This year’s flu has gone viral. More than 40 states have reported widespread flu activity in what national health officials are calling an influenza epidemic. In Massachusetts the mayor of Boston has declared a public health emergency, and in Minnesota alone there have been 27 flu-related deaths.In Connecticut the activity has been classified as “widespread,” and the percentage of people affected with fever and flu has gone up significantly from the previous two flu seasons. Not only that but this is supposed to be only week five in a 12-week flu season, according to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health. The Connecticut Department of Public Health has declared that flu activity is only increasing. The CDC says the first step in preventing the flu is to get vaccinated, but that at this point in the season flu vaccine may be harder to find. They are still available at the Rite Aid in North Canaan and the CVS in Millerton and from doctors. But even if you get the vaccine you might get the flu anyway, for three reasons. You may have been already exposed before getting vaccinated or during the time before the vaccination kicks in; you might catch a virus not included in the vaccine; or you may just be immune to vaccinations, as it depends from person to person how effective they are. In general, vaccinations work best on young, healthy adults and on older children. You can receive the serum through a shot that contains killed viruses and has the side effect of soreness and swelling around the area where the shot was administered; you might also experience a mild fever or aches. Or you can get the serum through a nasal spray that contains weakened viruses and has the side effects of runny nose, headache, sore throat and cough. These side effects are not contagious and should dissapear within two days. If you are already sick, your doctor can prescribe an antiviral drug that may help make the sickness milder or shorter. The CDC and Connecticut Department of Public Health both say an important way to prevent the spread of germs is to wash your hands frequently; to sanitize and wash all the RSharon
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.
