South County Alano Club
In the beginning, AA meetings were held in private homes. They were closed meetings, requiring that you have a sponsor bring you to them. As AA grew this became a somewhat awkward and undependable method as hosts of these meetings moved, spun off the program, or simply tired of the imposition of a weekly meeting in their home. Long before the 1955 adoption of the Traditions, the idea of AA Clubs was formulated. This implementation was necessary in order to provide a fixed social setting where regular meetings could be held, and where a newcomer could be provided with safe refuge and support.
As Bill stated in a 1947 publication of the AA Grapevine:
"The club idea has become part of AA life. Scores of these hospitable havens can report years of useful service; new ones are being started monthly. Were a vote taken tomorrow on the desirability of clubs a sizable majority of AA's would record a resounding "yes." There would be thousands who would testify that they might have had a harder time staying sober in their first months of AA without clubs and in any case, they would always wish for the easy contacts and warm friendship which clubs afford."
Bill further stated some of the strong objections of the minority and ultimately presented a middle ground approach. This appears to be the foundation of our Tradition 6, adopted in 1995, which states:
"Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to AA should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. An AA group, as such, should never go into business. Secondary aids to AA, such as clubs or hospitals, which require much property or administration, ought to be incorporated and so set apart that if necessary, they can be freely discarded by the groups. ..."
The purpose of the South County Alano Club is to provide the dependable, safe and stable environment for AA meetings, and as Bill W. stated "... for the easy contacts and warm friendship which clubs afford."
We do need your help and support today ... won't you join us, and offer your financial help with a membership today?
Thank you,
2001 Alano Club Board of Directors
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South County Alano Club