Two conserved properties in the Northwest Corner received grants last month from the state as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition grants totaling $9 million. The funds will protect a total of 2,732 acres in 35 communities — including the 253-acre Camp Francis in Kent and the 84-acre Cooley Farm in Cornwall. A press release explained that the Kent Land Trust was granted $500,000 to help it purchase the former Girl Scout camp, which “directly abuts protected open space (Wyantenock State Forest and Weantinoge Heritage Land Trust).”It is “principally an undeveloped forest block” with “multiple natural resources that are important to protect and preserve. “With an irregular topography, numerous bedrock outcroppings, a large wetland, several vernal pools and a dense hardwood second-growth forest, this parcel is a rich and diverse wildlife habitat.”Kent Land Trust members said they are “thrilled.” “With this key grant along with more than $200,000 in matching contributions now in place, we are kicking into high gear to raise the additional grants and donations needed to complete the fundraising,” said the trust’s executive director, Connie Manes. “We hope to complete our campaign and purchase the property this coming summer.”Of the grant for the purchase of the Cooley Farm, Cornwall Conservation Trust (CCT) President Barton Jones said, “The Cornwall Conservation Trust is grateful to Gov. Malloy and the legislature for taking the long view in their support of the preservation of open space in Connecticut. “The grant we have received from the state this year will go toward preserving 85 acres of field and forest at the end of Cherry Hill Road. The protected property offers exceptional views to the west and will eventually be linked to the Hart Preserve. “The property will also continue to be farmed as a result of an additional federal grant under the Ranch and Farmland Protection Act. “After this acquisition CCT will own approximately 800 acres of forest and farmland in Cornwall that will help to assure its continued rural and farm character.”The $450,000 grant will help preserve a property that, according to the state’s press release, is currently used for haying, but “also contains a wetland area and a tributary to the Housatonic River, and a trail network. The purchase will help assemble a larger fragmented forested block in this area.”
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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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