MILLBROOK — For the past three years the Village Board and Town Board have been working on a Joint Emergency Plan in the event of a major disaster.“We are not talking snow storms, we are talking about earthquakes, strong tornados, fires of a large degree, long-term draught or a major flood,” said Laura Hurley, village mayor. “I remind everyone this is not a plan that we are going to enact on a whim; if we ever have to enact this it is going to be trouble for all of us. However, we have been diligently working to assess our assets, our shortcomings and how we can best protect the public.”On Tuesday, April 10, the board introduced a local law with the village to establish a joint disaster preparedness council for the town and the village, as well as a joint emergency services organization for the town and the village. At the Village Board meeting on Tuesday, April 24, the board opened the public hearing for the local law. “This law gives us authority to establish the joint plan and from there we move forward to put the plan into action,” said Hurley.This law includes the provision for the board to appoint a director said Hurley. The director would answer to the supervisor and the mayor. The board hopes in the future the director’s responsibility will also include coordinating with the state and other first responder groups to make sure the village and town are compliant and up to date on plans for emergency situations. Hurley said that at the Town Board meeting Thursday, April 12, the board decided it was premature to name one director and instead for the time being the Joint Emergency Commission will act as the director; it will remain so until the plan is finished.The town and village also agreed to omit the auxiliary police force that was included in the plan. Both town and village decided it was too early to organize an auxiliary police force for the plan, but they reserved the option to add that back into the plan in the future. “This local law basically spells out the authorities of each different department. It doesn’t not speak to the plan itself and it doesn’t speak to what we will do or where we will go. It just deals with the legislative necessity for us,” said Hurley. “The town and village must pass laws that are exactly the same and the town will have their public hearing on Thursday, May 10.”The board also completed an Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) and a negative declaration as part of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process, because this plan is becoming a local law. The EAF and negative declaration confirm that the action has no perceived negative impact on the environment. After the board completed the EAF and negative declaration the public hearing was closed. The board then adopted the local law establishing the Joint Disaster Preparedness Council of the town of Washington and village of Millbrook and the Joint Emergency Services Organization of the town and village.
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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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