NORTH EAST — The village of Millerton and the town of North East have both ended up with the short end of the stick regarding the 2013 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) awards.Rather than receiving a piece of the block grant pie, as was promised by Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro, the two municipalities’ applications were denied. Both sought funds to repair sidewalks and install lighting along town and village roads, focusing on Main Street.“We’re very disappointed,” said Millerton Mayor John Scutieri. “Though I’m not sure that’s harsh enough. I was disappointed and angry.“When the new county executive received his position he publicly made comments that this year everybody will get something, and that means what it means as far as I’m concerned,” the mayor added. “It means that everybody will get something, if not full funding than maybe half. [The money] should have been divided up between all the municipalities that applied for it.”According to Molinaro, “the county received $2.1 million in requests for $880,000 in available funds, which meant we were unable to fund many worthwhile projects.”Like Scutieri, North East town Supervisor John Merwin said he was not pleased with Molinaro’s decision.“We’re very concerned that we’re not getting something,” he said. “If he told us we might not get something from the beginning that would be different, but the county executive assured me it would be different.”According to North East Councilman Steve Merwin, it’s been nearly five years since the town has received any block grant funding. It’s been three years since the village has been awarded a block grant.“A small town like this, we depend on that funding,” he said. “Especially if we want to stay under that 2 percent tax cap. The block grant is a key way to help us get that done.”That’s why both the town and village had decided to once again sign up with the Urban County Consortium, which is a must in order to be eligible for CDBG funding. That’s because without joining the consortium most municipalities in Dutchess County do not have enough taxpayers per capita (100,000 are required) to qualify for the block grant program, run by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Therefore, municipalities interested in pursuing block grants within Dutchess County create a shared tax base from which the county applies to HUD for funding. Once awarded, the county then distributes the funds to the winning municipalities based on a priority list it creates year after year.Municipalities must join the consortium in three-year cycles. Both Millerton and North East re-enlisted with the alliance this year, for a period running from 2013 to 2015. The caveat is that as a member municipalities are barred from applying for other state or federal grants, which worsens the impact of being turned down for a block grant in any given year. Now the two municipalities are asking their attorneys if they could leave the consortium without facing harsh penalties.“This was particularly disturbing because we signed an agreement with the county for the next three years, and now that we’re in that we can’t seek funding from other sources,” said North East Councilman George Kaye, adding he believes politics played a part in the decision. “The whole idea was that we were to get something. And now once again after so many years of being the poor boy out here in the boondocks, we were to get something, but we didn’t.”Scutieri said he believes part of why the town and village were overlooked is because of their location, far from the county seat.“We always felt that being in the northeast corner of Dutchess County we were always last to be thought of, and that any funding goes to Poughkeepsie, Wappingers, Arlington and Pleasant Valley, and that [we’re ignored] simply because we’re on the outside of Dutchess County,” he said. “I never wanted to believe that, and thought we were getting our share, but this is a slap in the face. I think this was a horrible decision to totally eliminate our area.”The town and village plan to send a joint letter to Molinaro, asking why they were not awarded any funds and voicing their discontent with the county’s decision.“I hope it’s not sour grapes on our part, but we just want an explanation,” said Supervisor Merwin.
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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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