AMENIA — On Thursday, Oct. 6, the Amenia Town Board held a special meeting to approve its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application, which is requesting $130,000 for reconstruction of a section of Tower Hill Road, a dirt road located in the southern part of Amenia.No paving on Tower Hill is included in the grant application, nor is any paving planned for that road for the foreseeable future, explained several Town Board members during the meeting.A flurry of emails was sent among town residents and to the Town Board members from Tuesday, Oct. 4, to Thursday, Oct. 6, expressing strong opposition to the rumors of paving on Tower Hill Road.The board took care to debunk those rumors during the meeting.Originally, the town had planned to apply for the CDBG to pave Cascade Mountain Road, but Highway Superintendent Stan Whitehead said that on Monday, Oct. 3, the group putting together the application was informed that Cascade Mountain Road was not eligible for the grant because it is not a low- or moderate-income area.Whitehead said that the Town Board then rushed the completion of the application for the Tower Hill project.The deadline for the CDBG applications to be sent to the country was Friday, Oct. 7.According to the application, an 800-foot section of road will be reconstructed. That section of road “experiences severe erosion during heavy rain storms,” stated the application.“The drainage swale along the north side of Tower Hill Road drains a very large area. Sections of the swale have steep grades, and as a result, the water velocity during large storm events is significant,” explained the application. “The swale in the project area has several rock outcrops that protrude into the swale that cause the heavy water flow to be redirected toward the road rather than flowing parallel to the road. The heavy flow then erodes the road bank and travelway.…During these heavy storm events, the road needs to be closed.”Whitehead said that the section of road has washed out at least eight times during the 18 years he has been working at the Highway Department.He continued to say that the washouts have become more regular in recent years. The road washed out twice in 2005 and once in 2007.Every time the road washes out, the Highway Department needs to obtain permits from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) before repairs can be made.“We just want to make the road safe and passable at all times,” said Whitehead, who explained that it is very difficult for emergency vehicles to travel on the road, especially after bad storms.According to the application, the grant money will be used to raise the road approximately 18 inches, widen the road (where possible) to an average of 18 feet, remove rock outcrops that prevent the stream from running parallel to the road and line the stream bank with heavy stone fill to prevent further erosion to the new road section.“I could never do this with my budget,” said Whitehead in an interview. “It’s really an easy job … but very expensive.”Since many of the concerns voiced from the public about the Tower Hill project revolved around maintaining the rural character and charm of the road, Whitehead also addressed those issues. “The road’s not going to look much different than what it does now once the brush grows back,” he said.Whitehead said that he anticipates hearing back about whether or not he will receive grant money by early 2012, but will not know the final amount received until late spring.He said he hopes to complete the entire reconstruction project by the end of 2012.In a section of the grant application that cites census information provided by the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development, it is stated that the total population of the project area is 2,015, and that 1,028 low- to moderate-income people will be benefited.While discussing the need for the project, the application stated that when the road is washed out, it costs the town over $7,500 to complete repairs needed to re-open the road. It also explained that since so few roads intersect Tower Hill Road, it is difficult to create detour routes around the washed out section of road.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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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.
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