NORTH CANAAN — Things weren’t looking so good at the beginning of this year for Canaan Fire District finances. A newly completed sewer expansion had gone about a third over cost. The federal government had yet to approve a budget, and it was uncertain if additional loans and grants would be available. Hard times meant more tax liens than ever before, and fewer tax dollars coming in.In anticipation last fall, the fee for those using the sewer was raised $35, to $270 per year.The silver lining was that the district, which operates the sewer system, and owns some sidewalks, streetlights and fire hydrants, has been able to hold the line over the years on the taxes and use fees it assesses.There was good news at the annual budget meeting June 7, when Warden Anthony Nania reported more ups than downs in the financial picture. The government came through with more funding than expected. More taxes were paid than anticipated and various decreases in expenses budgeted for the current fiscal year added up to significant savings.That counts the $75,000 spent on engineering needed to prepare a plan for a proposed sewer extension into the Green Acres section of town. The plan was voted down by fire district residents. Nania said he regrets that they missed out on a stimulus grant that would have covered much of the cost.The budget, approved unanimously by a crowd that just met the required quorum of 15, is in two parts: the fire district operating expenses of $284,500 and the Sewer/Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) budget of $606,061.Both cover costs such as salaries for a small crew, stipends for both for officers, operating expenses for the sewer treatment plant, sidewalk maintenance and capital projects.Taxes, at 1.75 mills are levied on all property in the district, which is defined by where the sewer goes. The user fee is paid only by those connected to the sewer. Among the significant impacts going forward is no tax rate increase and restoration of the annual user fee to $235. A previous request by a group of residents, who regularly walk through the center of town, braving some difficult stretches of sidewalk, will be met by a $50,000 allotment for sidewalk improvements.The coming weeks will bring a wrap-up of the sewer project. Mountainside Treatment Center, which was the focus of the extension, is now operating on the new sewer. It will pay for about 85 percent of project costs not covered by grants levied on properties in the new part of the fire district. The 11 other properties will be able to connect soon, if owners decide to do so. Benefit assessments, a determination of how much the sewer adds in value to each property, are underway. The process will include a public hearing, likely in July.
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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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