PINE PLAINS — At the end of the town’s organizational meeting on Thursday, Jan. 3, when appointments were made for the coming year, former town Councilman Bob Couse objected to one of the first appointments town Supervisor Brian Coons read from that night’s list.“Herman Haire cannot be appointed as officer in charge,” Couse said of the post akin to other departments’ chief of police. “He is not an officer.”Couse cited the article of law for the Pine Plains Police Department that creates the positions of police officer, officer in charge, police commissioner and police administrator.Coons took issue with the explanation, and pushed to appoint Haire, who was an officer with the Pine Plains Police Department until 2010. His appointment would mean the end of current Officer in Charge Mike Lawson’s tenure, which has lasted nearly a decade.“Why, then, when you were on the board, was there an officer in charge?” Coons asked Couse. Couse said the difference was at that time the officer in charge was a member of the department. But he said there were still options.“The Town Board, by resolution, can appoint one to three police commissioners, who shall serve without compensation, and the Town Board can appoint you [as a board member], or it can appoint three commissioners, or it can appoint two commissioners with one [board member],” Couse said. There was some confusion on the matter, as the supervisor spoke to make a motion.“I vote we make Herman Haire police commissioner, and [Councilman] Jimmy [Jackson] and I can oversee his position at no compensation,” Coons retorted.Couse replied that Haire would also not be compensated.“Then we’ll hire him as a police officer,” Coons said. Couse again said it couldn’t be done, as specific training would be necessary before Haire could qualify.“Herman Haire will become a police administrator then,” Coons said. “There is no such position,” Couse said, contradicting his earlier statement.Councilwoman Sandra David interrupted in the hopes of calming down those involved in the debate.“Why don’t we check with [Attorney to the Town] Warren [Replansky],” she said. “I would like to see Herman there, too.”“I would like to know what’s going on and see a little less arrogance,” said former Councilwoman Dorean Gardner from the audience. “This is the first I’m hearing of this. This is a pretty big change for an officer in charge, and I’m wondering why. I know it’s a personnel matter so you’re not going to share it with me.”“I was trying to save a lot of embarrassment to people in this room,” Coons said.“OK, but as the public I would like to hear information rather than a lot of rumor and innuendo,” Gardner said. “That’s a good point,” Coons replied, inviting Gardner to stop by Town Hall during the weekend for more information.“It’s not like Mike has done a bad job, but there’s a lot of concern around the public and we would like to make a change,” Coons said, referring to letters of complaint from the community.“I have no problem with [what the board is pursuing],” Couse said. “It’s just the placement you’re trying to do is against the law.”At the end of the discussion the board refrained from voting on the officer in charge appointment.After the meeting Coons would not elaborate on the information he promised Gardner, but he did expand on the issue at hand.“The taxpayers want the police force to be gone. We believe in community policing but I don’t think it’s smart to disband the force,” he said. “I want to change it to make it smarter and more trained. Herman is better at getting more people to come in and talk about what they did. “I think it’s good to have an officer in charge who’s an administrator, not an officer,” Coons added. “People look at him differently.”If appointed, Haire would be part time, working a “few hours a week,” according to Coons. He would “not make more than the officers” and would focus on “scheduling, training and developing the force.”By Monday morning the confusion had cleared and Coons confirmed Haire could and would be appointed as officer in charge. The supervisor said he contacted the Dutchess County Personnel Department and confirmed Haire could rejoin the force since he’s only been retired for two years.“Bob Couse was wrong,” Coons said. “There’s a four-year threshold during which an officer can come back and resume his duties. Herman has not even been off the job for two years. And we can call him anything we want to; his role will be officer in charge.”As far as Lawson, Coons said he hopes he’ll remain with the Pine Plains Police Department. Lawson, though, is not making any commitments.“I disagree with the board’s decision. Overall [working in town] has been a good experience; it’s had its ups and downs,” he said, adding that the current situation was causing him to think about looking elsewhere for work. “I’m considering it. I have a good resume, I’ve been an officer since ‘92 and have over 20 years of experience. I have a good rapport with some neighboring departments so I’ll leave it at that.”
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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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