PINE PLAINS — Those battling chemical dependency have a new support group to reach out to thanks to substance abuse counselor Gregg Salisbury, creator of Hudson Valley Saturday Morning, the latest 12-step fellowship in the Harlem Valley. The group started up this January and meets every Saturday morning at the First United Presbyterian Church in Pine Plains. It is free and open to the public.“Anyone who is struggling with an addiction to a chemically mood-altering substance can come; there’s no distinction between alcohol or any other drug,” said Salisbury, adding the group is affiliated with Chemically Dependent Anonymous (CDA). “There are some AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] meetings where they don’t want to talk about any other substance besides alcohol, but from working in the field of substance abuse the majority of people I see, especially young people with addiction issues, alcohol is only one small component, and it’s rare to see these days that’s their main addiction.”That’s why Salisbury said he wanted to begin a new program for addicts of all sorts. A safe place where people could come to talk, find support and discover something constructive to replace what drugs and alcohol might have offered them at one point.“There are different approaches to recovery, though the 12-step approach is the best known and has been around the longest,” he said. “There’s a spiritual path people can decide to follow [as they work through the steps], though a lot of people just go to meetings and don’t get into the steps.”While the new Saturday morning fellowship is a 12-step program, Salisbury said he still considers it loosely structured.“I guess it’s going to be the same as AA, but it will give people the freedom to talk about whatever they want to more honestly and about their specific addiction and what they’re struggling with and about their cravings,” he said. “There will be lots of freedom to talk openly about sobriety issues related to cravings and people can more openly say what path they’re on.”Salisbury brings more to the table than just support. He also brings the knowledge of a trained addiction counselor. Currently he works with a medical doctor in Red Hook who helps cure opiate addicts with the drug suboxone, likened to methodone but reportedly more effective. The experience provides him with valuable information and insight, all of which he offers at the Saturday morning meetings.And while there were no participants at Salisbury’s first gathering, he said he’s not defeated. He plans to give the project three months to get off the ground.“I think it will take time to get the word out,” he said. “But certainly it will fill a niche. I’ve gone to enough meetings in the area, in Millerton and Pine Plains, to know [substance abuse] is pretty prevalent around here. The meetings in Millerton have a lot of young people with multiple substance addictions, and I think [this can help].”One of the biggest hurdles, Salisbury added, has been cleared. That was finding a location for the program. He said Rev. Carol Miller of the Presbyterian church has been extremely accommodating and welcoming.“I think it takes a little faith to say, ‘OK, we’ll have drug addicts come and be in our building,’” Salisbury said. “But hopefully most everyone is past using.”To those contemplating joining the group, the once-addict himself said it could be a life-changer.“I feel like [substance abuse] is really a life and death illness,” Salisbury said. “People are dying. I was thinking about it, and thought I wanted to start a [program] where people have a spiritual path and some accountability in a group setting, and hopefully some urgency about the disease. I think the recovery process is a lot about self-realization and finding who we are meant to be.”Hudson Valley Saturday Morning meets every Saturday, at 10 a.m., at the First United Presbyterian Church at 3039 Route 199 (Church Street). For more information email gregghs@gmail.com.
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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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