WINSTED — Superintendent of Schools Thomas Danehy announced Tuesday night that the Winchester school system is facing potential electricity, gas and phone shutoffs and cancellation of its health and life insurance policies due to cash-flow issues in town.In a Jan. 8 letter to Town Manager Dale Martin, Danehy said Connecticut Light and Power, Yankee Gas and AT&T had all put the school system on notice that if bills are not paid by the end of the month the schools will face service cancellations. A payment arrangement is currently in place but requires full payment by the end of the month.At Tuesday night’s Finance Board meeting of the Board of Education, Danehy reiterated his concerns and said he has met with Martin several times to discuss cash-flow problems, which also include the underfunding of teachers’ pensions.“The town can’t have kids learn to read and write when the lights go out,” Danehy said, “so I’m very concerned about the town’s finances and how the town plans to weed through the issues that are upon it now. This is pretty jarring to me.”Danehy noted in his correspondence with Martin that a number of issues contribute to the sense of fiscal instability, including the investigation of town Finance Director Henry Centrella, who was serving at his post when an undisclosed sum disappeared from the town’s coffers for months and then reappeared in a safe at Town Hall. “The cash flow issues with the town, the accounting irregularities with the Finance Department and years of no tax increases have really taken a bitter toll on the town,” Danehy wrote. “We understand that you are struggling to determine just how much money has disappeared because of ‘accounting irregularities,’ but we do not see any steps being taken to keep the town and its schools operating.”At Tuesday’s finance meeting, members of the school board openly considered contacting a bonding agency on their own to pay bills and keep the schools afloat until more revenues are available.“I’ve heard the word ‘bankruptcy,’ but no facts to go with it,” said board member Dr. Richard Dutton. “I wonder whether we can go to the state for funds without involving the town. Perhaps we should pursue that.”Danehy said he has not received a written response from Martin regarding fiscal matters. The superintendent outlined several concerns in his correspondence with the town manager, including utilities, Connecticare insurance payments, payments to SunLife insurance and money owed to The Gilbert School and other service providers such as Shared Services. Danehy said he believes pension contributions have been paid to the town by the school system but have not been deposited into the teachers’ pension fund.“On Sept. 10 you and I met with [school system Business Manager] Nadine Savage concerning our questions related to Board of Education contributions to the pension fund that were not actually deposited,” Danehy wrote, adding that Martin said he would investigate the matter. The superintendent reiterated a request for a full accounting of pension funds and accounts.Danehy noted that the town has budgeted $30,000 for emergency door and fire-code repairs at Hinsdale Elementary School, but the project will cost more than $98,000.“In order to keep operating the school, the mandated repairs and replacement must be done and are obligations of the town,” he wrote.“We are anxious over the flow of tax revenues to the town coffers. Between now and June 30 we have concerns that the town will not be able to get beyond this financial debacle, meet the BOE’s present and future obligations, or the town’s other obligations.”Danehy asked Martin if it would be prudent to ask for state intervention. He also asked the town manager to notify him when Winchester may expect to see the noted issues resolved.
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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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