A history of the Westside
Club as recalled by George T.
In the early spring of 1981, Doug M. asked Victor
B. why we did not have a club on the West side of Washington DC. Victor's answer
was "We can do that if we don't drink." This came about because DC only
had one club, the Metropolis Club. Other clubs had started in both Virginia and
Maryland.
Doug and Victor approached Glenn T. who had gotten
sober at the Metropolis Club. In the meantime, George T. had been associated with
the Men's Home in Virginia and had some business knowledge necessary for running
a Club for Twelve Step recovery. The four of these men met after the 8:30 meeting
held at Foxhall on Monday night for about six months. Others attended and it was
decided that $5,000.00 in seed money would be needed to open the doors of a new
club in northwest DC. They approached 100 people asking for donations of $50.00
each. When they had collected $2,900.00, they were anxious to start, but someone
encouraged them to stick to their original goal for the money needed to start
a club.
In October of 1981, these four men signed a lease
for $15,000 per year for space in the basement of 2430 Pennsylvania Avenue. The
first meeting brought in six dollars. The entrance for this room was through the
lobby of a hotel, and the hotel asked the club to find another location. In February
of 1983 we moved to the second floor of 1424 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. The original
business structure had to be redone.
In January of 1990 we signed a 5-year lease with
a 5 year option with the American Security Bank for space on the second floor
of 1341 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. There was a three-month construction project to
make the club what it is today. Since this is now a part of the real estate, the
bank gave us free rent for 27 months. There was a period of time when we were
behind in our rent and the bank had issued an eviction notice. Fortunately God
had the right people in the right places and we were able to overcome the situation.
The two strong meetings at the Westside Club, Attitudes
and Actions at 7:00 a.m. and the Bagel Meeting at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays were both
started at this new location at 1431 Wisconsin Avenue.
Like all clubs we live 24 hours at a time.
