Fitchburg Serenity Club

Fitchburg Serenity Club is proud to welcome Brian C. as our third Director-At-Large. This position was recently left vacant by Laurie A. We thank Laurie for her dedicated service in her time as a board member.

If you have been at the clubhouse within the past few months, you have no doubt seen or met Brian doing any number of tasks, from leading a meeting or wiping down tables, to helping a newcomer to find the resources they need. He’s been a constant presence at the clubhouse prior to and throughout the Safer-At-Home order. As our newest Director-At-Large, Brian will continue to put his hospitality gifts to work in service to our members. 

Brian was raised in Madison and has recently relocated here after life and work took him around the country for a while. We are grateful to have him back in Madison, in the rooms at FSC, wearing his ever-present cologne of disinfectant solution. 

In his short time as a board member, Brian’s been a quick study on how FSC functions behind the scenes and has become a key part of creating and maintaining our space. Brian’s career includes running a large nightclub for many years which taught him a lot about physical building management and creating strong relationships with municipal and community stakeholders. Anyone who’s met him can attest to his strong people skills and deep concern that every group operating at FSC has the support it needs to provide maximum service to those in need of help. 

Please join me in welcoming Brian C. to the FSC Board as Director-At-Large.

On May 28, the Fitchburg Serenity Club Board met to discuss the topic of facial coverings as part of the clubhouse guidelines as our Dane County community reopens. This special meeting was called based on recent feedback received from members. We care very much about ALL our members, and we wanted to have a thoughtful, intentional discussion on this particular topic. The board decided to maintain its current position of recommending, not requiring, facial coverings at FSC.

Signage regarding guidelines is posted at the entrance and throughout the clubhouse (photo above). Language in the full-length version of the guidelines has been updated to specify the following: “Facial Coverings: Are recommended (optional) to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As supplies permit, we will provide disposable masks and hand sanitizer at the FSC entrance for use as desired by members and attenders.” Previously, this had not included the word “recommended”, but simply indicated that masks and gloves were not required.

The board’s decision both last night and prior about guidelines is based on what we infer from CDC and Dane County guidelines about prevention of COVID-19. At this link, for individual community members, the CDC “recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”

The Forward Dane plan outlined by Madison & Dane County Public Health asks individual community members to “Follow public health recommendations and population-level prevention strategies, such as maintaining physical distancing and wearing cloth face coverings.”

Crystal clear, right? For individual community members. What’s far less clear is whether community organizations like FSC should require anyone who enters the building to wear facial coverings. We know that we are not equipped to enforce such a policy while our local government does not mandate the wearing of facial coverings. If Wisconsin were to become like one of the five states currently requiring masks in public, we would have a different discussion.

Consider that FSC is not staffed like a healthcare operation or a local business to enforce wearing facial coverings, nor do we believe we could or should. As just one example, what would we say to a newcomer entering the building not wearing a mask, but desperately needing their first meeting?

The FSC Board is also guided by our purview as a clubhouse. We are a facility in which 12-Step recovery meetings take place, not a meeting group. Individual meeting groups wanting to use the space have a number of options for in-person meetings if they choose to, including the following:

• Take a group conscience vote within your individual meeting to determine if masks will be required in that meeting. You can do this daily or as a way of operating the meeting for the time being.
• Start a mask-only meeting at the clubhouse (FSC has the space available and would gladly publicize this meeting on our FSC meeting schedule).
• Gather outside at any number of provided seating areas (picnic tables, firepit, other provided outdoor seating on the lower grounds of the clubhouse)
• Start a “hybrid” meeting where those meeting in person and those meeting on Zoom can be accommodated together. We are happy to accommodate hybrid meetings if such a need arises by a meeting group.

If you have questions, you can contact the board at any time by approaching an individual board member or emailing board@fitchburgserenityclub.com.

The walkway from the lower parking lot (Roger’s Way, currently stone pavers) will be replaced with cement steps and a handrail in the coming weeks to improve the look and safety of the grounds for our members and attenders. In addition, the cement steps (currently crumbling) by the sidewalk will be replaced. The flat sidewalk from the upper parking lot to the entrance will remain. Here is a schedule for construction. Please note that weather may require this schedule to be adjusted as we go.

Demo starts 5/21.

Concrete complete (rough grade and steps) 6/5.

Handrail installed by mid-July.

Finish grade and seeding by mid-July.

Those parking in the lower parking lot should plan to walk up the hill in the parking lot during construction. Thank you for your patience while the project is underway.