SALISBURY — To the delight of the approximately 1,200 spectators who attended the Salisbury Winter Sports Association’s (SWSA) 87th annual Jumpfest on Feb. 10, the day’s events began with the Human Dog Sled Race. It was, as always, a big hit.The crowd cheered and rang the traditional Alpine cow bells as their favorite teams left the starting line for the 0.3 mile race — and again when they returned to cross the finish line. There was as much excitement in the air as when, later in the day, the ski jumps took place.Each team went from the starting line about 0.15 miles, turned around and raced back to the finish line, which was also the starting line.Some participants were in costume. Some wore team jerseys. One team, the Vikings, took their dog-sled design to new heights. Built from the front half of an old canoe, the Vikings’ sled had two custom-built automobile-style cupholders to benefit the rider. Each cupholder was large enough to hold a plastic beer cup.Race rules specified that the person riding in the sled had to weigh at least 200 pounds. If not, weights had to be added to the sled.Sled creativity went in all directions. The WOK Huskies team utilized an ultralight-weight sled that looked like a handful of jumbo-sized coat hangers lashed together. The Falls Village Volunteer Ambulance Squad created a sled that looked like a miniature ambulance. What it gave the crowd in attention-getting design, it lacked in aerodynamics.There were four prize categories. In the regular race which was time-based, there was a women’s division and a men’s division. There were also a people’s choice award for each division based on a voice vote from the spectators.Before the races began, the various teams were inspecting their sleds and rigs looking to make any improvements to aid their chances of winning. For some team members the race preparation was helped by beer.During the races there were several mishaps when people pulling the sleds fell down.The Salisbury Stingers women’s hockey team won the women’s division in the regular race in 39.5 seconds. Team Members were Sarah Coon, Suzanne Fowle, Laurie Grusauski, Buzz McGraw, Belinda Morrow and Jacquie Rice.In the men’s division, first place went to the Sunday in the Country Food Drive team at 36 seconds. Team members were Kevin Elliot, Chris Gillette, Ed Hurn, Bob Reynolds, Chris Whitehead and Jim Wilber.In the People’s Choice awards, the women’s division winner were the Honey Badgers, whose team included Andrea Downs, Andrea Jasmine, Gina Jasmine, LaBecca Machia, Michele McGuire and Beckie Seney.The People’s Choice men’s division award went to the Vikings. Team members were Ben Bain, Peter Brazee, Judd Carroll, Arlen Morey, Jesse Morey and John Sugrue.All in all, the Human Dog Sled Races were an exciting and crowd pleasing start for the day’s events.
Latest News
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided
Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
