WE'RE WELL INTO the first month of 2017, a time when many people elect to clean up their acts. Regular folks like me, who packed on more than a couple booze-and-cookie pounds over the holidays, often drop alcohol for a month to right the ship.
Some, like Bit House Saloon bar manager Jesse Card, do a Sober September and then enjoy another cleanup after the holidays. He joins a couple of Facebook groups for support, including one called January of Strength, whose mission is to go straight edge for a month.
“Old hardcore kids take the ‘edge’ for a month to clear their heads. It’s probably my most fun sobriety group,” says Card. He and fellow Bit House bartender Chris Churilla are planning on taking the entire year off from recreational drinking.
But for an increasing number of industry folks, “Drynuary” is for amateurs. These days, it seems like more and more are taking the plunge into permanent sobriety. In 2010, Gregory Gourdet (of Departure) moved here from New York to facilitate his overhaul, and hasn’t looked back. In fact, several of Portland’s most celebrated establishments have someone straight edge at the helm. Bartender Eric Nelson (Expatriate, Jacqueline, LangBaan) has been sober since May 2014.
“I was bad,” he says over email. “Like ‘chugging bottles of warm champagne in the bathroom at Stumptown’ bad.”