WINSTED — The Laurel City was part of the big national story Tuesday afternoon, when people throughout town said they felt the tremors resulting from a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that originated in Mineral, Va., about 90 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., at 1:51 p.m. EDT.The quake was the strongest to hit the East Coast in 67 years and almost as strong as the most powerful quake in Virginia’s recorded history — a 5.9 quake that occurred in May 1897 in Giles County, Va.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake caused moderate shaking and potentially significant damage throughout northern Virginia and that people in faraway locations experienced tremors because the earthquake was shallow — about 3.7 miles deep. The bedrock on the East Coast is older and harder than rock on the West Coast, resulting in more widespread tremors.For many in Winsted, the quake was enough to cause a stir. Dozens of Facebook friends of The Winsted Journal said they felt significant shaking and witnessed movement. “We have kids up here at Gilbert enjoying band camp,” posted Terry Cowgill, the school’s director of development. “I don’t think they noticed it since they were playing their instruments at the time. But my monitor, bookshelves and the walls of my office shook and made noises. Spooky stuff.”Walnut Street resident Chip Johnson said his dogs all started barking at once, and Claire Vreeland reported tables moving and “pictures and mirrors dancing on the walls” at the Tributary Restaurant on Rowley Street. Online friends from all along the East Coast reported various levels of activity, most notably in Virginia. Shaking was reported throughout the Mid-Atlantic as far north as Toronto, Ontario, and south through South Carolina.News reports stated that two nuclear reactors were taken offline at the North Anna nuclear power plant operated by Dominion Resources just a few miles from the epicenter of Tuesday’s quake.Later in the day, there were reports of minor damage to the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral, both in Washington, D.C. White House spokesmen said the quake briefly interrupted President Barack Obama during a golf game on Martha’s Vineyard, where he is vacationing this week. Also in Washingotn, the Pentagon was reportedly evacuated as a precaution. Control towers at JFK International Airport in New York City were evacuated and flights across the New York City metro area were briefly halted.In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced at 2:24 p.m. that the state’s emergency operations center had been opened as a precaution and that there had been no reports of injury or damage. The center was closed later in the day without incident.
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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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