SALISBURY — The Board of Selectmen approved three contracts for work at Town Hall at its regular monthly meeting Monday, Aug. 1.Lakeville Construction will handle replacing the Palladian-style window on the staircase for $2,850 and the work on the building’s cupola, including replacing the windows, replacing flashing and trim work, for $14,400. The scaffolding for that job is handled by an outside firm, for $12,800. The contracts are all part of the state Local Capital Improvement program (LOCIP) funds approved at a town meeting last week.McAuliffe Masonry will repair the Town Hall steps for $4,100. The town is also going to fix the wobbly railings.The selectmen agreed to a request from Anne Kremer of the Salisbury Housing Committee to write a letter supporting the committee as it seeks predevelopment funding for an additional six units of housing at Sarum Village.First Selectman Curtis Rand reported that advertisements seeking credentials from engineering firms have been placed in newspapers with statewide circulation as an early step in the process of restoring and repairing the Amesville Bridge. Firms are to submit their qualifications by the end of August, and then bid on producing a preliminary design.Rand said he told representatives of two firms that called to express interest that the public consensus was to keep the bridge one way and to retain its historic character.Ethics plan resurfacesRand reported that after meeting with the first selectmen of the towns of Warren and Washington, there are now three towns interested in forming a regional ethics commission — an idea that has been floating around the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governments (COG) for several years.Rand said the idea is to have a regional ethics commission with a representative from each town to hear ethics complaints.There are a lot of things to be ironed out before such a commission ever takes shape, however. Rand said he is uncomfortable asking municipal employees and elected and appointed officials to abide by a draft ethics code that does not spell out sanctions, and reiterated the arguments that come up whenever towns take a look at such codes.Such as: If the rules are too onerous, would anybody volunteer for anything? Rand gave a hypothetical example of an architect or an engineer serving on a building committee, and then being prevented from working on a behalf of a client by a provision of an ethics code that prevented a public official from appearing on behalf of a private concern.“We think there’s a difference between elected and public officials,” Rand said. The three selectmen have all recused themselves from recent votes: Jim Dresser from the sidewalk replacement project, because part of it runs in front of his house; Bob Riva from the new firehouse, because he is in real estate; and Rand from the vote on new signs on Academy Street, because he owns property there.“We can live with it, but now we’re talking about everybody,” said Rand.All the selectmen agreed that any ethics code or participation in a regional ethics committee must be done by ordinance, which means with the approval of a town meeting.And Riva and Dresser both said they would like to see more than three towns participating.The selectmen agreed to support the concept of a regional ethics committee through the COG.Transfer station concernsDuring public comments, Bill Kelsey from Sharon said he was concerned that people without valid stickers were getting into the Salisbury-Sharon Transfer Station. Rand said he would check with transfer station management.And Mark Gomez of Lakeville asked how sticker sales were this year. Rand replied, “Better than last year at this time.” Stickers are sold beginning in July of each year.
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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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