MILLERTON — Over the course of the last few years, Millerton’s own American Legion Post 178 has, as part of its Memorial Day program, conducted a killed-in-action tribute to recognize the sacrifice of the families of our local community throughout our nation’s wars. Starting in 2008 with the recognition of Tech. Sgt. Gilbert S. Tabor, a combat medic who was killed in action in the closing months of World War II, the program has also recognized Pfc. Bradley J. Simmons, who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1969, Pvt. Martin Dean, who was killed in action in Korea in 1951, and last year, Airman 1st Class Zachary Cuddeback, who was killed in action in 2011 during the current War on Terror.This year’s Memorial Day program will be no different, with American Legion Post 178 recognizing the sacrifice of Pfc. Richard A. Flinn, who was killed in action in France during the early weeks of the Normandy Campaign in 1944. The story that will follow in The Millerton News in the next few weeks is one that parallels hundreds of thousands of other young men and women who throughout our nation’s history have answered our nation’s call to serve in the Armed Forces. Putting aside the comforts of home in order to put on a uniform and take up arms in our nation’s defense, many of these stories have been lost to the ages. This tribute is in part one way Post 178 is working to make sure that not all of these stories are lost, but remembered in the hearts and minds of a grateful community and nation.Where the story begins ...Richard A. Flinn was born on Feb. 8, 1921, to Arnold and Mildred Flinn, at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, Mass. His father, Arnold Flinn, married Richard’s mother, Mildred Pixley, in Millerton, shortly after his return from France following World War I, in 1919. His father Arnold served as a soldier as part of B Co., 1-308th Infantry Regiment, the famed “Lost Battalion” where he later received two Purple Hearts for wounds he received during his service. Flinn was a member of American Legion Post 178 as well as the World War I Veterans Organization in Copake.Richard grew up in the hamlet of Shekomeko in the town of North East and attended the Pine Plains Central School. He worked for Donald Payne on his stock farm located on Silver Mountain at the time of his enlistment. His younger brother, Darwin Flinn, now 80, and living in Clinton Corners, has a few memories of his brother. He noted in a recent interview that Richard enlisted not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and while on leave spent a lot of time at the family homestead in Shekomeko. He fondly remembers that “Richard enjoyed rolling his own cigarettes.”To be continued next week. Sean Klay is the current post historian at American Legion Post 178. He holds a B.A. in history from Westfield State University and is a captain in the U.S. Army.
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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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