Duffy's History
Duffy's Napa Valley was started by Gene Duffy in 1967. Gene grew up in a middle class
home in New York, the only Irish kid in a tough Italian neighborhood . As
he grew up, he became quite successful in the construction industry. But
little by little, he began to drink more and more. Not everyone knew it,
but he was an alcoholic. He finally ended up on Chicago skid row.
One day as he sat waiting to give blood so that he could get a few
dollars to buy another drink, someone from AA came up to him, and his life was
changed forever. He started attending meetings, and a miracle happened, he
was sober. He would go on to help many others and always said, "This program
will work if you don't drink, you read that book, and you go to them
meetings. If I had a crystal ball, and told each of you in this room, what
is going to take place in your life in the next few years, if all you do is
this: don't drink, read that book, and go to them meetings. You would not
believe what I say, you would think I am talking crazy."
What
happened in his life led to Duffy's Napa Valley. One day on a flight back from a
construction site in Hawaii, he had a layover in San Francisco, he had been
thinking a lot about what he wanted to do with his life, and that the
construction field didn't seem the place to spend it. He opened up the AA
Thought for the Day book to a random page, it happened to be his
birthday, October 27. The text of the page leapt out at him:
I can help other alcoholics. I am of some use
in the world. I have a purpose in life. I am worth something at last...God
has given me a new lease on life so that I can help other alcoholics. He has
let me live through all the hazards of my alcoholic life to bring me at last
to a place of real usefulness in the world. This is my opportunity and my
destiny...Will I give as much of my life as I can to A.A.?
It was from then on he tried as much as possible to help others who
suffered from the disease of alcoholism. One thing led to another, and he
started a treatment center in partnership with some other people,
unfortunately it
failed, and he was left with only a car and a few dollars to his name.
He was going to leave San Francisco but decided to attend one last AA
meeting. At the meeting another man told him of an old hot springs resort
up in Calistoga, "You should go look at it," he told Duffy. So Duf and his
wife took a trip to Calistoga, they saw a place that needed a lot of work,
but they knew that it had promise. Only problem was, they had no money.
However, Gene went and met with the owners of the resort, an area church.
When the church's deacons heard what his plans were for the place they
decided to let him move in and just pay them rent as he got the money.
So the Duffy family started working furiously to clean the place up, a
month later they took in their first guest. Now more than 40 years later
over 34,000 people have been helped through the work of Gene, his family and
the great staff of Myrtledale.
Gene
told people, "I sorta consider myself, perhaps the luckiest man in AA. I am
not only doing on a daily basis what I have to do to maintain my sobriety,
I am also doing what I want to do. I don't know how much luckier you can
get. Every bit of this is a direct result of practicing the principles of
AA in all my affairs. That is how this place came about. Its essential that
I maintain my sobriety, not only for the good of myself, but for the
opportunity to shed a little goodness in the lives of other people."
The Twelve Promises say you will find a new freedom. Gene Duffy found
his freedom through helping others. We hope you or your loved one can find a
new freedom at Duffy's as well.
Read Gene Duffy's Article -
Why I Work With Alcoholics