Dorothy’s Story

The day I finally had enough I called Central office, they told me the nearest meeting to my home was the Alano Club of San Jose, but they wouldn’t recommend going there because they allowed addicts in the Club.  Since I was on marijuana maintenance at the time, after all I wasn’t going to quit drinking forever, just dry up enough so I could drink like a lady and my connection had suddenly been struck clean and sober and was attending AA meetings, the idea of a Club that catered to some addicts sounded good to me.

I don’t know what kind of a building I expected, but it sure wasn’t an old school house.  At the time a member named Tuffy had attended grammar school in this building.

The sun was shining but the spring rains had left the sparsely graveled parking lot a big mud hole, as I parked my car I thought I’d never get out of there.  Little did I know nineteen years later I’d still be parking in the now paved parking lot!

When I walked in, it looked like a club all right, a few men setting around listening to the juke box, a man on crutches, his leg in a cast, tending bar.  He introduced himself as Dave and poured me a half-cup of coffee and told me a meeting would be starting shortly in the next room and there would be no charge for the coffee.  I figured that is why he only gave me half a cup.  I learned later that was a “new-comer” cup of coffee, and we all laughed sixteen years later when a stroke left me unable to hold a full cup of coffee and the counter help would tell me they were giving me a “new-comers cup”.

The coffee room wasn’t much to look at, at the time.  Two round hatch-cover tables in the center, a couch, a few wobbly bar stools and the booths.  The drapes were dusty and a little tattered, the walls needed painting and held no pictures.  Later Toni S., a member of the board of directors, who owned a decorating business, donated striped draperies and a plaid wall paper that had been ordered by a customer who had changed his mind about plaids and stripes.  I don’t remember a TV until about two years later when someone gave us a very old, very used set.  We weren’t into watching TV, we were into recovery.

There was a sign on one the round tables stating it was a Hospitality Table, Glenn Gobal always held court at that table.  Glenn told me that unless a person was a member of the Club they could not come into or be served in that room, they had to order their food and coffee at the window where the glass bookcase is now, unless a Club member invited them in.

Like all new-comers and some old timers, I could not separate AA from the Club, and since they said at meetings “We have no dues or fees” I could not understand why I should pay to join the Club.  About four months later it finally got through to me that if people didn’t pay dues, there would be no Club, so I parted with my three dollars and was assigned badge #28.  I have since become a Lifetime member and still wear my badge most of the time.

My “normie” non-AL Anon husband had become addicted to the steak and eggs Sunday breakfast and since the rule was “No badge, No service” he paid his three dollars and was assigned badge #29.  Irv L., with his racing forms under his arm, Sue and Ralph S., Vince Mc., Don P., Les P., Hank C., Richard G., Joe M., and Glenn G. often joined us on Sunday morning for good food and fellowship before the meeting.  About that time swinging doors were installed to keep the non-members out of the coffee room, once those doors came down the member/non-member prices were introduced.  Some people still fuss about the pricing, but the paid up member should have a few privileges.

Shortly after I became a member the front door was kicked in and the safe was robbed. At that time a burglar alarm was installed and a person was hired for room and board to sleep in the downstairs room to act as janitor and watchman.

The unofficial greeter was Snowball, a long hared white cat who lived at the Club. She demanded all who came to the door pet her. She attended the noon meetings daily. She would come into the meeting room about five minutes before the meeting began, lay down in the chairperson’s chair and get an attitude when you put her on the floor. The day she had kittens, she came in late and plopped down in the middle of the room with the “Boy, do I need a meeting.” attitude.

Heritage dinners were semi-formal, the dress has become more casual, but the Heritage dinners were and still are a good place to meet the people who really care about the Club.

Early in my sobriety the Club had free picnics away from the Club, the Club furnished the meat and sodas and the members brought salads, deserts, etc. The Club picnics were always a good time to show the newcomer that you can have fun clean and sober.

There were poker games going almost non-stop in the back-room, we had lots of complaining when the Al-Anon meeting disrupted the game. In the early eighties card playing gave way to poker machines and tear offs. The Club was riding high, rolling in the money from the poker machines until the police came, said we had illegal gambling devices and arrested the manager.

We’ve had weddings, funerals, baby showers, and Super Bowl parties, pot luck dinners, the list could go on ad infinitum. Our Club is now the home of the annual Women In Recovery Day and the planning committee of the 35th International AA Women’s Conference.

The Club has grown and is keeping up with the times and needs of the people who come here. In ’79 we had 14 AA and two Al-Anon meetings per week. Now NA, CA, OA, SA. CODA 12 Step programs have all found a home here.

The roof no longer leaks. The plumbing works, most of the time, the wiring is up to code, the black ceiling has been changed, the crystal ball, that was installed during the first month of my sobriety, still spins at dances and Jerry is still the best DJ. The steps that were painted by a member and survived the fire at the location on Almaden Ave. now hang above the stage. A beautiful mural reflecting the Unity, Service and Recovery of all the 12 step programs who have found their way to our room now graces the north side of the meeting room.

Since ’51 the Club has been a home to people who just want to hang out as well as the dedicated few who work so hard keeping the doors open for all. Won’t it be nice if the “hanger outers” joined the Club and actually participated instead of just complaining?

In ’79 the motto of the Alano Club was “If it’s for AA we are for it”. In ’96 the motto was changed to “If it’s for Recovery, we’re for it” to better reflect the needs of the people coming here seeking a safe place to recover.

The people from the Club have been there and supported me since the first day I walked up the steps and I hope I’m around another nineteen years to carry the message of recovery and fellowship that is found here.

I’m proud to be a member of the Alano Club of San Jose.

Dorothy F. Badge #28