SALISBURY — The Board of Selectmen began the new year on a solemn note, with a moment of silence for the victims of the Newtown school shooting, at the start of the regular meeting Thursday, Jan. 3.First Selectman Curtis Rand said that the summer youth program is high on his personal list for 2013, as is economic development.And he said he is looking forward to a good new year.Rand then gave a series of updates.Of the Amesville bridge, he said that engineers had that day completed test boring on either side of the span across the Housatonic River between Falls Village and the Amesville section of Salisbury. “The Falls Village side is on bedrock; the Salisbury side is not.”He said the engineers found the Salisbury side of the bridge is on built-up stone and is subject to scouring from the river current.Rand said he expected to be fully engaged in discussions with state and federal officials within the next two months.He announced that the Transfer Station Building Committee, comprised of Salisbury and Sharon residents, has recommended Anchor Engineering to design the new transfer station. And he said that work on Academy Street has been suspended for the winter, and noted that the street lights on the Main Street (Route 44) pedestrian crosswalk have been installed. “They’re timed to go off at 9 or 10 at night,” he said. Of the intersection of routes 41 and 44 in Lakeville, Rand said that the state Department of Transportation (DOT), after eight years of discussion, appears to be ready to move. He said he asked a DOT official, “Do you think this will happen?” and the reply was, “Yes, it will.”Rand said he anticipates calling a public meeting on a redesigned intersection in March or April.He said the project was originally expected to cost $700,000 and is now expected to cost more than $1 million.“We’ll just have to wait and see what they’re proposing.”Looking ahead to the 2013-14 budget vote, Rand said, “I am well aware of the continued economic issues. We know people are hurting.“Our job is to create a budget that is affordable and meets our needs. No big surprises.”Rand said the 2008 bond anticipation note for $4.8 million — for the new firehouse and new transfer station site — has been paid down to $2.76 million, with a significant amount paid through donations.He said the town’s bond rating is “two steps below AAA, and I don’t think towns can get AAA.”Back to the budget, he said, “We won’t go hog wild. We’ll be conservative.”Selectman Mark Lauretano announced another Code of Ethics workshop on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 9 a.m at Town Hall.Rusty Chandler asked about the status of the old firehouse, which is for sale. Rand replied that there has been “a little bit of interest” recently from two individuals.“As soon as we get anything in writing it will be made public. I hope the buyer will help invigorate downtown Lakeville. I’m pretty optimistic.“Incidentally, if that sells, our debt goes down even more,” he added.
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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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