The Lewis Clark Alano Club has been helping local people with alcohol and other drug problems to resume an alcohol and drug free life since the early 1960s. Our mission is to save lives “one day at a time” by providing a safe, clean, supportive and sober environment where recovering alcoholics, drug addicts and their families can work at changing their lives. The Club’s constituency includes teenagers, singles, couples, grandparents, the well-established and the homeless, the employed and the jobless, those referred by the court system and clients and graduates of recovery programs throughout the Lewis Clark Community. The Alano Club’s doors are open 365 days a year, 13 hours a day as a home for more than 40 recovery meetings a week, as a place for sober social gatherings and recreational activities, for sponsors and sponsees to meet, and for holiday gatherings and the celebration of sobriety birthdays. This holiday season, over 150 people gathered on Thanksgiving Day to enjoy a holiday meal prepared by volunteers, and more than 150 people rang in the New Year with a three day sober celebration. Over 4,000 men and women of every age and every walk of life pass through our doorway each month on their way to a better life.
The Alano Club’s doors are open 365 days a year, 13 hours a day as a home for more than 40 recovery meetings a week
The Alano Club serves as a vital 12-Step meeting resource within the recovery network in the Lewis Clark community. Some of the referring entities include the County’s Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Department, the court system, the for-profit and non-profit recovery houses, the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and the Salvation Army. There are other meetings in the community, however these other meetings are held in churches, offices and at other non-profit organizations and limited to the one hour meeting time. There is no other place in this community that is dedicated to housing 12-Step meetings and as a safe and sober refuge for recovering alcoholics and addicts open from 6:30 AM to 9 AM and then 12 PM to 10 PM seven days a week. Often, the people who attend Recovery meetings at the Alano Club have no other place to go. The Alano Club’s role in the recovery community has become especially important now as the Cities of Lewiston & Clarkston faces significant budgetary cuts for services in the departments of alcohol, drug and mental health.
The Alano Club operates all functions by volunteers. They perform the daily maintenance duties around the Club, cleaning the facility and managing the Club’s Café, purchasing and maintaining inventory control of the supplies, collecting fees from the 12-Step meetings, and cooking breakfast every Saturday morning. Board members and committee chairs perform all other organizational duties.
A Brief History of the Lewis Clark Alano Club
1972 - In 1972, there were only two A.A. meetings a week in Lewiston and none in Clarkston. A group of renegades dubbed the "Dirty Dozen" thought more meetings were needed in the area. On February 14, 1972, amidst the broken beer bottles of an old recycling center, the first A.A. meeting was held at 1425 Elm St. in Clarkston, WA. There were three meetings a week
1973 - Sixteen months later, the building was developed into the Lewis & Clark Alano Club.
1975 - There was an explosion of meetings at the Lewis & Clark Alano Club. Noon A.A. meetings were held Monday through Saturday. There was a Sunday 10:00 AM meeting. Meetings were held at 8:00 PM Sunday through Friday.
1981 - Friday, November 13th, a fire destroyed the club building, a treasured old wooden table, and most of the written records of both the club and the Clarkston Roundtable group. Before the smoke cleared, the group had established residence in a little three room out building, once again cleaning out the broken beer and whiskey bottles. Saturday, November 14th, the noon meeting was right on schedule.
1984 - In August, the new building was completed at 1435 Elm St.
2010 - Membership was opened up to anyone working a 12-step program.