NORTH CANAAN — Canaan Fire Company volunteers responded on mutual aid to a chimney fire in Norfolk a little after 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23. The Marolda home, on North Street/Route 272 was saved, according to a Norfolk firefighter who was in East Canaan later that day for a chimney fire there.A passerby saw a large amount of smoke at that fire — which was at a small home at 365 Norfolk Road/Route 44 — and called 911. Canaan Fire Company was dispatched at 1:44 p.m. Lakeville Hose Company and Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department were also dispatched to the scene. Tanker support was needed to maintain a water supply. Sheffield and New Marlborough volunteers and equipment were called in to standby at firehouses.A family member got to the two-story home ahead of residents Nate Cecchinato and Kim White and rescued their dog. A cat was reportedly still in the home but there was reason to believe it was hiding and would be OK. There was almost no smoke in the house.The fire was in the wall adjacent to a woodstove chimney attached to the side of the house. Fire Marshal Michael Fitting said a chimney thimble, a section of pipe that connects a woodstove to a chimney, was not properly sealed after a previous woodstove was removed. “The fire was actually in the wall next to the chimney,” he said. “It was lucky someone driving by noticed and called when they did.”Things didn’t look so bad once the fire was out and the chimney temperature dropped quickly. The cold and snow that started to fall about the same time the fire was discovered may have helped. But firefighters remained busy on the scene, probing and using saws to cut away sections of siding on either side of the chimney, revealing heavily charred sections of framing. They used a thermal imaging camera and scrutinized every inch, inside and out.Fire officials recommend chimneys used for fireplaces and woodstoves be cleaned annually to remove creosote buildup. But this fire demonstrated just how important proper installation and regular inspections can be.And by the way, the cat was found, safe and sound.
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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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