SALISBURY — The Congregational Church is hosting a community dinner, with live music and an art auction, to support Theresa Carroll, who is battling cancer.Carroll, a massage therapist, is forthcoming about her illness. She said in an interview this week that she was diagnosed in late October with anal/rectal cancer after experiencing a serious lack of energy and what she thought were hemorrhoids in the preceding months.By the middle of September she stopped working and began a diet of whole foods, which helped.And in October she began what she calls “energy work,” an unconventional approach that Carroll concedes is considered quackery by some.It seems to be working in her case, however. Carroll said she had about 75 percent of her pre-illness energy level back. She does see her regular doctor to monitor her condition, and she reports that her blood work is good.The Rev. Diane Monti-Catania, pastor of the Congregational Church, said the congregation and the community at large have come together to organize support for Carroll.On Thursdays Carroll and her family receive a meal made from the healthy foods she uses to treat her cancer.“They must think we’re really big eaters,” said Carroll. “It lasts all weekend.”The volunteer chefs are creative, too. “The meals have been wonderfully delicious and very colorful.”Carroll said she avoids foods that are acidic. “Cancer thrives” with such foods as sugars, white flour, diary, some grains and processed foods.Instead she emphasizes the alkaline — broccoli, Brussels sprouts, garlic, leeks, scallions, cabbage, kale, spinach, onions and root vegetables.The only one that she dislikes is broccoli.Carroll said she chose to treat her cancer holistically after considerable thought. The conventional route would have involved five weeks of combined radiation and chemotherapy, and possibly several surgeries.In her work as a massage therapist, Carroll had seen cancer patients heal, and observed that the most successful used an “integrative” approach — “within their own philosophy or worldview.”Carroll said she was aware of her own body’s ability to heal, and had seen on her massage table results “that could be labeled ‘miraculous.’”The experience has also involved a shift in roles for Carroll. With 30 years of training and experience in being a caregiver, suddenly she is on the other side of the equation.“A gift for me has been to take a hard look at how my upbringing trained me to give, not to receive. I have had to do a lot of personal introspection.“I know how wonderful it feels to be the go-to person, to facilitate healing. Why deprive anyone who wants to feel that?”A dinner hosted by the church Feb. 25 is a fundraiser, with no fixed donation. Monti-Catania and Carroll both noted that anonymous donors have already come forth with contributions to help make up for lost income.Carroll said she was initially uncomfortable with the anonymity, “but I realized that 50 percent of wanting a face-to-face was to discharge the gift. Now I have to look at the entire community as a donor.”Monti-Catania said she was heartened that the effort to assist Carroll is not confined to the church congregation. “There’s a tremendous amount of positive energy, of people coming together to do something good, just for the sake of being kind.“Nothing else is quite as rewarding.”The dinner is Saturday, Feb. 25, 5:30 p.m. at the Salisbury Congregational Church.
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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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