SALISBURY — The new fire station at 4 Brook St. was officially opened last November in a solemn ceremony held at night, with flags and full dress uniforms on all the Lakeville Hose Company volunteers.A more fun, less formal celebration was held last Saturday, June 4, when the entire town was invited to celebrate the new 10-bay firehouse.Children ran around in shorts and summery T-shirts, eating popcorn and clambering around on the parked fire-fighting vehicles. Firefighters kept a watchful eye on the kind of fire nearly everyone likes to see, the kind that’s on a large barbecue grill. Of course when the event began at 11 a.m., the volunteers were wearing their full-dress uniforms, not their aprons. They stood solemnly at attention as speeches were made and thanks were offered. The Rev. Joseph Kurnath of St. Mary’s Church in Lakeville offered a benediction, and was one of many people during the ceremony to comment on the attractiveness of the building.First Selectman Curtis Rand, on behalf of the Board of Selectmen, acknowledged the many people who helped create the new station. The firefighters themselves came to the selectmen in 2006 with a request for a larger space. The Hotchkiss School was instrumental in making the dream of a new facility a reality. The school offered a matching grant promising to pay $400,000 toward the costs if the town could raise $600,000.John “Rusty” Chandler was thanked profusely at several points, for taking charge of the initial Firehouse Advisory Committee and for managing the Firehouse Campaign Committee. He was one of several people who received special citations from the town for the work. He also received a gift. Also thanked were Peter Becket, the recording secretary for the project; Jason Wilson, chief of the Hose Company and Rick Roger, who was chief during the period when the firehouse was being built and moved (both made a special point of saying he accepted not on his own behalf but on behalf of the entire company); Tom Francoline, a member of the building committee; and Selectman Bob Riva, who managed and oversaw much of the project. “The ultimate thank you of the day” went to “the men and women of the Lakeville Hose Company.” Rand noted that, “After this committee work, after this building and campaign, they will remain here working, ever vigilant, brave and with total dedication to protecting your safety, day and night, four seasons, and at great personal risk. “You are our true heroes, and that is why the ultimate dedication goes to you, for this building as a thank you from all of us who stand beside you with pride and wonder. “Please accept our true gratitude and know that we will always be there to support you and help you, as you do so well for us.”
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.
