North Shores Alano Club

In 1966, the club was located on the corner of Cass and Felspar next to the Cass Street Bar & Grill. The club’s original building is now a small restaurant. During its tenure at the first site, the club hosted about 35 members and their guests and was home to frequent meetings and events.

In 1968, as the club’s membership continued to grow, Russ J., a retired bank president and long-time member of A.A., and Bill N., a real estate broker and fairly new member to the fellowship, combined their professional skills to provide the leadership necessary to accomplish what many, including some of the current old-timers, said couldn’t be done.

About 72 members of a small A.A. club with little funding and resources decided to buy the land where the current North Shores Alano Club now stands. What followed was a plan to build a financial plan, raise capital, identify an architect and builder, and secure a lender.

The method of selling building bonds or notes was chosen as the mechanism to raise money. The largest bond was $1,000 and the smallest was $25 with the goal to raise $20,000 - a substantial sum at that time. The bonds were printed, and sales began in June of 1968. By November of that same year, the bonds were sold and the lot, which was to become the club’s new home was purchased. The lender, Home Federal, was the landlord and there were no individual names on the mortgage as instruments of personal liability. Officers of the club signed the mortgage and Leo Mizyak was selected as the builder.

When the North Shores Alano Club new building finally opened in 1969 it was the third Alano Club in the greater San Diego area, accompanied by the San Diego and El Cajon Alano Clubs. However, it prized it's own distinction as being the only club originally designed and built as an alano club. The new club quickly became the center of A.A. in San Diego County, remaining so for years to come. The North Shores Alano Club’s has influenced the development of other such clubs around the country.

Over the decades, tens, of thousands of recovering alcoholics have passed through the doors and many can look back at the North Shores Alano Club as the place where they began "trudging the road of happy destiny". For them, the club is more than just a meeting place; it has been, and continues to be a major contribution to both their sobriety and health and vital lives they live today.

We hope you will take an interest in supporting the North Shores Alano Club and consider becoming a member, whether you attend regular meetings or simply enjoy the club's distinctive warmth and atmosphere. As we strive to make the club more inviting to potential members, we welcome your suggestions to make the club a place in which you can enjoy and remain active.