CORNWALL — A draft decision has been reached in the Freedom of Information (FOI) complaint made by former Highway Department Foreman Rick Stone against the Board of Selectmen.Hours of testimony were collected at a May meeting in Hartford with FOI Hearing Officer Tracie Brown. Her conclusion was in favor of the board, citing only a failure by the board to be adequately descriptive about an executive session. The proposed final decision was scheduled to be put before the FOI Commission on Aug. 24. Each side was to have a chance to make additional comments. Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway said he planned to attend with Cornwall Town Attorney Perley Grimes, but he did not plan to comment. The meeting was held after The Lakeville Journal went to press.Stone hired an attorney and filed a complaint last fall after an Oct. 26 meeting with the board, held mostly in executive session, where he resigned from the job he had held for about four years.At issue was the use of town funds to pay for fuel and a replacement part for a piece of construction equipment Stone used for town work. The day after the meeting, Stone brought two personal checks to Town Hall to reimburse those costs, which totaled $311.Days later, he filed a complaint claiming that the special board meeting was not properly noticed; that he was told it was to be about the highway department budget, rather than his job performance; and that he was not given the opportunity to exercise his right to keep the discussion public. He claimed he was coerced into resigning and should be reinstated.The FOI Commission has the power to void decisions made in meetings where violations of the Freedom of Information Act have occurred. Brown concluded her four-page report by saying that Stone’s “request for relief is denied,” and recommending the Board of Selectmen comply with requirements of noticing meetings with regard to more detail.She cited case law to show that the meeting agenda (which said, “1. Executive Session: Personnel, 2. Public Session: Personnel”) violated a provision of the FOI statutes.“This commission has repeatedly stated that in order for the public to be fairly apprised of the reason for an executive session, the public agency must give some specific indication of the specific topic to be addressed, prior to convening such session. “Therefore, descriptions such as ‘personnel,’ ‘personnel matters,’ ‘legal,’ or even ‘the appointment, employment, performance, evaluation, health, dismissal of a public officer or employee’ are inadequate and do not state the reason for convening in executive session, within the meaning of [state statute] 1-225(f), G.S.”At the Aug. 16 board meeting, Selectman Richard Bramley said, “It was a good finding. She captured the essence of what she heard.” Ridgway said that after the November municipal election, a training session for town board and commission members will be scheduled to address FOI requirements.
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.
