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A Brief History Of Suburban North Alana (Osseo AA) 

by Stan A 

Osseo AA was started in the early 1960's by a small group of AA members from the Robbinsdale 
AA Club. They wanted to start AA in the Osseo area, so they split off and started meetings in 
the members' homes. 
When the present club property came on the market in foreclosure, the founders purchased it 
from the lien holder for the amount of the mortgage, about $7500.00. 
The original group consisted of Lyle Swanson, Fritz Tuftedal, Clarence and Ann Born, Bob 
Sparks, Paul Zophi, and two or three others, who I can't remember. 
The building was originally a two room elementary school in the Village of Maple Grove. The 
school was vacated in the 1950's and students were bused to Osseo. An Investor purchased the 
property and made it into two apartments. 
The founders proceeded to clean out the building and do some remodeling to obtain two squad 
rooms on the first floor. 
I joined the group in 1963 and at that time there were about 8 members and finances were very 
tight. The founders had incorporated the property but had not filed for tax exempt status for 
either Federal or State. I went back to the original date of incorporation and using receipts and 
checks, brought the accounting up to date, and filed all necessary tax forms for the four previous 
years. 
During the next several years we got new members from the court system, and some walk in 
individuals looking for help. As the membership increased, the need for more squad rooms was 
evident. The largest of the squad rooms also served as the General Meeting room and class 
room for orientation of the new members. The basement was therefore cleaned and remodeled 
for the general meeting room. The large room upstairs was equipped with a sling partition and 
created a 3rd squad room. But in time this was not sufficient to house about 20 squads, plus 
an Alanon group and an Alateen group. An addition was added to the rear of the building giv- 
ing the club two additional squad rooms and storage below for the tables and chairs, which is 
the structure of the building today. 
Members of Suburban North split off and started AA Clubs in Rogers and Elk River. 
When I first made contact with AA in 1958, I was 27 years old and referred to as the kid. Now 
our membership is made up in part with very young members, and most of dual addiction. The 
younger members go through a period of changing the procedure of AA which has worked from 
the beginning. It's the old saying, "If It Works, Don't Fix It". Bill W. once said "If you try to be 
everything to everybody you will fail. I have no fear that our primary goal should be sustained, 
that is to help the suffering alcoholic." 
Sincerely, 
Stan A. 
Suburban North Alano 

"One Day at a Time" 

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