It’s a good week to be named Chris in Connecticut, as state Democratic party officials have stamped out endorsements for U.S. Senate and for the 5th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.Democrats chose current 5th District Congressman Chris Murphy to replace outgoing Sen. Joseph Lieberman and endorsed state House Speaker Chris Donovan (D-84) to replace Murphy as Connecticut’s 5th District representative.But despite overwhelming support, both candidates face Democratic rivals with strong enough support to force primaries on Aug. 14. Murphy must face off against second-place vote-winner and former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, while Donovan will go up against Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire and Dan Roberti of Kent.Both candidates have held commanding leads in opinion polls among Democrats in the weeks and months leading up to the endorsements. At their convention Saturday, May 12, at Central Connecticut State University, Democrats announced Murphy had won 1,378 out of 1,842 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination for Senate. Murphy responded with enthusiasm. “It’s been a long time since a statewide convention delivered this kind of resounding margin, and it came today from every corner of the state, from every congressional district, from cities, from suburbs, from small towns,” he said in a statement after the convention.Murphy had received endorsements from Gov. Dannel Malloy, the National Organization for Women, numerous state legislators and an assortment of unions and civic organizations prior to the convention and was widely considered the favorite to win the nomination. Bysiewicz came in a distant second with 444 delegates, or 24 percent.The winner of the Aug. 14 primary will face the Republican nominee, which was expected to be announced this Friday, May 18, during the GOP’s state convention at the Hartford Convention Center. Linda McMahon and Chris Shays lead the field, followed by Brian K. Hill, Peter Lumaj and Kie Westby.The state’s 5th District Democratic convention was held Monday, May 14, at Rotella Interdistrict Magnet School in Waterbury, with Donovan taking 216 of the 337 available delegates to secure the party’s nomination. Rivals Elizabeth Esty and Dan Roberti won 66 and 54 votes, respectively, qualifying them to appear on the Aug. 14 primary ballot.Donovan, who enjoyed widespread endorsements, was nominated by Anna Maloney of Danbury, who said the House speaker “stood up for us in Hartford and he will stand up for us in Washington, D.C.” The Meriden native received six nominating speeches from communities throughout the 5th District and said his campaign focused on issues that “cut across party lines” by focusing on jobs and the economy.Donovan will face one of five candidates for the Republican nomination, including front-runners Andrew Roraback and Lisa Wilson-Foley, along with Justin Bernier, Michael Clark and Mark Greenberg. The nominee from that field will be determined at the May 18 Republican convention in Hartford.
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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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