KENT — This is a story of love and business. In 1973, Audrey and Dolph Traymon lived in Locust Valley N.Y. Audrey was a saleswoman for a greeting card company. Dolph was a musician and partner in a Long Island restaurant.One day, Audrey had to make sales calls on some stores in Connecticut. Her husband came along to keep her company on the ride.After one sales call at a store in Kent, she and Dolph wanted to eat lunch. That day there were no restaurants open in town. Being a good businessperson, Audrey felt there was an opportunity for a fine eating establishment in the village.The Traymons contacted realtor Virginia Conboy, who still lives in Kent and recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Conboy showed them several properties, but none were what they were looking for.As a last attempt to show them something they might like, Conboy showed them what Audrey described as, “an empty, funny-looking saloon.”Being creative people, the Traymons saw the possibilities in that building and purchased it to create what has been the Fife ‘n Drum restaurant and bar, a Kent institution for 40 years.Dolph Traymon has been a piano player since he was 5 years old. He is now 93 and still delights in playing one of his four Steinway pianos every day. Though he is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, the first years of his career were spent at the keyboard at resorts and clubs in the Catskill Mountains.Dolph has since played the piano professionally all over the world, including for royal audiences in Europe. He has performed as an accompanist for Frank Sinatra, Dorothy Lamour, Peggy Lee, Joel Grey and Rudy Vallee.He comes to his talent naturally: His father was a violinist and his mother a singer. When asked what he likes to listen to, he said, “Chopin.”The Traymons met in March, 63 years ago, and were married eight months later. They have two daughters, Elissa, who currently operates the restaurant, and Tracey, who is a vice president in the trust division of a New York City bank. They have three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.Dolph has just written a new book, “From the Top,” which tells the story of his life. Its publication was timed to coincide with the Fife ‘n Drum’s 40th anniversary, on Jan. 20. But the Traymons don’t need a whole book to explain the secret of their restaurant’s longevity. Audrey said the key is, “Dolph playing the piano every night and excellent food.” She also said, “We have the best help in the business. We treat them like family, and they treat us like family.”As an example, Dolph explained that Tony Hernandez worked at the Fife ‘n Drum for many years. When he had the opportunity to purchase The Villager restaurant, just across Route 7, several years ago, “Tony came to me and asked for my blessing. Of course we wished him well. He told us The Villager would be open for breakfast and lunch every day, but open for dinner only on Tuesday evenings when the Fife ‘n Drum is closed. That is family.”Dolph said their chef has been with them for 15 years and most members of the waitstaff for 15 to 18 years. “Two of our well known dishes are our Caesar salad made from scratch and our roast duck,” Audrey said, adding that she and Dolph have met people when traveling who, when they learned of their association with the restaurant, said, “You have the best Caesar salad!”The Traymons are also very proud of their wine list, which Audrey said, “is second to none.” The Traymons live in a home adjacent to the business. They also own a vacation home in Boynton Beach, Fla.In the early 1980s, the Traymons opened the Fife ‘n Drum Inn on the north side of the pro- perty, with eight guest rooms.Both Traymons recalled celebrities who have dined at the Fife ‘n Drum over the years including Eric Sloane, Gregory Peck, Perry Como, who joined Dolph at the piano and sang several songs, Dr. Henry Kissinger and Vladamir Horowitz when he lived in Kent.For information on the Fife ‘n Drum, go to www.fifendrum.com. For reservations call 860-927-3509.
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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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