It all began in 1939 when Etheldred Folsom, better known to her friends as Sister Francis, invited a group of recovering alcoholics to her 200 acre farm in Kent, Connecticut. She wanted to learn more about a new movement she had heard about which had began in 1935 called Alcoholic Anonymous (AA). Among the visitors were Bill Wilson, the founding member of AA and Marty Mann the first woman to maintain continuous sobriety in AA.

Ms. Folsom was so impressed with her guests and this movement that she offered to gift her Farm to the cause. Bill, knowing AA could not own property formed a Not-for Profit 501(c)(3) Organization and appointed a Board of Directors as its Governing Body. His vision was for the Farm to become a retreat, based on the 12-step principles of AA where alcoholics could come to seek recovery from their active addiction.

Sixty- eight years later, this Farm, now known as "High Watch Recovery Center" is the oldest substance abuse treatment facility in the world based on 12 step principles. Its name signifies being high on the hill keeping "the High Watch,"as one watches and waits for God who they will find within themselves. In 1965 at a High Watch Farm Annual dinner, Marty Mann, spoke of Bill Wilson's first reaction when they visited the property in 1939. "My God, you could cut it with a knife" he said referring to the spiritual genre of the place. That same feeling has remained over the last 68 years as thousands of sick and suffering addicts have saved their lives by finding solace and sobriety as a result of their stay at High Watch.