SALISBURY — Motions for all three items on the agenda at Salisbury’s special town meeting Thursday, July 21, were passed unanimously. The three items voted on were transferring the funds from the Dr. William Bissell Fund, Inc., to the town of Salisbury; approving the 2011-16 plan for the Local Capital Improvement Program (LoCIP); and the approval of a word change in the Recreation Commission ordinance. There were 12 attendees in addition to First Selectman Curtis Rand and Town Clerk Patty Williams. Charlie Vail was the moderator of the meeting. The motion regarding the Bissell Fund was proposed at the request of the officers of the fund. About $10,000 a year would be saved in investment expenses, fees, insurance and taxes if the assets were held by the town instead of by the nonprofit agency. The officers of the fund had wanted the money transferred by the end of July in order to avoid a $5,000 tax. The fund, which helps Salisbury residents who need help covering medical expenses, currently has $1.3 million and distributes about $50,000 annually. The officers of the fund will continue to decide how the money will be distributed. The motion was passed unanimously. The funds will be held at Salisbury Bank with some town oversight.Rand said in response to a question that distribution of the funds will remain confidential, even once the town takes responsibility for them.A motion was made to make changes to the LoCIP plan. LoCIP funds are granted to towns in Connecticut by the state. Each town must update annually its five-year plan for how to use the funds.The request to change the plan was made because construction of a new baseball field at Trotta Field came in under budget. The revised plan accounts for the money saved from the baseball field, as well as reductions in the estimates of painting and bridgework to be done in the next few years. In answer to a question regarding use of the funds for work done on the wall at Bicentennial Park, Rand explained that the money cannot be used to reimburse the town for work that has already been done.Also approved with unanimity was a change in the wording of the Recreation Commission ordinance. Previously, the ordinance specified a time and place for meetings.A motion was made to amend the first sentence of Section VI so it reads: “The Recreation Commission shall meet regularly.” The motion passed. Because that amendment was not written as such in the call of the meeting or in the newspaper, a motion was made and passed to hold the original amendment as stated in the call “in the event that the amended resolution is found irregular.”
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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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