Canyon Ranch Lenox
12 Step Meeting is Ending on October 1, 2026
Dear Friends,
I wanted you to hear this from me personally.
After a great deal of thought and many conversations, Canyon Ranch has made the difficult decision that the sun will set on our Lenox 12-Step Meeting. Our final meeting will be held on Thursday, October 1.
When I came to Canyon Ranch nearly 41 years ago, broken and desperate, I never imagined recovery would give me a life rich enough that one day I would have the privilege of writing this letter. Canyon Ranch helped save my life. For the past sixteen years, it has been one of the greatest honors of my recovery to help carry the message here in Lenox.
I know this news will be disappointing for many of us. Please know this decision is absolutely no reflection on any of you. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Every one of you has helped create something truly extraordinary—a deeply loving, welcoming, and authentic recovery community that has touched far more lives than we will ever fully know. Rather than focus on the ending, I’d rather celebrate what we have built together.
Sixteen years ago, I could never have imagined what a small group of recovering people would grow into. Together, we’ve created a family. From the very beginning, this was never intended to be just an AA meeting. It became an open 12-Step fellowship, where people from AA, Al-Anon, Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA), Emotions Anonymous/EDA, Overeaters Anonymous and other food recovery fellowships, and many other 12-Step programs were welcomed with open arms. Whatever our particular addictions, compulsions, or family experiences, we discovered that our similarities were far greater than our differences. That spirit of inclusion became one of the hallmarks of this community.
Over the years, we have welcomed thousands of guests, family members, employees, and local community members into our circle. We have shared laughter, tears, milestones, and moments of profound honesty. Most importantly, we have carried the message of hope that was so freely given to us.
Because of your willingness to show up, to listen, and to say, “Keep coming back,” countless people found hope when they needed it most. This meeting has always been about one person helping another. Week after week, Year after year, Together, we’ve created a community where people could walk in feeling alone and leave knowing they weren’t. That’s a remarkable legacy, and one that no one can ever take away.
I’d like to offer special thanks to Lynn Meaney and Rob Falk, who stood beside me almost from the very beginning. They were our first volunteers. They believed in this vision before anyone knew what it might become, and they helped build the foundation of everything that followed. Their friendship, commitment, and service have meant more to me than I can adequately express. A very special thanks also to Mike Kaczmarski who took over the stewardship that Rob and Lynn so wonderfully carried for so many years (14 years). Mike, combined with a wonderful leadership committee consisting of Shawn Harrington, Susan Ratcliffe, Peter Wassyng, Lisa Roberts, and Diane Dillon, made it possible for the meeting to seamlessly continue as service positions rotated.
I also want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Zuckerman family, whose vision created Canyon Ranch and made it possible for recovery to have a home here. Their belief that emotional and spiritual healing belong alongside physical wellness allowed this meeting to take root and flourish.
I would also like to thank the Goff family for their stewardship of Canyon Ranch and for continuing that commitment to healing.
A very warm thank you to Mark Rivers, our CEO, and Werner Mostert, Executive Vice President, for their unwavering support of this meeting over the years. As attendance naturally declined, they continued to believe in the value of what we were doing and gave us every opportunity to keep carrying the message of recovery. Their kindness, encouragement, and support have meant a great deal to all of us, and I am deeply grateful.
As we prepare for our final meeting, I would love to hear from each of you. What memories stand out? Which moments touched your heart? Are there stories that should be shared and remembered? I would also welcome your ideas for how we can celebrate this community and honor the sunset of a meeting that has meant so much to so many. If you’d like to share a memory, reflection, or suggestion—or if you plan to attend our final meeting and the virtual gathering afterward—please let us know by September 25 by emailing me at 5pmmeeting@gmail.com so we can plan accordingly.
Between now and October 1, I look forward to seeing many of you at our remaining Lenox meetings. I hope to join as many as I can, and I hope you will too. Let’s make these next few weeks a celebration of gratitude, fellowship, and the miracle of recovery. Although the Lenox meeting is coming to a close, our recovery community is not.
I want to extend an open invitation to all of you to join us at the Canyon Ranch Tucson 12-Step Meeting, which meets every evening at 5:00 p.m. Arizona time (all information is at https://www.5pmmeeting.com/). We use the same Zoom link as Lenox, so it couldn’t be easier to stay connected. Whether you join occasionally or become a regular, you will always have a seat waiting for you. And if your travels ever bring you to Tucson, please come visit us. We would be honored to welcome you in person, and if you’re willing, we would love to invite you to share your experience, strength, and hope with our community.
Recovery has no finish line, and neither do friendships.
I hope this isn’t goodbye. I hope it’s simply, “I’ll see you down the road.”
Although this chapter is coming to a close, what we built together will continue.
The friendships, the healing, and the ripple effect of recovery will live on long after October 1.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Serving alongside you has been one of the greatest privileges of my recovery and one of the greatest honors of my life. You have enriched my life in ways I could never fully express.
As we say goodbye to this meeting, I keep coming back to one simple truth: The meeting was never the miracle. The miracle has always been one person helping another. That doesn’t end because a meeting sun sets. It lives on every time one person reaches out to another with compassion, understanding, and hope.
So, while the sun may be setting on this meeting, it will never set on the spirit that created it. That spirit belongs to each of you, and I know you will continue carrying it wherever life takes you.
Thank you for allowing me to walk this journey with you.
With love, gratitude, and deep respect,
Tim Collins