This was not democratic discussion Enclosed are some remarks concerning the Region One School District Board of Education (BOE) meeting of February.The first part of the meeting consisted of an unscheduled species of inquisition targeting Canaan (Falls Village) Region One BOE Representative Gale Toensing. My first reaction to the commencing of this drama was “for God’s sake, this isn’t high school.” Of course, I was wrong. It was high school. Except the stream of recriminations, the petty back-biting, the juvenile meanness were not the conduct of some adolescents, it was that of the adults.The contretemps concerned Toensing’s interactions with the Regional Schools Services Center office. One would have supposed that she kicked the door in and overturned the furniture. But no, all this hysteria was about several email memos.Did all this unseemly commotion signify anything? Unfortunately, it did. Upside-down civics lessons were taught: there can be only one side to a story, and that the heavy hand of government can come down on a citizen in an adversarial proceeding without the slightest regard for the accused’s right to due process.Also, in a previous board meeting, Philip Hart, the BOE chairman, felt free to denounce Toensing for, in effect, declining to misrepresent herself in order to support the party line of the majority of the board. In this latter instance, Toensing voted “no” to adopting the spending plan to be referred to referendum. She was expected to go against her conscience and conceal her convictions on the subject by urging others to vote for the same thing that she opposed and would vote against.These civics lessons are those of a banana republic enforcing a party line. The civics lessons of our republic protect honorable dissent and respect loyal opposition, even when it may be inconvenient or annoying. The above-referenced segment of the meeting ended with a long, long monologue of self-congratulation by Chairman Hart, concluding with a trifecta of ironies. Hart appealed for comity among board members, after orchestrating about an hour-long beatdown of one of the members. He counseled tolerance for diversity of opinion after leading the attack on the one board member who provides counterpoint to the go-along-to-get-along sleep-walking of the majority.Finally, of all things, he lauded the development progress of the Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s technology center without “getting it” that the building would have been a pile of rubble to be carted away to some dump except for the inconvenient, annoying dissent of a bunch of troublemakers from my town (also, including valuable support from Gordon Johnson, then of Salisbury.)I left the meeting after the above business. I did so with little anger, but with lump-in-the-throat sadness that this malign, disgraceful spectacle must pass for an example of democracy in the backyard of my own hometown. Louis G. TimolatTown of Canaan (Falls Village) Thanks for concern after burglary I would like to thank my friends, family and the community for their concern and support after the break in at my home. It is comforting to know there are still individuals in this world who think of others and not only themselves.With great thanks to two individuals, the culprit has been found, confessed and will be arrested. Some of our belongings will be returned to us, while others may not. Just the act of having someone in your home, going through your belongs is unsettling. Thanks again to all of you. We live in a great community. Tina PitcherSharon
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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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