FALLS VILLAGE — Contract extensions for regional school district administrators were discussed again at the April 4 meeting of the Region One Board of Education. During the first public comment portion of the meeting, First Selectman Pat Mechare of Falls Village read a letter from that town’s attorney, Judith Dixon, that was critical of the board’s practice of extending three-year contracts for top regional administrators before the contracts are up.Dixon’s letter points out that by extending multi-year contracts “on an apparently annual basis,” the Region One board commits the board and future boards to the contracts through two biannual elections of regional board members.“If nothing else, this appears to be a very poor business practice and certainly places the superintendent in a much superior bargaining position.”At a special meeting March 24, the board approved contract extensions for Region One Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain, Assistant Superintendent Diane Goncalves, Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick, Pupil Services Director Carl Gross, and Special Education Supervisor Martha Schwaikert. Board Chairman Judge Manning (representing Sharon) explained at that meeting that not offering contract extensions sends a signal to the employee that they should start looking for work elsewhere.On a related topic, Phil Hart of Cornwall spoke about how the All-Boards Committee (comprised of the chairs of the six town boards of education and the regional board) makes recommendations about administrative contracts. Hart asked if the committee should be making specific salary and health insurance recommendations, and if the current process, in which the Region One board is presented with a yes-or-no vote on the All-Boards Committee’s recommendations, is adequate.“We’re asked to approve [the contracts] without discussion. I don’t think we’re fulfilling our obligations.”Chamberlain said there is no reason the regional board couldn’t go into executive session with the committee.“The process could use a look,” she said. The board also had another try at establishing a policy regarding emails between board members during the regular monthly meeting Monday, April 4, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.Manning started off by asking, “Do we want to pursue this?” The board did. Members were provided with a sample policy from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education that included this language, under the heading “Guidelines for Board Email Usage”:“Board members shall not use email as a substitute for deliberations at public board meetings, and/or shall not discuss policy matters or vote informally on any issues.”Hart noted the clause approvingly and added that he thought any policy “should include something about what we intend to do about it” if a board member violates the policy.Manning asked if anyone had a suggestion, and Hart replied, “Not now, but we’ve faced it before.”The board decided to have Chamberlain have the board attorney, Gary Brochu, review the sample policy and comment on the possibility of adding a “consequence clause.”
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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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