KENT — Laura McLaughlin, who has been the director of the Kent Memorial Library since 2007, has announced that she plans to retire so she can pursue personal interests.McLaughlin, who lives in New Milford, has been a librarian her entire career.“I’m one of the few who knew early on that I wanted to be a librarian,” she said. “Many people decide on this as a second career, but I didn’t.” She started as a page, a young person who puts books away, while in high school, at the Cheshire Public Library.“Being in the library made me realize this could be a career for me.“I think public libraries play an extremely important role in a democratic society and provide an ongoing education to those who choose it. A library is also a real leveler for education, just because they’re so available. People with money, people without money, people from all walks of life can use a public library.”Before becoming director of the Kent Memorial Library, McLaughlin worked at the Danbury library for 21 years.McLaughlin said she’s retiring for a number of reasons.“There comes a point in your life when it is time to reprioritize and, in my case, that time is now. While my husband and I are still healthy and able to do things, we thought we would take this time and enjoy ourselves.”Among the things McLaughlin and her husband want to do is visit their grandchildren, who are scattered across the country and into Canada. They also want to travel, investigate retirement destinations and try to spend a winter without shoveling snow. “On a personal level there are some things I want to take the time to do just for me. I used to play the piano, haven’t touched it in years but would love to do so again. I love to cook, but I do not like to cook at the end of a workday when I’m tired and hungry. Nothing overly profound, just normal average things that I haven’t had a lot of time to do.” McLaughlin was asked what impact technology has had on libraries. Her responses covered a number of areas. “While technology has helped in many ways, it has also not helped.” When asked to explain, McLaughlin replied, “Not all libraries can afford technology at the same level, causing inequality among libraries.”She continued, “I would be a fool if I didn’t tell you e-books [electronic books] are having an impact on public libraries. I don’t believe print books will go away in my lifetime because not everyone can afford an e-reader, not everyone can afford to purchase downloadable e-books.” While many libraries currently offer downloadable e-books, Kent is still trying to decide if it can afford to do so. The Kent Library board has appointed a search committee to identify the institution’s next leader. Members of the committee are Michael Hallows, Kathleen Lindenmayer, Mary Henderson and Lisby Ritchie. Among the accomplishments they praised McLaughlin for, they noted that under her leadership, “the collection has been more keenly focused on contemporary literature and as a result circulation has increased dramatically.”
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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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