As part of my orientation to Winsted, I am meeting individually with various officials. It is important to open and cultivate communications in a formal setting to build upon everyday casual conversations. I hope to use these conversations to develop a vision and direction for the town.I have asked each of the selectmen and the department supervisors to prepare a series of six cards for me. On the first card, I want to know, if money was no object, what project or program each official would like to see pursued. I believe that it is critical that we dream, that we hope and plan for better times. We have to have long-term goals. In some cases, knowing what is hoped for can help guide smaller efforts to take full advantage of unforeseen opportunities.On the next two cards, I want to know, in their minds, what are the two most pressing problems. These problems can be departmental or town-related. I want to learn what is holding us back, what issues are the obstacles on their minds. Will these issues be similar between the elected officials and the town staff? Are the elected officials aware of the staff concerns and vice versa? Until I can understand the specific problems from the perspective of the officials who have served longer and are more familiar with the community than I, I cannot properly develop policy recommendations to the selectmen or offer direction to the staff.The final three cards should include small-scale projects that can easily be addressed. During these difficult economic times, we need to seize as many small victories as possible. We need to demonstrate that we are continuing to make efforts, however small, to improve the town’s quality of life and services. We need these accomplishments to build confidence and trust in town government.Once I have everyone’s cards, I want to put them all on a wall in my office. I want a strong visual reminder of the hopes, issues and projects that are on our leaders’ minds. As we address each issue, I can note our success or failure appropriately with each card. Some people have taken a certain amount of pleasure in telling me of the town’s past failures, big and small. I want to be able to share our successes with residents and other interested people.I will share these issues — our successes, and, yes, our failures — by engaging as many people as possible. This past week, I was invited to speak at the monthly Rotary Club meeting and at the monthly community dinner at the United Methodist Church. I try to walk as frequently as possible throughout town, whether it is next door to the post office or a longer walk to the drugstore or restaurants. I will politely try to greet as many people as I can, and, if you have a thought or comment that you wish to share with me, please do so. I may not be able to immediately address your issue, but I will note your contact information and be in touch with you once I can properly respond.If you would like me to speak to an organization, please contact me at Town Hall. I can share general thoughts with you or, if you have a topic of specific interest, I can do my best to address that issue. I still have much to learn as to how things are done here in Connecticut, but it sure has been an exciting first two months.I still believe that we have wonderful and untapped opportunities in Winsted. We need to work together and pull in the same direction rather than simply pulling at each other. Things will change, but it will take time and a renewed commitment from everyone interested in being part of our renaissance.Dale L. Martin is the town manager in Winchester.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided
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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