MILLBROOK — Distracted driving affects everyone on the road. In 2009 alone 5,500 people died and 450,000 others were injured in accidents related to distracted driving in the United States, according to a video created and narrated by Caleb Natale, 16, who made the video with help from his brothers, Austin, 14, and Michael, 17. When Caleb made the video on distracted driving for the New York State Central Mutual Insurance (NYCM) Distracted Driving Video Contest he entered it for the learning experience. He did not expect the video would win him $10,000 for Millbrook High School, where he is a sophomore. Caleb found out about the contest from Millbrook High School graphic design and computer teacher John Blakely. “My computer teacher from last year, Mr. Blakely, told me about the contest,” he said. “I believe he told me in late September. You had to make a video in 25 seconds showing in a creative way the dangers of distracted driving and also telling people statistics about it in 25 seconds of time.”The content of the video Caleb and his brothers made is simple, but the message is powerful.“In the video the lights went on and there was this one single dim light focused on a chalk board, and on the chalk board it says the word distracted all over the place,” Caleb said. “Basically my brother comes over with the sponge and wipes it away. Then he writes the words ‘don’t drive distracted,’ but you can’t tell what he’s writing till the very end of the video. The whole time my voice is narrating the entire thing, giving statistics and telling people why they shouldn’t drive distracted.”Caleb said he entered the contest because it would be a good experience in making videos. He didn’t expect to win. It was announced on Feb. 1 that he was one of the top three finalists. The contest was open to public schools throughout New York state; NYCM received 159 videos from 68 public schools in the state. On March 19 NYCM came to Millbrook High School to reveal that Caleb’s video had been awarded second place and $10,000 was awarded to the school. First place was awarded along with $15,000 to East Syracuse Minoa Central High School and third awarded $5,000 to Canandaigua Academy. Although Millbrook High School received the cash, Caleb was able to decide how the money should be spent.“We actually already bought the stuff for the school,” Caleb said. “We got different stuff for the computer lab to help improve it. We got a new camera for better video for the lab because the one they had wasn’t too good; I used my own for the video. We also got different software for the computer to help Mr. Blakely teach and we got different software for video editing.”Caleb said he wants to go to film school in the future. He also wants to submit to more video contests. He said it felt good to be able to give back to Millbrook High School and promote awareness on distracted driving at the same time. “My older brother drives and I know it’s dangerous for me and other people in other cars when he is looking at his phone while driving or [is otherwise] distracted,” Caleb said. “I hope people get some sense of [how dangerous] distracted driving is and think about that when they drive.” Caleb’s 25-second video may be viewed on YouTube by searching “2011 Distracted Driving Video Contest Millbrook High School.”
Latest News
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided
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.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
