PINE PLAINS — More multi-year projections were given at the Wednesday, March 16, Pine Plains Central School District Board of Education (BOE) meeting, as administrators looked to hammer home the idea that, especially while a property tax cap bill looms in the state Assembly, the proposed budget the board adopts next month will have significant consequences for the years to come.At the board’s request, Superintendent Linda Kaumeyer presented an updated version of a three-year projection of possible school budgets, given the assumption of a bill that would cap the amount that property taxes could increase in a given year by 2 percent.Although the bill has not passed, the most up-to-date information indicates that even if it were passed soon it would probably not take effect until the 2012-13 school year.The most current budget draft coming out of the superintendent’s office represents a 3.996 percent budget-to-budget increase from last year. Under that proposal, the estimated tax levy increase would be 5.396 percent. Last year’s tax levy increase was 7.89 percent, and it only passed by seven votes, at 502 to 495.But following the budget projection numbers given at the meeting, the district would be hit by both the tax cap requirements as well as the loss of nearly $400,000 of federal aid. Assuming that there was no loss in state aid between the two years, the budget-to-budget increase would at maximum be less than a tenth of 1 percent, .007 percent (about $20,000).After that initial drop, the 2013-14 year would be a little easier for the district. Again assuming no change in state aid, the budget could increase by around $420,000 (or about 1.5 percent) while still staying below the 2 percent tax cap.Kaumeyer pointed out that while the district has been very proactive about paying off interest on debt, as well as avoiding borrowing money to purchase buses for the last two years, it may have to think about taking on some of that debt as the budget tightens in years to come.She also pointed out that although the initial reaction to the budget crisis might be to trim the budget now, the implications of the tax cap would mean that the less money in the 2011-12 budget, the tighter the district would have to squeeze to stay under 2 percent the following year.“We’ve worked very hard to reduce the school district’s budget over the years through attrition, including cuts totalling over $900,000 last year,” Kaumeyer pointed out, “without laying anyone off. But if this becomes a reality, there will come a day when that may have to happen.”
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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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