We can assume there are bigger things ahead for Connecticut in the coming presidential campaign than Sarah Palin stopping for gas at a Sunoco station in Berlin on the way to somewhere else.The great self-promoter was ostensibly touring historic places in a bus with her name on the side in marquee-size letters but not running for president. Her Northeast itinerary took her from the Gettysburg battlefield to the New Hampshire battlefield, with the Sunoco station her only stop in Connecticut. But these days, Connecticut must take its presidential candidates, real or imagined, where it can find them. 2012 will not be a banner year for presidential politics in Connecticut. With Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman passing from the scene, no Connecticut politician will be the subject of presidential or vice presidential speculation, for which the state and nation may give thanks, given their successes. Palin’s pit stop will be followed by more conventional appearances by real Republican presidential candidates, but probably not many. Connecticut won’t have its primaries until the end of April and things could be settled for Republicans by that late date. As for the Democrats, President Obama isn’t expected to be challenged, which means his appearance at the Coast Guard Academy in May could be his last in Connecticut for a while.And what about the general election campaign? In 2008, 99 percent of the presidential campaign visits by candidates Obama and McCain were to just 17 states and Connecticut was not one of them. However, both candidates were kind enough to accept contributions from Connecticut residents, with Obama raising $9.7 million in the state and McCain, $3.9 million. Obama obligingly spent $700,000 of it here while McCain spent nothing, a wise decision, as it turned out. The sad truth is Republicans pretty much concede the state to Democrats in presidential elections and Democrats pretty much take the state’s electorate for granted. And so, except for occasional drop-ins for those fundraisers — closed events — in Greenwich and environs, neither party’s candidates see a compelling need to visit us.The national Democratic and Republican Parties have been valiantly trying to restrict primaries to the year in which the president is to be elected but some states can’t resist trying to push New Hampshire out of its first-in-the-nation position. New Hampshire achieved this lofty status years ago by simply passing a law mandating that New Hampshire goes first. In past elections, the primary season began with New Hampshire in March, but in 2008, Florida and other states forced New Hampshire to move its primary to January. That year, 24 states, including Connecticut, held their primaries on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, and Republican McCain had the nomination clinched by March. Hillary Clinton managed to stay alive until June, making nearly all the Democratic primaries somewhat important but this sort of thing is extremely rare. The national Democratic and Republican Parties were actually embarrassed by these too early primaries, which give the greatest advantage to the wealthiest candidates and it looks as if this year will be better. Only the Iowa Caucus and primaries in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada will be held in February, with the rest spread out over the next four months. Connecticut had originally intended to move its February primary to next March 6 but that’s the date of the Mastery Tests in the public schools. Since voters wandering the halls wouldn’t be conducive to quality test taking, the date was changed to April 24, the same day as neighboring New York, Rhode Island and sort of neighboring Pennsylvania. Is there a better way to nominate a president? How about the regional primary plan recommended a while back by a commission headed by Jimmy Carter and James Baker and endorsed by the nation’s secretaries of state?The states would be divided into four regions, logically situated in the East, South, Midwest and West with a lottery determining the order they’d hold primaries in the first presidential year. After that, the first would move to fourth and the others would move up each election cycle. The regional primaries would be held in March, April, May and June. It makes too much sense to ever happen. Simsbury resident Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. Email him at dahles@hotmail.com.
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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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