About Us
The Robber's Roost Men’s Group is a group of recovered alcoholics and drug addicts who meet regularly to carry the Alcoholics Anonymous message to those who still suffer.
Our members come from all walks of life. Some are wealthy and some of us are broke. Some come from fine families and others grew up on the streets. We have cops, firemen, investors, mechanics, doctors, truck drivers, and lawyers. We have the bank president, the bank teller, and the bank robber.
Some of our members have been clean and sober for over 50 years, and some only have a few hours.
Our group is a little different from many AA groups, so it is not for everyone. We believe that alcoholism is a disease that includes the abuse of many things, not just alcohol. The vast majority of our members abused drugs in addition to alcohol, so if you don’t want to hear about drugs, then this isn’t the meeting for you. If you think it’s ok to smoke pot or abuse prescription drugs and still call yourself sober, please take your message elsewhere.
Our group meets every Friday night at 7pm, year-round, including holidays. You can find us at the Wildwood United Methodist Church, 300 Mason St, Wildwood, Florida 34785.
History
According to Wikipedia, The Robber’s Roost was an outlaw hideout in southeastern Utah used mostly by Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch gang in the closing years of the Old West.
The original Robber’s Roost AA group was started in 1998 in Vista, California by Scotty A., Pete H., Billy B., Jack L., Horatio G., Albert G., and Kip C. Like many meetings, it is said that the meeting was started with a resentment and a coffee pot. The guys felt that the AA message in their area was being “watered down.” Watered down how? A huge influx of addicts were being sent to AA meetings by treatment centers and the court system. The AA message was being lost in all the treatment center lingo that these people had heard. The guys wanted something more hard core and true to the original AA message found in the 12 steps.
In the beginning, to attend a Robber’s Roost meeting, a member had to be invited by their sponsor. The meetings were first held in Scotty’s living room, and then in a tent in his backyard. The meetings were not published in any meeting guide. The meetings were grounded in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Members were expected to be solution oriented, not just whining about their problems. Talk of drugs or addiction was not tolerated. Over time, the meeting moved to a hall in the mall and various other venues. Today there are regularly over 100 attendees weekly in San Marcos, CA.
Word about this hard core AA meeting in California began to spread and charter meetings started to pop up around the country. There are currently about seven different Robber’s Roost groups meeting regularly.
The Central Florida Robber’s Roost meeting was started in much the same way as the Vista meeting, though for different reasons. We too had a resentment and a coffee pot. In our area the AA message wasn’t being watered down, the message really wasn't being carried to newcomers at all. Almost everyone in our area's meetings had decades of sobriety and the few newcomers that we saw were quickly scared away.
A few of us decided that we needed to come up with a new kind of meeting, grounded in service, that would carry the AA message to those that are suffering today. We saw newcomers dying. We saw people in the AA fellowship abusing prescription drugs or smoking pot and claiming to be "sober." We decided to recognize out in the open that for many of us, our alcoholism also included drug use; that we must abstain from alcohol and drugs in order to recover. We respect our AA traditions and we identify as alcoholics in our meeting.
The Central Florida Robber’s Roost Meeting was started in 2018 by Oscar H., Mark D., Paul G., Ed Y., and John H. The first several meetings were at Paul G.’s house. For a few months, we met at a little bakery in Wildwood. Eventually we ended up at the Wildwood United Methodist Church where we have stayed for several years. Today we carry the AA message to around 75 members every week