LITCHFIELD — The Gilbert School boys basketball squad battled Litchfield in the final game of an extraordinary season on Wednesday, Feb. 23. The Jackets scrapped with the Cowboys through all four quarters, but ultimately took a 61-51 road loss that left an unfortunate sour aftertaste to an otherwise strong season.Empowered by a lively hometown crowd, Litchfield offered a fiery opening to the night’s affair. The Cowboy offense was clean and efficient and quickly took a commanding lead in the opening minutes. The Jackets began to rally after a hard breakout jam by Gilbert senior Elide Romero. Robert Skinner fed off the energy dispersed by Romero’s big play and snagged possession from Litchfield. Skinner set up Austin Brochu beneath the net, who scored two and drew a foul for a third, igniting the Gilbert recovery. Regaining a fair portion of late-quarter momentum, the Jackets closed the gap with a help of a long buzzer-beating three-pointer from Skinner to put the game within two, 19-17.The second quarter offered more of the same, Gilbert just behind and desperate to tie. The Jackets were finally able to even things up off a three-pointer from senior Gee DeOlmo. Gilbert seemed to be falling into their rhythm, and Romero lashed out to take the first Yellowjacket lead of the night midway through the second. Late fouls hurt the Jackets, but another three-point buzzer beater, this time put up by Romero, put the Jackets ahead before the break, 33-31.Litchfield put in hard work at the foul line after the half, regaining a slight lead over a Gilbert team that still had some difficulty converting their chances. The Cowboys seized the lead before the final quarter, 46-40.Gilbert nipped at Litchfield’s heels throughout the fourth, trailing by just three at the halfway mark. The Jackets were dealt a late, wind-sapping blow when Skinner fouled out in the dying minutes of the fourth. Litchfield exploded with a late-game run and finished off the Jackets at home, 61-51.Skinner led the Jackets in points scored with 15, tallying a trio of three-pointers throughout the night. Romero tallied 14 with a pair of three-pointers, Austin Brochu finished the evening with seven, and Devon Molway added eight, including one from the outside.
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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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