SHARON — A handful of town residents attended a special 11 a.m. meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Friday, May 6, at Town Hall. Questions and concerns were raised about roadwork now being done around town, and about whether the company hired to do that work is accomplishing the goals of the town, especially in reference to the edges of the roads. First Selectman Bob Loucks and Selectmen John Mathews and Meg Szalewicz attended the meeting as did the project’s clerk of the works, Gene Parsons, and several town employees. The contractor hired by the town to do the road work is Waters Construction Co. of Bridgeport and New Milford. Representing the firm at the meeting were President Mario Smith and Project Manager William Champagne.Smith presented a summary of work scheduled for the next month, noting that, “This is not a static thing. This is what we think the progression of work will be.” The pace of work can be affected by, for example,the weather, he said. There was an ensuing discussion of the process of reclaiming the roadway, backfilling and stabilizing the edge of the pavement. Reclaiming consists of pulverizing the existing asphalt and mixing it but trying to keep any bad material out of the mix, then compacting it to create the road base, according to Parsons.Sharon residents Howard Randall and Florien Palmer criticized the work being done on the road edges. They said that using soft topsoil beneath the edge of the roads would lead to cracking and failing of the road surface. Champagne disagreed, saying that of the 100,000 feet of edging on the town roads, only 1,100 feet, or about 1 percent, had failed since last fall. Loucks feels that this is a respectable number, considering the severity of the winter. Randall and Palmer said they would like to see a better percentage rate of success.Champagne said it’s not possible to guarantee the edge of any pavement that does not have a true shoulder. However, he said, his company is working hard to maintain the edging and the quality of the work within the constraints of the project’s budget.He also took issue with the statements by Randall and Palmer criticizing the quality of work being done on the roads, saying that they are misinformed. Randall had a letter to the editor in the May 5 issue of The Lake-ville Journal criticizing the quality of the work.“Why don’t you come out with us and see what we’re doing? I know we have freedom of speech and all, but you need good information,” Champagne said.“We’re living on planet Earth, and it’s an imperfect surface,” Loucks said, adding that, “If they find a soft spot, they fix it.” Then he said to Smith, “I think you’re doing a great job. Some people can never be satisfied.”Referring to the budget and the scope of the project, Szalewicz said, “We’re not rebuilding the roads.” Had town residents voted to pay for a full rebuilding of the roads, she noted, the cost would have been substantially higher.Smith asked for some feedback from the town on the backfilling his company has done so far. “We have an inspector testing, we’re doing what’s in the contract and not changing the nature of the base,” he said. But he does not want to proceed with work unless the town is comfortable with the base. Parsons said that roads deteriorate naturally over time, and that he can not guarantee that all the work will be and will remain perfect.“We can do anything you ask us to do,” Smith said, “but if it’s outside the contract it will mean extra billing.” He said Waters Construction would continue to do work based on the existing contract, but will look for direction from the town. “The roads have been inspected. We need assurances that it’s OK to pave, that we’ve done our job contractually, so we can move forward in a systematic manner.”It was decided that there will be a road meeting every Friday at 10 a.m. at Town Hall, with a Waters representative and the selectmen present. The public is invited to attend.To see the list of roads being worked on, go online to the town’s website at www.sharonct.org.
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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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