Warm Up the Winter campaign concert at The Guthrie Center

Singer and board member Wanda Houston is one of the performers in the lineup for the benefit.

Lee Everett

Warm Up the Winter campaign concert at The Guthrie Center

Local organization Construct is holding its 18th annual campaign to raise funds for wintertime emergency assistance for fuel, utilities and short-term accommodations for unhoused residents in extreme cold conditions. This year, the Southern Berkshire nonprofit aims to raise $150,000.

“The winter months pose serious challenges for many Berkshire households,” said Jane Ralph, Construct’s executive director. “We’ve already experienced a colder and snowier winter than in recent years. We know people will have to choose between heat and prescription medicines or food – choices no one should make.”

The campaign will culminate with a benefit concert on March 6 at The Guthrie Center in Great Barrington. Musical guests include Wanda Houston and Jeff Gonzales in Big and Bigger, Made in Memphis, a youth Elvis tribute band, Wild and Orson Handel, Luke and George Franco, Abe & Annie Guthrie, Jackson Whalan’s improvisational rap, and special guest Doug Mishkin.

Long-time participant and board member Wanda Houston said, “I was invited as a guest to a Construct community fundraiser almost 20 years ago. It was festive, loud, and bright. I was hooked. I have participated almost every year since. In 2020, Construct invited me to join their board. I am so honored to be involved. It is a beautiful organization composed of incredible humans doing incredible things for hard working people.”

Houston’s parents were community organizers in Chicago, where she grew up. She now lives in the Berkshires, and Construct has made her aware of the needs of the community, despite the seemingly idyllic setting.

Organizer and promoter Beth Carlson explained the choice of this year’s venue. “Committee members chose the Guthrie Center for its history in the community (and for community fostering) and the size and convenience for serving food, etc. In addition, we are excited to have Abe and Annie Guthrie performing and Doug Mishkin leading the audience in a rendition of his original song, ‘We are all Woody’s Children’ written in honor of Woody Guthrie.”

Construct has been the leading nonprofit provider of affordable housing and supportive services to south Berkshire County residents in need for over 50 years. With a small, highly skilled staff and committed volunteers, Construct leverages time, talent, money, and long-standing community relationships to support its mission. Providing over 90 permanent, affordable housing options, Construct also offers ten units for individuals transitioning out of homelessness. The bulk of Construct’s annual income comes from individual donors. With this support, Construct helps rebuild security, stability, and hope in the southern Berkshires.

Contributions can be made at constructberkshires.org, by phone to 413-528-1985, or by check payable to Construct, 316A State Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230.

Latest News

Employment Opportunities

LJMN Media, publisher of The Lakeville Journal (first published in 1897) and The Millerton News (first published in 1932), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization.

We seek to help readers make more informed decisions through comprehensive news coverage of communities in Northwest Connecticut and Eastern Dutchess County in New York.

Keep ReadingShow less
Selectmen suspend town clerk’s salary during absence

North Canaan Town Hall

Photo by Riley Klein

NORTH CANAAN — “If you’re not coming to work, why would you get paid?”

Selectman Craig Whiting asked his fellow selectmen this pointed question during a special meeting of the Board on March 12 discussing Town Clerk Jean Jacquier, who has been absent from work for more than a month. She was not present at the meeting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dan Howe’s time machine
Dan Howe at the Kearcher-Monsell Gallery at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
Natalia Zukerman

“Every picture begins with just a collection of good shapes,” said painter and illustrator Dan Howe, standing amid his paintings and drawings at the Kearcher-Monsell Gallery at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. The exhibit, which opened on Friday, March 7, and runs through April 10, spans decades and influences, from magazine illustration to portrait commissions to imagined worlds pulled from childhood nostalgia. The works — some luminous and grand, others intimate and quiet — show an artist whose technique is steeped in history, but whose sensibility is wholly his own.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, and trained at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Howe’s artistic foundation was built on rigorous, old-school principles. “Back then, art school was like boot camp,” he recalled. “You took figure drawing five days a week, three hours a day. They tried to weed people out, but it was good training.” That discipline led him to study under Tom Lovell, a renowned illustrator from the golden age of magazine art. “Lovell always said, ‘No amount of detail can save a picture that’s commonplace in design.’”

Keep ReadingShow less