In 1972 a group headed by Julia Dickinson and Jo Bolton founded the museum. An auction of the Roen estate was held and the museum group was able accumulate many items for the museum. A Michigan Equity grant of $100,000 enabled the group to gain a full saloon and many antique carriages.