PINE PLAINS — “Do you want to talk about Jesus?”That was how a Pine Plains couple was approached by the man who allegedly just burgled their rural home. The pair, who requested to remain unnamed, said they knew something was amiss when they approached their driveway on Tuesday, Nov. 15. They could view their driveway from afar, and saw a white sedan parked there. “We were already concerned about who was on the property,” said the wife, adding the car had a North Carolina license plate. She described the man as being between 20 and 30 years old, with light brown hair and eyes, about 6 feet tall, with a medium build.“A nice looking guy,” she said. “He didn’t look in desperate straits or like he needed money. He was reasonably well spoken.“We assumed that maybe he was just a Jehovah’s Witness or something, although they usually do not come alone,” she said. “Then, when we got into the house, we noticed that the door was unlocked, when we had left it locked. Then I noticed a couple of things were out of place.”Items taken included a gold bracelet, a jade pendant on a gold chain and a telephoto lens to a camera. The pair said the thief was just in the midst of dismantling their telescope when their arrival interrupted him. While the suspect was walking away from the barn next to the house when the couple arrived, he had apparently just been inside of it. That was where the telescope was located. After a brief walk-through, the homeowners could also see that the lock on the barn’s sliding glass doors had been forced open.When they searched the main residence, there was also evidence the burglar had been inside there. Not only had a window been tampered with, but items had been moved about and were out of place.“I noticed doors that we left open were closed,” she said. “And he went through virtually every drawer in the house, although he didn’t leave things in a huge mess.”The couple agreed they were lucky the suspect left when they arrived.“It could have been much more dangerous,” said the wife. “If he confronted us, it might have been much worse.”That’s why law enforcement warns residents not to approach anyone they may find on their property, and to immediately call 911.“Don’t confront anyone — you don’t know what their state of mind might be or what weapons they might have,” said Pine Plains Officer in Charge Mike Lawson. Other rules to follow if someone suspects their home has been burgled: don’t touch anything at the scene, don’t enter the residence, retreat to a safe area and call 911 immediately.“The less you touch before a police agency gets there, the better,” Lawson said. In addition to the Nov. 15 burglary, there have been reports of other similar crimes. The object of those home invasions has primarily been cash. According to the Pine Plains couple, they don’t make a habit of keeping cash in the house. Still, they say, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the burglary, said there’s a strong likelihood the rash of crimes in the region are connected.“Always secure your place and don’t give anyone an open invitation,” Lawson said, adding that many Harlem Valley residents like to believe their neighborhoods are safe, and that they can leave their homes and cars unlocked. That was not the case in this situation, and still the rural homestead was broken into. “Of course if someone wants to get in they’ll get in. They don’t care about damage. There’s always an alternative motive with burglary, whether it’s drug addiction or financial motivation.”If anyone has information about this crime, or any others in the region, call the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office at 845-486-3800.
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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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