Angel Food Ministries — an organization that provides low-cost food to people in need — has folded, due to its own economic woes.The Georgia-based cooperative had, in 16 years, spread rapidly across 43 states. Churches rallied teams of volunteers to coordinate monthly distribution of fresh produce, frozen meat and nonperishable foods. Food purchased by the truckload ensured bargain prices. Customers pre-ordered from a choice of boxes with several combinations of food choices.The August delivery was the last.The program was started in 1994 by Pastors Joe and Linda Wingo. It made inroads into this area in October 2008 when Greenwoods Community Church in Sheffield, Mass., agreed to serve as a “host site.” Other area churches, including Sharon Congregational, signed up, collecting monthly orders or becoming host sites.What made it really unique was it was not a need-based program. Anyone could participate. There did not seem to be a food bank stigma attached to the program.With 92 percent of revenues going directly back into the food program, there was little budgetary leeway as fuel, food and operational costs rose steadily. “Over the past several months we’ve cut overhead to the bone, reduced staff, streamlined operations and slashed management compensation,” Wingo wrote in a message to churches. “Our food vendors and trucking contractors have stood by us throughout these trying times and we have sought their counsel on how we will move forward. We thank them for their commitment to helping us help those in need.”Charles “Chuck” Lewis, a Falls Village selectman, directed the Greenwoods operation. He and church members have given a lot of thought to the situation. He cannot say for sure why the program, on a major upswing a couple of years ago, took such a dive.The program also suffered greatly from waning interest. “At our peak, we were at about 130 boxes per month,” Lewis said. “That represents 60 to 80 families. Most recently, we were down to 10. You would think that people would really need it now. “It seems people didn’t like not getting to choose everything they were buying. They found if they shopped very carefully, and were willing to go to Torrington, they could save just as much.”Is the model flawed?Lewis said there are a few similar programs out there, which are also foundering. Lewis’ best guest is the lack of choice is something Americans cannot latch onto.There are a handful who will really miss Angel Food — those who are homebound or could not afford the gas to travel to seek food bargains, Lewis said. The church has not figured out a way to fill the void.“This was a God-led thing that fell into our laps. We are preparing to see what he has in store for us next.”Angel Food Ministries is attempting to restructure and offer a revamped food program. Updates will be posted at www.angelfoodministries.com.
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.
