Tony and Betty Argiros Visit for Sunday Meeting
By Liam M.
“I would have wandered off myself if God had not put this opportunity before me,” Betty Argiros said, when asked what the school means to her. Every day Tony and Betty marvel at what the school has become, and are delighted every time they see or hear about students making progress.
It all began with an AA meeting in Walton, New York. There was a young boy from a nearby rehab center at that meeting who shared his frustration about always relapsing because he had nowhere to go other than his home town. Betty had been in the program for seven years at that point, after getting into a bad car accident, which woke her up to reality. Tony was still a violent weekend warrior who had not yet accepted his powerlessness, though he went to meetings to support Betty. Immediately after hearing the boy, they knew what they had to do.
Word spread through the AA community that the Argiros had taken in the boy. Young people from New York City in similar situations contacted the Argiros for help. Judges and social workers directed youths to what was then affectionately named The Family. The Argiros gladly took in whomever they could help. All of the residents, when they were not in school, worked local construction and maintenance jobs to pay for food and for gas to go to meetings. Betty remembers the universal struggle that everybody had when they decided to quit smoking so they could get a new van. “You could feel the tension, but everybody knew what the priority was,” she said.
It was the students who ended up saving Tony, who, until being confronted by them, had no thoughts of himself being an alcoholic. He came back to The Family trashed one night after a sales meeting, and crashed his car into a garage door. In the morning, the students firmly told him that he could no longer continue these actions. They also offered their experience, strength, and hope to guide him through the program. Tony has not touched a drink since. Today he speaks with great passion about the program, and how it is the reason he remains happy and lively, despite his old age.
From day one The Family put sobriety first and dedicated itself to service. Because of Tony and Betty’s unselfish actions, thousands have achieved sobriety. They are living examples of the incredible and overwhelmingly good things that we all have the capacity to create. Their legacy is sure to carry the message of sobriety to young people for years to come.
