• to Grand Duchess Cookie Dough, Grand Duke Jason Halsted, Queen of Hearts Olivia Hart, former Miss Gold Rush Rotissary Ethnicity Jackson-houston Ross and the entire Ducal Court of San Francisco for raising nearly $7,000 in the last year to Keep the Steps in the Castro 
• to the 100 CCC volunteers at San Francisco Pride who earned about $2,500 to Keep the Steps in the Castro
• to all our volunteers -- and in particular the many volunteers at Up Your Alley and for the upcoming Folsom Street Fair and Castro Street Fair who will doubtless earn much more to Keep the Steps in the Castro
• to our many supporters who patronize the CCC cafe and meetings  
• to our benefactor Baker Places for helping to underwrite our operating budget while we direct our energies toward raising funds to Keep the Steps in the Castro!  

And special thanks to this summer's new and renewing CCC members:

• Trudgers ($10/month or $100 annually): Hank B, Wayne R, Clay M, Thomas A, Pamela L, Maria C, Joey M, Marilyn K, Tim H, Pamela B, Basil G, Cynthia H, and Sid W  
• Happy ($25/month or $250 annually): Carlos P, Jimmy J, Joseph M, Robert T, Jennifer S, Ed DeB, Thomas C, Terry B, and Michael M
• Joyous ($50/month or $500 annually): Thomas H, Jodi G, James H, Diane S, and Joseph M
• Free ($100/month or $1000 annually): Crispin H 

We began our membership drive just one year ago and we now have over 100 dues-paying members. If you are a new or a renewing member, please be sure to stop by the Club and pick up your CCC Fellowship Card which you may redeem for very cool thank you gifts!  

For information about becoming a CCC supporting member, please visit www.castrocountryclub.org and click on "donate now." For questions about renewing memberships, please email info@castrocountryclub.org.

An update from the desk of the CCC manager... 

After taking the Castro Country Club building off the market for several months, the Trust which is administering the late landlord's estate for the three nonprofit beneficiaries (St Anthony's Foundation, Salvation Army, and the SPCA) has now decided to put the building back on the market for $1.2M. This is $500, 000 less than the initial listing in summer 2010.  

Will the "for sale" sign continue to adorn the front of the building for another year or longer while we continue to pay rent to these three nonprofits?  

The CCC community has raised over $150,000 in hopes of purchasing this humble 1901 Victorian -- spiritual home for the LGBT  recovery community of San Francisco for 28 years -- but this is not enough to make a sufficient downpayment plus an estimated $300,000 in seismic retrofitting and other necessary repairs.    

Over the last year, we've made a number of overtures to the current owners. We've made a generous lease-to-buy offer. We've offered to purchase the building for the full asking price if the current owners would temporarily carry the financing. We asked if one of the beneficiaries would buy out the other two and continue to lease to us. A few months ago, we even lined up a generous supporter who offered to buy the building outright for $1M in cash.  

All these offers were refused. It is unfortunate that the current owners of the building are so deeply intransigent in their unwillingness to explore options which could be beneficial to all parties. We hope this changes, and soon. While we've had some success in raising funds, major donors have been reluctant to support our capital campaign while the building is listed for sale.  

Regardless of these challenges, we will keep on fighting. We will continue to raise funds through community events and memberships, as well as coffee sales and meeting room rentals. And if we are not successful in securing and rehabilitating this building, we will use our building fund to secure a new home in the Castro where alcoholics and addicts may continue to find and help and celebrate one another in recovery. 

With your continued support, even if we lose the steps out front, we have faith that we will surely Keep the Steps in the Castro.