CORNWALL — At least this time, the cows were not put off their milking. A wayward driver slammed into the corner of a barn at Stone Wall Dairy Farm on Route 7 in Cornwall March 5. Farmer and property owner Chris Hopkins said a support pole at the north end of the barn was hit and that the wall was moved about an inch to the west by the force of the impact.William Morehouse, 48, of Sharon, and a Cornwall resident until recently, was driving north on Route 7 that afternoon. Just before 3 p.m., he came upon a car stopped in front of him. Driver Christine Franks, 37, of South Kent was signaling and preparing to turn left into the farm, which sells raw milk and other items. Morehouse passed Franks on the left, in a no passing zone. The 2001 GMC pickup truck, registered to Adrian Selby of Cornwall, sideswiped the 2003 GMC Suburban. It continued into the farm where it crashed into the barn. Hopkins has been at the farm for about six years. This is the second time that corner of the barn, which sits close to the road at an angle, has been hit. “The last time was in the morning while we were milking. There was a big crash. The cows were pretty upset. I wasn’t home this time.”The barn is used for storing hay and equipment, and seems not to be severely damaged, he said.The last time, there wasn’t a foundation under it, so when the support pole was knocked out, the damage was worse. A lot of improvements have been made to the barn since, including the installation of solar panels. Hopkins is waiting on the insurance adjustor to make an inspection and has been advised to have the solar voltaic system checked. Otherwise, it has not disrupted his business.Police reported Morehouse left the scene. He was arrested when he returned to remove items from the severely damaged truck. Hopkins said a neighbor told him Morehouse had walked up the road to his home and was covered in blood. The neighbor said the driver seemed to be trying to avoid adding to his arrest record; his license was already under suspension for driving under the influence. Franks was not injured. The Suburban, registered to J&J Log Lumber Corp., sustained damage to the left front quarter panel. Morehouse was charged with operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, failure to drive right, unsafe passing, evading responsibility and interfering with an investigation. He is to appear in Bantam Superior Court March 19.
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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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