In 1961, The AA Grapevine ran a series of four articles describing the formula for an AA meeting in the East, Chicago, Cleveland and Southern California. This is the first article in the series.

The AA Grapevine, June 1961 FORMULA FOR AN AA MEETING IN THE EAST

First in a series reporting some regional differences that produce the same result – sobriety In meetings along the eastern seaboard, a standard procedure is followed, with variations for some groups and localities. The group program chairman opens the meeting, giving the name of the group and mentioning that it meets every week. He then reads the preamble: “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women….” He then states, “Tonight we have as guests some members of the _________Group and I shall now turn the meeting over to their leader, Sam.” Sam thereupon takes the floor and announces, “My name is Sam Jones and I’m an alcoholic.” At this point he has considerable leeway. If there are two speakers, he may, before introducing his first speaker, “qualify” himself as an alcoholic who knows what he is talking about. In some groups it is considered slightly better form if the leader mentions only the first name of the speakers, leaving them to identify themselves by their full names if they so desire. This is a reminder to all to respect the anonymity of the members. There are never more than three speakers at a typical meeting. Most meetings last one hour but may sometimes run fifteen or twenty minutes longer. Before the last speaker is presented the leader customarily calls for the secretary of the group, who first announces the collection to pay expenses for the hall and the refreshments, then reads the announcements of other group meetings for the coming week. When there are too many of these, he reads only the ones where anniversaries will be celebrated. He then turns the floor back to the visiting group’s leader. After the last speaker the leader invites “all those who care to” join him in the Lord’s Prayer. There are members who will lead meetings but do not like to speak themselves. Others will speak but do not want to lead. There are a number of suggestions for the member planning to lead such an eastern-style meeting. Like almost everything else in AA these are only suggestions and probably cannot all be covered in a single meeting, but many seasoned leaders try to work in as many as they can. Here are the suggestions: If you are leader, don’t go into your own story unless your speakers are brief and you find that the program is running short. Before you present the first speaker it is a good idea to say a few words aimed at new people who are atheists or agnostics, lest they feel that AA is “too religious” for them or get the idea that it works only on people with the gospel-tent type of Faith. Someone, leader or speaker should see to it that it is explained for the benefit of newcomers that the Higher Power can be interpreted in terms of team spirit or group solidarity of purpose. Don’t “spook” the newcomer with too much piety. Don’t tell any of the speaker’s story yourself – let him tell it, even though there is something in it which strikes you as a real AA gem. Similarly, if you kid the speakers, be sure they won’t be ruffled or hurt by your humor. Some people are peculiar about the gentlest of jokes at their own expense – even in AA. Make sure that alcoholism is defined as a disease and not a moral problem – that it’s no disgrace to be an alcoholic. The speakers will probably cover this but take note and be sure to include it in your closing remarks if they have not mentioned it. This is one of the most important points for the newcomer who knows nothing about AA and is the most heartening news that AA brings to most of us. Incredible as it may seem, sometimes none of the speakers will make the point, “You don’t have to stay away from all the booze in the world for the rest of your life. In AA we just stay away from one drink – the first one – today.” At the collection it is tactful to say, “If you are here for the first time please don’t put anything in the collection.” This is for the drunk who comes in without a dime in his jeans and is ashamed of not being able to contribute. If the group secretary, after reading the announcements, forgets to mention that the literature on the table is free, the leader can bring this in at the close. Likewise it is good to tell newcomers (and always count on there being at least one) that there are other meetings – in the New York metropolitan area, for example, there are meetings every night in the week within easy access to anyone. If you have any time to fill at the close of the meeting, you can mention the AA “gimmicks” so valuable to the new man or gal such as getting plenty of Vitamin B Complex, keeping liquids in the system with coffee or soft drinks at first, carrying candy for a quick “lift” (in mid-afternoon especially), the use of “telephone therapy” and the importance of a little book of AA telephone numbers. Other good advice to a new member or prospect is not to get too tired –or too anything – if he can possibly avoid it, not to make avoidable vital decisions until he has been dry at least three months and has given his thinking a chance to clear up, and not to be discouraged if he doesn’t sober up instantly. He should keep coming back and “let it rub off on him.” At the close of the meeting the leader should (if the group secretary has not already done so) invite new people and their friends to stay for coffee and cake. If, after giving out with all these bits of wisdom, you still have an extra ten minutes to go – tell one incident of your own story which has a point. Such incidents are not hard to find: the first time you really got into trouble from drinking, how you heard about AA, how you came finally to realize that your life had become unmanageable. When you have told this incident and have reached stopping time, close with the Lord’s Prayer and the job is done. If you are to lead a meeting at a group where you are not known personally to the program chairman, it is considerate to write your name and the name of your group on a slip of paper and hand it to him upon arrival. If the meeting you are to lead is a special one – a group anniversary for instance, with prominent non-AA speakers, a clergyman, a warden or a judge – don’t make your introduction of the V.I.P. long-winded. Say who he is, that he is a good friend of our Fellowship, welcome him and then let him do the talking. If he is a politician he will probably speak too long, so make allowances for this. If your group has a sincere and colorful speaker who cannot tell his story in less than forty minutes, don’t put him on with two other speakers. Let him have “start billing” for the evening and fill in fifteen minutes yourself first. If the group where you are to lead does not usually set out an ashtray and a glass of water for the speakers, ask the chairman if these can be supplied. Once in a great while a noisy drunk shows up at an open meeting and the local lads usually gather around and tactfully ask him to step outside where they can talk to him (actually to let him talk to his heart’s content, but away from the meeting). If such a character shows up and nobody in the group makes a move to usher him out, you, as leader, should stop the proceedings long enough to call on the local boys for their help in handling the matter. Don’t try to carry on bravely in spite of the interference. If one of your speakers, making his maiden speech, “blows up” and has to sit down out of stage fright, give him a comforting pat on the back and ask the audience to give him a good hand for effort (they probably will anyway). A conscientious leader should carry a watch and leave it on the reading desk or table if there is no wall clock. This is a hint to long-winded speakers to watch their time. When leading a meeting at a prison or hospital, take along a selection of basic AA pamphlets. Institution groups seldom have any budget for literature and these will be much appreciated. Always remember that in AA, whether leading or speaking – an ounce of sincerity is worth a ton of eloquence. Anonymous

The A.A. Grapevine, July 1961 FORMULA FOR AN AA MEETING In CHICAGO There may be some features of Chicago AA Meetings That would benefit your own group.

Group meetings in Chicago are the open and closed type. In addition, there are ten Sunday-morning breakfasts which offer questions and answers as well as bacon and eggs and so are, in fact, AA gatherings. A bit of history will explain the Chicago meeting pattern. Six persons, who had gone originally to Akron to get AA, attended the first Chicago meeting held on a Tuesday night in September, 1939. Since then, there has been a group meeting every Tuesday night open to husbands and wives of members but not to the general public. Early meetings were more of a huddle for mutual encouragement than programmed affairs. A leader, chosen a week in advance, was free to conduct the meeting as he wished. Usually, he read a passage of scripture and told his own story. Meetings were opened with a brief “quiet time” (it may be that this practice originated in Chicago) and were closed with the Lord’s Prayer. The first departure was the formation of a “setup” committee to convene before the main meeting and discuss such matters as a place to meet next week, how to get a radio program going, hospital arrangements for newcomers and even, on one occasion, how much whiskey to allow a man with the shakes. Handling secular affairs in a separate session left the main meeting free to discuss pure AA. Within a month of the first Chicago meeting, AA had its first nation-wide publicity, in the old Liberty Magazine, and, as a result, the pioneers soon were outnumbered by new people loaded with problems. Tuesday meeting attendance increased, which, while gratifying, made it difficult to give attention to individuals. At this point, two older members had an idea. They arranged an informal session with a number of new members. It was held on a Thursday night and worked out so well as a way of dealing directly with newcomers that the idea was adopted community-wide on an organized basis. The Chicago AA territory, including the city and suburbs, was divided into ten areas, each with its own Thursday group. Since then, through growth in membership and subdivision of the original ten districts, the number of neighborhood groups has increased to about 280. Thursday groups (some meet Friday nights) have become the basic unit of membership, although all of them contribute to support of the Chicago Central AA office and all are serviced by that agency. Thursday meetings are still primarily to assist new people. Discussions are informal. The topic may be one of the Twelve Steps or any pertinent subject selected by the meeting leader. In the meantime, while the Thursday groups were expanding, the Tuesday-night meetings also grew. For several years there was only one central meeting, attended by all members within fifty or so miles of Chicago. As a matter of convenience to the long-distance members, outlying meetings were set up and there are now six of these. Each is supported and attended by some forty nearby neighborhood groups. Tuesday meeting programs have become pretty well standardized. Speakers, usually three and a master of ceremonies are provided by member groups in turn. The program committee chairman opens the meeting by reading the widely used statement on the AA Fellowship, makes whatever announcements there may be, welcomes newcomers and out-of-town visitors and then turns the microphone over to the M.C. Usually, the speakers represent three AA ages – a new man with six months to a year on the program and still radiant from his landing in AA; one who has been in several years; and the group member with the longest whiskers. Women appear as speakers in about the same ratio of women membership in the group. At times there have been all-woman programs. Members of the inter-racial groups also speak frequently at Tuesday meetings. All meetings, like those in the beginning, are opened with a quiet time and are closed with the Lord’s Prayer. After the Tuesday-night talks, and also after the Thursday-night discussions, it has become customary for all to stay around for conversation and coffee. L.H., Chicago, Illinois

The AA Grapevine, August 1961 FORMULA FOR AN AA MEETING In the Cleveland Area From the birthplace of AA come customs that stand the test of time.

Our meetings are attended by members, their wives, husbands and widows. The only closed meetings are for women only or men only. We have two of each in the Cleveland area and one each in Akron. Occasionally a preacher, a personnel director or a judge will attend one of our meetings as a guest of an individual AA member. Three times yearly our Central Committee in Cleveland sponsors a Consolidated Meeting made up of members from Cuyahoga County groups and their interested friends. This is usually called an open meeting for interested people, not prospects. We usually have one speaker. He opens with his personal prayer, the Serenity Prayer or a silent prayer. Then he speaks (we call it leads) from thirty to fifty minutes. He then asks the group to join with him in the Lord’s Prayer and then the meeting is opened for comments, questions or discussion. This can go on for fifteen or twenty minutes and I have seen some go on for an hour and get pretty hot. If the chairman keeps things in hand fairly well, our meetings usually wind up in about ninety minutes. Announcements are read by the secretary before the group has coffee and pastry. Some groups have sandwiches, occasionally, instead of pastry all of the time. Others have potluck suppers that prove to be quite popular. We call our new members “babies.” In all my travels throughout the U.S. and Canada I truly believe that our members are less concerned about their anonymity among themselves than any other part of these two countries. At the public level I don’t believe we have had a break in anonymity since around 1946. Since September of 1959 my group has been having assigned subject meetings. By having our speakers talk on particular aspects of the program we have been listening to prepared talks and not too much blow-by-blow drinking experiences. This has resulted in some very interesting discussion periods and a considerable increase in attendance. The Independence Group is the only group that I know of doing it this way. So far we haven’t had any rocks thrown at us. Because we have St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Rosary Hall at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland and several good alcoholic nursing homes in the area, we do have many opportunities for on-the-spot Twelfth Step work. We have found that the bottom in AA has been raised considerably in the last three years and the majority of new members want to know the right answers now. In order to be a good sponsor today it seems to me that a person should be exceptionally well informed. A lot better informed than ever before. H.B., West Richfield, Ohio

The AA Grapevine, September 1961 FORMULA FOR AN AA MEETING In Southern California Some warm and friendly customs Have spread from the Golden State.

In their attitude towards meetings, Southern California AAs tend to display a certain foot-loose, fancy-free disposition characteristic of this part of the country. Here an AA member may “belong” to a dozen AA groups (in the sense of being on the membership rolls), or to none. He may officially belong to a group he seldom attends, and attend groups he doesn’t belong to. Shopping around is common. Certain speakers are drawing cards. When word gets around that one of these is going to speak, the usual attendance of a score may jump to a hundred or more. All this is hard on secretaries. A secretary seldom knows who really is a member of the group. In a year, half the membership of a group is likely to have moved away or started frequenting other meetings, without telling the secretary. And the busiest bee in the group may turn out not to be a member at all, or at least not enrolled. As one might expect, group membership fluctuates in volume greatly, sometimes violently. Alcoholics here (like all Southern Californians) are freeway-trained rovers. Hence, groups draw their membership from far and wide. Whether they want to or not, groups inevitably contend to a certain extent for the same people. Supermarkets here have the same problem. But open or closed, discussion or “speaker” meeting, every group in Southern California observes two inviolable customs. One custom is that of opening the meeting with the reading of the first few pages of “Alcoholics Anonymous.” It dates back to the first AA meeting held in Los Angeles on December 19, 1939, and it began by chance. A Denver alcoholic had gone to the Mayo Clinic to learn that his alcoholism was hopeless; but a doctor at the clinic gave him a copy of the book, which had just been published, telling him it might contain some useful ideas. The book stayed in the alcoholic’s luggage on a drinking jaunt to Mexico which ended in a Palm Springs hotel. Here, searching in his luggage for a non-existent bottle one night, he found the book and desperately began reading it to pass time until dawn would break and the liquor stores would open. He never did buy any more booze. Instead, realizing that in order to keep his tender new sobriety he had to give it away, he went to Los Angeles, assembled an assortment of lushes and started a meeting. He had never attended one, but he had the book. He began by reading Chapter Five, and since then every Southern California meeting – all descendents of that first one – has opened the same way. From the very start, the typical Southern California meeting has a certain distinctive flavor which might be called the “Hi!” flavor. When the chairman opens the meeting with “I’m So-and-so, and I’m an alcoholic,” he is greeted with a “Hi, So-and-so!” Whoever is chosen to read the excerpt from Chapter Five is also greeted with the “Hi!” when he (or she) gives his name, applause as he walks to the podium and applause when he concludes. The Chapter Five reader is likely to be fairly new to the program but no matter how timid he is at first, the applause and the “Hi!” will start him on his way to becoming an AA ham. A typical Los Angeles meeting lasts an hour and a half. Most start at 8:30 in the evening and end at 10 o’clock. There are usually two speakers, a man and a woman, but there may be several, or there may be only one if a special speaker from the “circuit” is booked. There is usually a five or ten minute coffee break in the middle of the meeting, following the first speaker. The second part usually begins with the reading of the Twelve Traditions – another opportunity to break in timid newcomers with applause and “Hi’s!” If they get hung up on the pronunciation of “autonomous” or “anonymity,” as they often do, the applause afterwards is extra loud. The impression, especially in the larger meetings, is one of infectious joviality. Another Southern California custom is that of celebrating anniversaries with birthday cakes. At the end of the meeting, just before the Lord’s Prayer, the chairman may say, “We have a custom in AA of calling newcomers ‘babies.’ We do this because we believe alcoholics finding AA sobriety for the first time have been in a certain sense reborn. And as babies grow older, they have birthdays. Tonight we are celebrating such a birthday. For 365 consecutive days of total sobriety – Jerry W.!” At this point, to the usual applause, Jerry, dressed in his best because he knew full well what was about to happen, makes his way to the podium while someone, such as his wife or sponsor, emerges from the back room with a cake bearing a lighted candle. The raggedly sung strains of “Happy Birthday, Dear Jerry” real out somewhat discordantly (or once in a while with grade AA barbershop harmony), and the beaming Jerry accepts the cake. The singing concludes with a mournfully drawn out “Keep coming ba-a-ack!” and Jerry blows out the candle, a feat which evokes tremendous applause. Jerry expresses his thanks in a few words, or sometimes enough to give everybody the fidgets, and returns to his seat amid more applause. The newcomer’s expressed attitude toward this may be one of supercilious condescension, and he may refer to it as rampant, blatant, sloppy sentimentalism – but he will be impressed nonetheless, and is likely to nourish a secret inner feeling of envious hope. There may be two or more birthdays celebrated at a meeting. Some groups have an annual birthday night for old-timers who are given cakes with as many as fifteen or twenty candles. The sight of ten or twelve old-timers receiving cakes that resemble ambulatory forest fires impresses even the most hardened skeptic. Some groups give cakes decorated with the recipient’s name, and he is allowed to take his cake home. In some groups, the cake is sliced and served after the meeting. Emergencies have been known to occur in which the same cake had to be used more than once in the same meeting – hastily taken back, recandled and relit, and so on. After all, we are not saints. We claim only spiritual progress. The thundered “Hi’s!” as each speaker gives his name, the applause for everything, the universal scurrying like wheeled rabbits to everywhere from everywhere; together, they give an impression of cordiality, joviality and open-handedness that is rather startling but usually pleasing to people who encounter it for the first time. Of course, some think it forced, even phony glad-handing greeterism. A few are genuinely shocked by the fact that most speakers and leaders give their last name as well as their first names. It seems anything but anonymous. And this light-heartedness (some might say light-headedness) is not found in all groups. It is most noticeable in the larger ones – and maybe that is why they are large. But for the secretaries, the steering committees, the sober-sides – for all those who like things tidy, orderly and predictable – it’s a hard AA life here in Southern California. C.A., Los Angeles, Calif.