WINSTED — The long battle over the minimum budget requirement (MBR) for the school district for fiscal 2011-12 continued at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Monday, Oct. 3.During the meeting, Selectman George Closson made a motion to fund the MBR at the level set by the state, which is $19,958,149.The motion was seconded by Selectman Michael Renzullo.Surprisingly, there was no debate or discussion on the motion itself, which went straight to a vote.The selectmen formally voted against funding the MBR by a vote of four to three.The vote was on now familiar party lines: Selectmen Ken Fracasso, Glenn Albanesius, Karen Beadle and Lisa Smith voted against Closson’s motion.Mayor Candy Perez, Renzullo and Closson voted for the motion.On Sept. 1, Acting Commissioner of State Education George Coleman sent a letter ordering the town to provide the school district the additional funds to make up the shortfall or provide a detailed timetable of when the town can pay the additional funds.Coleman set a deadline of Oct. 1 for the town to commit to either of the two options.At a meeting on Sept. 19, the selectmen voted to direct Town Manager Dale Martin to research and develop plans to make up the MBR shortfall.At Monday’s meeting, Martin did not present any plans.Instead, in an interview after the meeting, Martin said that Perez sent a letter to incoming Commissioner of State Education Stefan Pryor.“At this time, the town is unable to provide a response to Commissioner Coleman’s inquiries,” Perez wrote in her letter, which was sent on Sept. 28. “I can assure you the town is taking the issue of the MBR very seriously but can offer no solutions at this time.”At Monday’s meeting, there was an agenda item listed for a discussion of a previous disbursement of funds motion regarding the MBR and the Board of Education.However, that item was taken off the meeting agenda at Beadle’s request. Monday’s meeting is just the latest of the long twists and turns in what has become a prolonged battle between the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Education over the MBR.In late May, residents passed an education budget for fiscal 2011-12 of $18,600,000.The budget, which was developed and recommended by the selectmen, is $1,358,149 below the state’s request for the MBR.On May 2, before the budget vote, the Board of Education officially filed a lawsuit in Litchfield Judicial District Superior Court against the selectmen for cutting $2,820,561 from the school budget.According to the state’s judicial branch website at www.civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov, the last action date of the case was on July 22.On that date, the defendants made a motion to dismiss the case.The court case has not moved any further since then, and according to the website, as of Oct. 1 there are no further court dates scheduled.
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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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