Editor’s note: In Tara Kelly’s “Consider This” column published March 10, titled “Helicopter Mom,” she described her anxiety in seeing her teenage son, Jack, go off with his buddy for a hike on the southern arm of the Appalachian Trail. She promised us that Jack would share his journal with us upon his return, in hopes that her worry would have been for naught. It apparently was, as evidenced below. Here is Jack’s condensed hiking journal, and it is just the tonic to prepare us all for some bracing spring walks, long or short, on the trail. Day One, March 7, 2011Everything is a go! This morning, 7:20 a.m., everything was packed and my uncle, who was driving us to the drop-off point, was downstairs. Said goodbyes to Noah’s parents and headed off. The trip to Front Royal, Va., was pretty straightforward. Things got a bit tricky when it came to the trailhead. Spent an hour to an hour-and-a-half trying to find it. Found two trail heads. About a mile-and-a-half in, we realized we’d passed our first campsite by miles; we’ll stay at Dick’s Dome tonight. The hike was around 8 miles, but didn’t seem that long. Got to the shelter around 5:45 p.m. and met Scott: a drummer in a Christian rock band, a recently quit 30-year smoker and avid hiker. He showed us some topo maps. It looks like the next two days will be rough. Dinner is lentils and rice. Made a little too much, but tasty. Sleep will be easy. There is a funny anti-bear device outside the shelter: a 12-foot metal pole with hooks.Day Two, March 8, 2011A long day. Today would’ve been 9 miles and the next two days would each be 14, or something of that nature. However, in order to break up the “roller coaster,” an arduous section of trail, we decided today would be a 15-mile day. Started hiking at 8 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m., at Sam Moore shelter. Exhausted by the end, but besides that, a great day. Day Three, March 9, 2011Today was hard. Began at the usual 6:30 a.m. Yet another change in plans made today 14 miles, not 10. The last 4 miles, however, felt good. It started raining around 1 p.m. and went on a few hours. When we had hiked 10 miles we had a choice to hike 4 more to a shelter or stay at Black Burn campsite. Although a bit sore, we ate some gorp, peanut butter and Fig Newtons and headed off. It was a relatively flat ridge, which made hiking easy. Getting to the shelter was terrific. Feet hurt a bit, but a fresh pair of socks solved that. Dinner was ramen, lentils and rice with lots of cheese and sausage with a Snickers bar for dessert. Tomorrow will be cold and wet but we should be in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., so it shouldn’t be a worry. Day Four, March 10, 2011Turns out we’re not hiking. Throughout the night it rained continually. Nothing got soaked in the shelter but everything is wet. The plan is to sit around and just enjoy the view for a bit.It’s 2 p.m. and it’s too late to start hiking. At around 8 in the evening it started pouring. Time for sleep, unfortunately in a wet sleeping bag, but I’ll be toasty no matter. Day Five, March 11,2011Had a horrible time getting to sleep because I was so energized, woke up four or five times. At 2 in the morning, the clouds disappeared and the air became fresh and dry. The stars were bright and lights from the cars, cities, town, really whatever was below us, glimmered. Hopped out of bed at 6 a.m. We arrived at the ATC headquarters around noon. The people were all really friendly. Getting into the HQ and seeing lots of photos of thru-hikers only made me want to hike the whole thing, Georgia to Maine, as soon as possible. We hiked around the town of Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Lunch at Cannonball’s was tasty and a refreshing change from lentils and rice. The outfitter is pretty cool, has a natural spring that runs through the solid rock of the first floor. Most of the town is a mixture of oddball museums about John Brown’s raid in the 1850s. It’s all pretty cool but when looking for lip balm it makes life mighty hard. On the side of the town facing Maryland there is a whole slew of pubs and a great, real, general store, where the guy was kind and chatted us up.Heading back to the ATC, that sort of concludes our trip. Noah’s parents came at 7 as expected and we threw our stuff in the dryer that night. Sleep is easy after a great trip, hopefully I’ll get back out soon. Jack Kelly-Willis, a junior in high school, is also known as Sunflower, the trail name given to him by his classmate and hiking buddy, Noah Wertheimer.
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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.
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