FALLS VILLAGE — The Board of Finance (BOF) voted unanimously to make a supplemental appropriation of $10,000 to the Board of Education for upgrading security systems at the Lee H. Kellogg School at the finance board’s regular monthly meeting Monday, Jan. 14.Dom Caiati from the school board and LHK Interim Principal Jennifer Law told the Board of Finance that they had two requests: a video camera and intercom system (similar to that used at most of the other Region One schools) for visitors coming to the front door, and electronic keys for staff and faculty; and an upgrade to the existing alarm system.Those were identified by the school board and Law as the immediate needs.Caiati had a quote from the company that installed and maintains the current system, Berkshire Alarm, for $8,000.He said that a few years back a quote from the same company for an upgrade that included fewer new features was also about $8,000. Caiati and Law asked if the finance board had a mechanism in place to make the funds available immediately.They did, voting a supplemental appropriation to the Board of Education for $10,000 (to cover any overages).Sentiment on the finance board was that the upgrade should be done in as timely a manner as possible.The school has been using a low-tech, improvised system with a walkie-talkie in a cradle in front of the now locked front door. The interim principal and office staff can see who is entering the parking lot and approaching the door.A visitor can call the office, and someone comes to let them in.As a stop-gap solution it is adequate, but the Board of Education has been discussing installing a camera/intercom system for several years, and with the events in Newtown last month the need for rapid action was apparent.The school board and administration are also concerned about the various outside doors around the school. Law said the doors, which are made of wood, naturally swell and become warped, and do not swing shut. That means that staff must make sure the doors are firmly shut.“The school is only secure as long as those doors are closed,” Law said.Caiati said the school board was reluctant to start making sweeping changes in the doors, anticipating possible changes in building codes for schools in the wake of Newtown.“We don’t want to buy a $1,000 door only to be told we need a $15,000 door — that the state will pay for.”
Latest News
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided
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.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
