This weekend is part of one of my favorite holidays. In many places, Memorial Day weekend has been hijacked to celebrate the kickoff of summer. Memorial Day should not be celebrated, but rather commemorated. Memorial Day can represent so much of the American small-town spirit.Several communities where I used to live in Michigan had Memorial Day parades. The largest parade was filled with floats and politicians and clowns (sometimes disguised as politicians). The smaller communities respected the nature of the holiday: Only veterans were permitted to march, accompanied by the local high school band. In one community, as the parade passed, the townsfolk applauded and fell in step behind the veterans to witness a somber ceremony in the local cemetery. A picnic was then hosted by the local government. Those events, in my mind, highlight what is great in our small towns — a strong sense of community spirit and national service.I went through basic training in 1982 as part of an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Fort Knox, Ky. I enjoyed the physical and mental challenges, but due to some logistical issues, I was not able to make a commitment to the Army at that time. Five years later, when I decided to pursue a graduate degree, I wondered what it would have been like to continue with the Army. I began my formal ROTC training as a graduate student in 1987.I received my commission as a second lieutenant in the infantry in December 1989. My entire family at some point had worked for the defense industry, but I was the first one to actually serve in the military. After obtaining my master’s degree in April 1990 and getting married in June 1990, I was called to active duty one month earlier than anticipated due to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. My wife and I headed south to Fort Benning, Ga., in September.Due to the increased possibility of war in the Gulf, the training took on an increased intensity. At the time, a likely scenario contemplated house-to-house fighting in Kuwait City. Urban fighting typically incurs more casualties, especially for second lieutenants. We trained through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I still vividly recall sitting in the kitchen eating dinner and hearing Tom Brokaw announce that the air war had begun. It was a difficult night.Fortunately, the First Gulf War began and ended before I completed my training in February. I completed some additional instruction in Georgia before I was deployed to Schweinfurt, Germany. I had many interesting challenges while in Europe, but I also had many wonderful opportunities. I left the service and returned to the United States on June 7, 1994.I was now a veteran, which, at that time, was somewhat rare for someone of my generation. I have been a member of the American Legion for 12 years. I have shared military memories with naval veterans in Lexington, Mich. (my first municipal job), with fellow Army soldiers in Linden, Air Force veterans in Davison, and now, some Marines here in Winchester. Veterans are most everywhere, proud — and typically humble — of their service.I look forward to my first Memorial Day here in Winchester, especially with the community’s rich Civil War experiences. A dedicated group of volunteers continues to work to acquire funds to properly restore the town’s magnificent Civil War monument. I am sure that a quiet walk through one of the area cemeteries would reveal the graves of veterans from all of our nation’s conflicts.A recent memory of mine is a trip to Washington, D.C., and Arlington National Cemetery over Veterans Day a few years ago. It was a moving experience just to walk the grounds of Arlington. Please remember and honor those interred at Arlington and at cemeteries here and abroad that died in service to this country. Finally, like changing the batteries in your smoke detectors when adjusting your clocks, do something small, but respectful, each Memorial Day: Replace your worn flag with a crisp new star-spangled banner. Then you can enjoy every remaining day of your summer — something those we are to remember can’t do. Dale Martin is the town manager of Winsted.
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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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