FALLS VILLAGE — The biggest event in Falls Village for 2011 was actually something that didn’t happen: In a referendum on Aug. 23, voters rejected a $2.5 million plan to finance the building of a new emergency services center on Route 7 South. The 230-126 vote forced the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department, which had lobbied extensively for the plan, back to the drawing board.After 15 years of planning and land acquisition, fundraising and applying for grants — and even some construction — the new firehouse project was still short almost three quarters of its projected cost, to the tune of about $2.5 million.The fire department volunteers held a series of public information meetings to explain the project. At the last meeting before the referendum, on Aug. 2, First Selectman Pat Mechare provided a handout with four possible bonding scenarios.The options on Mechare’s handout included borrowing from a local bank — a 20-year loan at 3.96 percent interest, for an annual payment of $181,162.44. This option would have required a mill rate increase of .97 and the total amount of the loan would have been $3,623,247. That means a homeowner with a $100,000 assessment would have faced a property tax increase of $97 a year.Also included as possibilities were loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including a 40-year option that required a special act of the state legislature. The interest rates for USDA 20-year, 30-year and 40-year loans were higher, at 4.25 percent. Mill rate increases would have been 1 mill, .79 mills and .70 mills, respectively.But the total amounts would have been significantly higher. The USDA 40-year loan would have ended up costing more than $5 million.The first phase of site work at 188 Route 7 South is complete. That includes septic tank, a driveway and the hole for the cellar.The existing firehouse is downtown, next to the Falls Village Inn. It is on two floors, and at 3,528 square feet, the fire company feels it is far too small for the needs of a modern fire department.At 7,380 square feet, the rejected plan called for more than double the space the department currently has, including space for 10 vehicles in seven bays with entry from two sides. It would be able to accommodate the ladder truck from the Canaan Fire Company when it comes to Falls Village on standby.No new plans have been presented yet. Meanwhile, the fire company volunteers were kept busy with a rather heavy-duty winter. The firefighters and other volunteers were called on to help shovel heavy, wet snow off the roof of the Lee H. Kellogg School last winter. The snow also caused the roof in the rear of the depot (home of the Canaan-Falls Village Historical Society) to collapse. Insurance was not helpful and the Historical Society had to look at some creative fundraising ideas, including this fall’s Historic Homes tour, which was a great success.A proposal for a cell tower on Cobble Hill was, at long last, rejected by the Connecticut Siting Council, which held one hearing at the Kellogg School, complete with commissioners and interested parties galore; sophisticated sound equipment playing classical music during the break (prompting one resident to mutter something about “soothing the natives”); and a strong opposition from the Inland Wetlands Commission, the Planning and Zoning Commission and Patty and Guy Rovezzi.Town officials struggled to keep taxes low as the economic downturn continued. The town’s Region One School District assessment was unusually high and created a shortfall of around $340,000. Budget season ended May 24, when the Board of Finance voted to raise the mill rate one mill, from 19.5 to 20.5, for the fiscal year 2011-12.Combined with $133,876 from the town’s general fund, $24,000 the finance board subtracted from the Board of Education’s spending plan prior to the town meeting vote, and $9,000 the school board found in additional savings, the mill rate increase covered the cost of increased tuition at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. The Board of Selectmen brought forward a municipal spending plan that was essentially flat at $1,537,790; the Board of Education presented a $1,737,584 plan at public hearing that was subsequently decreased by the $24,000 cut by the Board of Finance.
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.
