MILLBROOK — “I think the greatest loss would be that children would not have access to an excellent education. There would be a great hole in this area if we were not here,” said Rosalie Fegan, principal of St. Joseph School.The Archdiocese of New York released its list of 26 regionalized, parish and Archdiocesan elementary schools that are at risk of closure in June 2013, including Millbrook’s St. Joseph School. Since finding out the tough news the St. Joseph’s administration, parish, parents and community have taken immediate action to ensure it remains a part of the Millbrook community.“We are looking at raising $5 million with pledges over the next five years,” said Fegan. “Our parents have stepped up to the plate; they have been wonderful and have great ideas on how to make contact with potential donors. Our teachers are supportive of the plan.”There are two levels of giving that encompass St. Joseph’s plan. St. Joseph is in need of 500 donors to donate $2,000 each year over the next five years, which would give St. Joseph the money it needs to stay open. Fegan said the school is aware that some people cannot afford that amount and some can donate much more. People can pledge an annual contribution of less than $2,000 as well. Anyone can pledge to help St. Joseph School. Fegan said they have received support from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends of families. All pledge information is on the school’s website or potential pledgers can call the school and talk to Fegan about pledging.“The support has really energized us and made us really feel that this is something we can accomplish together,” said Fegan. St. Joseph is getting creative in its attempts to save the school; the husband of a teacher even donated a cash machine. The cash machine is located in the front entrance of the school and Fegan said that students have been dumping all their change into the machine. The cash machine alone has received almost $2,000 in two days. St. Joseph plans to contact local businesses and with the businesses’ consent have the cash machine in their space for a day or two on behalf of St. Joseph.“Our parents are great but they can’t do it all by themselves,” said Fegan. “They really need community help and if we can raise the funds we need, we will be able to sustain ourselves for many years to come.”St. Joseph School serves seven school districts, including Dover, Amenia, Pawling, Rhinebeck and Red Hook. St. Joseph School currently has 140 students enrolled however it has the capacity for 300 students.“The gap between what we take in in tuition and what our expenses are is getting wider as expenses go up,” said Fegan. “One thing we are doing to bridge that gap besides this financial pledge is more aggressive recruiting, which our parents are taking on as part of their work.”Parishioner tuition at St. Joseph School is $3,592 per year for one child, for kindergarten through eighth grade. Tuition for non-parishioners is $4,992 a year for one child in kindergarten through eighth grade. St. Joseph receives scholarships for their students from the New York Catholic Foundation. Over the past three years the number of children on scholarship has risen from six to 18.St. Joseph School has until Dec. 30 to secure the pledges it needs; it currently has 70. No money is required at this time; the money is not needed until September of 2013 and if the school is closed no money will be accepted. The New York State Archdiocese will make its decision in early January on whether the school will remain open. Until then the school is staying positive and everyone down to the youngest student is doing his or her part to help.“I had a little girl who came in yesterday and she said. ‘Mrs. Fegan, I earned $2 and I want to donate it to the school,’” said Fegan. “I said, ‘Why don’t you give me a dollar and you keep the other dollar?’ She said ‘Why would I do that?’ I said, ‘Because you earned it so buy something for yourself.’ She said ‘I don’t need anything I want my school to stay open.’”
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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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