KENT — At the Jan. 8 meeting of the Board of Selectmen (BOS), Barbara Herbst was reappointed town treasurer for a four-year term that will end Feb. 1, 2017.First Selectman Bruce Adams gave the December 2012 police report which showed the following activity by the State Police at Troop L: a total of 206 calls for service; four accidents with reports; four seatbelt violations issued; eight seatbelt warnings; and 11 citations for primary charges.The board authorized Adams to accept grants from the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. The total statewide grant is about $1.5 million with Kent’s portion at about $3,000.Recently retired Kent Volunteer Fire Department Chief Matt Starr and newly appointed Chief Alan Gawel were publicly thanked by the selectmen for their service and dedication to the department.There was also discussion of the five-year Capital Plan. Some cuts may have to be made to the plan, Adams said, to keep the town’s budget down. Adams recommended moving the purchase of equipment for the fire department to a later date; Starr and Gawel said they oppose that idea and would like to bring their department’s original capital request to the next town meeting. Adams said he is willing to bring anything to the town meeting.With the move of the Kent Historical Society (KHS) from Swift House to a new home, the Kent Chamber of Commerce is interested in leasing part of Swift House to use as its offices. In discussions, the selectmen said they were in favor of leasing part of Swift House to the chamber. The Historical Society was paying a yearly rent of $480. A spokesperson for the chamber said that organization would like to pay the same rent. Adams said he felt a monthly rent of $100 would be more appropriate. Because Selectman Susi Williams did not attend this meeting, the BOS decided to fix the rent at a future special meeting.The BOS voted to add to the proposed 2013-14 Selectmen’s Operating Budget funds to insall three additional lights to the far end of the Town Hall parking lot.
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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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