MILLBROOK — Grace Church on Franklin Avenue will add two stained-glass windows to commemorate two heroes.The church, known for its beautiful stained glass windows, hasn’t had a new one since the 1960s.The Rev. Douglas Fisher said he suggested putting in new windows a couple years ago, and the plan is now starting to gain speed. The two new stained glass windows will be dedicated to Jonathan Daniels and Charles Johnson. Daniels was studying to be an Episcopal priest at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. invited all of the Northern clergy to join him in the fight for civil rights in Selma, Ala., and march to Montgomery. Daniels responded to Kings’ plea and went to Alabama. His experience there inflamed his passion for civil rights. He spent extensive time in Alabama working in African-American communities and their churches, as well as registering voters, accessing funds for those in need, tutoring children and helping people receive aid. “On Aug. 13, 1965, he was with a group of people wanting to enter a diner in Alabama,” said Fisher. “A man with a shotgun (not the owner) said the African-American teenagers with them could not come in.”Fisher said that the man pointed the gun at a young African-American girl named Ruby Sales. Daniels instantly recognized that he was pulling the trigger and jumped in front of Sales. The gunshot killed Daniels, who was 26 years old. Sales later became an Episcopal priest. The second window will be dedicated to a local hero, Charles Johnson. Fisher said that Johnson was a member of Grace Church in the late 1940s and was confirmed at the church.“In May 1953 Johnson was serving in the Korean War,” said Fisher. ”One night his unit was overrun by the enemy. Everyone in his unit was killed or wounded.”Johnson carried nine wounded soldiers to safety while holding off the enemy for a night. By the time reinforcements arrived, Johnson had died. he was 20 years old. Johnson’s funeral was held at Grace Church, and he was buried at Nine Partners Cemetery. Johnson’s life was recently featured in the PBS documentary, “Hold At All Costs.”“Here is how the two windows are connected,” said Fisher. “Jonathan Daniels, a young white man, gave his life for an African-American girl. Charlie Johnson, an African-American man, gave his life saving the lives of nine white men.”The two windows will be tied together with the scripture, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”The windows are currently in development and the project is estimated to take six months. The stained glass windows will be funded through donations; the cost is estimated at $24,000. So far Grace Church has received around $17,500. Fisher said this project has been a long time coming. The heroic stories of Daniels and Johnson have been studied for the last 10 years by the church’s confirmation classes.Fisher said that members of Grace Church are excited about the project, which has been receiving great support from the Charles Johnson Foundation.“Grace Church is very intentional about reaching out and connecting people across racial, ethnic and economic divisions,” said Fisher. “Our immigrant ministry, in which we welcome immigrants to Millbrook and eastern Dutchess County, is a significant part of our mission. We also have a special dedication to our youth ministry. The two men honored in these windows are symbolic of these vital missions.”
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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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