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AA EXCHANGE BULLETIN December 1963

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE GENERAL SERVICE OFFICE OF A.A.

Vol. 8

No. 8

305

East 45th Street, New York 17 Mail address: Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York 17

ckton’ ’We Can Cliii Help Carry The 5’4essaje Overseas Word has reached us that Eddie F., a transplanted American living in El Salvador, will not be spending Christmas with his family this year. He died suddenly in November of pneumonia. If this doesn’t sound like a very Christmasy beginning to this story, read on and we think you’ll see that it really is. Christmas, the annual commemoration of the birth of Christ, means giving, not only of the gifts in imitation of the Wisemen, but of oneself in love, as we have been taught in A.A. Eddie was an exemplar extraordinary of this kind of giving. Coming to El Salvador from San Francisco in 1955, Eddie had tough going at first in bringing the message of A.A. to the Salvadoreans, but his devotion and his singleness of purpose brought results:

enough members to need

it

–

well

today was the

day. You can imagine how I felt to see those tiers upon tiers of people. It was such a short time ago I couldn’t get one alky to meet with me!”

Central American A. A. loved “Mr. Eddie” as they called him. Through his efforts they gained a basic understanding of A.A.’s Tradition of “principles before personalities,” and indeed of all the Traditions which are so meaningful to A.A.’s everywhere. Through his guidance, El Salvador escaped many of the growing pains that other pioneering areas have had to undergo.

than 2,500 attending the Second Anniversary of the

Much help from many sources has been given the newly forming groups in Central America. The 87 Spanishspeaking Loners now registered at G.S.O. will be groups someday, as Latin Americans really work at the Twelfth

Concepcion Group. It was a public meeting. It was a

Step. Many volunteers throughout the United States and

The 1963 Directory listed 2,599 members in El Salvador. Not too long’ ago Eddie wrote: “There were more

Central American meeting. Forty came from Honduras

(continued on page 2)

and about 20 or 30 from Guatemala. Among other flags I was happy to see Old Glory, although I was the only Yankee present. “Two prominent doctors who spoke at public meeting four years ago, spoke today

our first –

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

two old

and good friends. It took about ten minutes to read

AND

the list of groups which had sent representatives. The visitors from the other Republics laid it right at-,

THE BEST OF A.A. NEW YEARS

the line that El SalvadorA.A. was responsible for this new growth.

FROM

“Honduras now has 400 in about eight groups or more. Guatemala has eight groups.

We all agreed that

there are no frontiers in A. A.

we’re all one big

–

ALL OF US AT

family.

G.S.O. AND THE GRAPEVINE “Meeting at the National Gymnasium was a big step forward. I used to dream that someday we’d have

(continued from page 1)

Latest News from Abroad:

Canada and in other parts of the world have given of them-

1) The group in Duesseldorf, Germany, is celebrating its

selves in time and money to help. Orders for Spanish liter-

first Anniversary. It thanks some devoted non-A.A. doctors

ature have come in and gone out in a steady, flowing

who helped to pioneer its existence, and the Munich Group

stream.

for the help that it gave in its beginnings.

Our Spanish order blank lists 14 items. Offers of correspondence and visits from travelers have meant much to these groups and members in making them feel a part of A. A. round-the-world. Here at G.S.O. we try to keep abreast of overseas growth with pamphlet literature and books. At present we leave over 60 books and pamphlets in 13 languages to help Loners and newly formed groups.

The Spanish Boletin prepared at G. S. 0., goes out monthly to Spanish-speaking groups world wide. Working with us as partners, groups abroad are developing their

2) The first all-Swiss A. A. meeting took place on two days over the weekend of November first. The French and German-speaking A. A. will meet together, and the all. Swiss Bulletin now appears in French and German. There will be a reception for the Press and Radio, so that the results of the meeting should mean many more A.A.’s for Switzerland.

3) A first Public Meeting held in Paris the latter part of November, will feature as speakers Jef Kessel, our nonA.A. writer friend – whose series of articles in “France

own resources. Scores of pamphlets are being prepared and

Soir”paved the way for A.A.’s present growth in France

distributed by local groups and service centers.

and Dr. Pierre Bensoussain, a doctor who through his former connections

German, French and Spanish newsletters are going out under the auspices of local lntergroups, groups and indiv-

with the American Hospital in Paris

and his visits to the United States and G.S.O. has helped immeasurably in carrying the message in France. These

idual A.A.’s. To meet the needs of A.A. overseas, an In-

two will be the non-A.A. guest speakers, but, of course,

ternational Committee has been formed. An offshoot of the

the exciting part of it all will be the participation of

Trustees’ Policy Committee, it will study service needs of all members outside the United States and Canada. It

French A. A.’s, many of whom have now been sober for more than two years.

will meet regularly with the two Staff Members at G.S.O. who are currently working on the overseas assignment. Right now the Committee is considering suggestions re-

4) Two Italian A. A.’s are presently trying to carry the message in Italy. To help them, G.S.O. is now embarking

ceived from overseas groups for ways in which these

on a program of Italian translations. Another help: a mem-

groups feel that G.S.O. may be of greater service. (The

ber of New York A.A. is writing an article about the Fe!.

Committee will welcome suggestions and ideas from

lowship for an Italian magazine.

A.A.’s and groups everywhere.) 5) The tenth Anniversary of A.A. in Belgium was held on November 3rd in Brussels. They were planning to have a grand dinner at the Restaurant Sarma, and they were meet-

HOSPITAL AND PRISON LISTINGS &

ing at the Salle Albert ler, Palais des Con gras, Mont des Arts. Every sign of a fine A.A. get-together.

Our new Hospital and Prison

Everyone of us who can speak or write fluently in a

Group Directories will be ready

language other than English can help in carrying the mess-

by the timeyou receive this issue

age to our alcoholic friends-to-be overseas. Let us have

of the “Exchange Bulletin.”

your name, address, and your language or languages.

They list all such groups world-

Then, we can call on you for correspondence or possibly

wide and tell whether correspond-

for help in the review of proposed translated material. The

ence is allowed with other inmate groups or outside

International Committee will look forward to hearing from

groups, whether tapes are available for exchange and

you. Hazel R. of G.S.O. is presently serving as secretary

whether the group issues a publication. Today there are

of the Committee and Allan B., our able Public Information

561 Prison Groups, 479 Hospital Groups, 68 Institutional

Chairman, is helping to get the new Committee off to a

Committees and 472 Hospital and Prison sponsors.

good start by chairing the new sessions.

NEW STAFF

MEMBER

NEW DELEGATES FOR THE 1964 CONFERENCE

On the first of January we will be welcoming a new

Twenty Areas have chosen their Delegate to the 1964

Staff Member at G.S.O., Waneta N., of Detroit, Michigan. We will give you more information about her in theJanuary Bulletin, but to give you a little idea of her A.A. background: she has served as an Intergroup secretary in De-

General Service Conference held here in New York every April. They are: ARNO A., St. Cloud, Minnesota – Northern

troit since 1961, and has been active in A.A. affairs in Detroit since 1957, serving her group in many capacities

WILLIAM B., Montreal, Quebec BOB C., New Brunswick, Atlantic Provinces

until she took on the Intergroup job.

HEFLIN D, Newnan, Georgia SHARON F., Ellsworth, Kansas RALPH G., Amarillo, Texas – Northwestern BILL G., Portland, Oregon RAY H., Maumee, Ohio – Northwest Ohio & Southeast Michigan DARRELL M., Los Alamos, New Mexico

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO G.S.O. OCTOBERNOVEMBER 1963 ARKANSAS: Arkansas Assembly ………$100.00 CALIFORNIA: 12th Annual Southern California Conference ………..$2,056.10 CONNECTICUT: Connecticut A.A. Get-Together $100.00 FLORIDA: Seventh Annual Florida State Convention …………..$2,000.00 IOWA: Waterloo – Cedar Polls Intergroup Meeting ………………..$10.00 NEVADA: Area Meeting……………$ 75.00 NEW HAMPSHIRE: New Hampshire State Assembly Annual Outing . .$ 50.00 PENNSYLVANIA: Cook Forest Conference . .$200,00 SASKATCHEWAN WISETON – Area 4……$106.75 VIRGINIA: Virginia State Conference ……$ 50.00 GERMANY: Wiesbaden Round-Up………$104.00

JUDY M., Lewistown, Montana ROSS M., Winnipeg, Manitoba CETH M., Charleston, South Carolina CLAUDE M., Juneau, Alaska CLIFF M., Hamilton, Ontario – Western ROBERT R., Montreal, Quebec GEORGE S., Kenmore, New York – Western JOHN T., Regina, Saskatchewan FRED W., Newport, Rhode Island BRUCE W., Waukegan, Illinois – Downstate ROBERT Z., Green Bay, Wisconsin – Northern Wisconsin & Upper Michigan

TEA WITH THE GOVERNOR Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, Scotland

SHARING THE TAPED WAY From Robual in the Territory of New Guinea comes this word, “We received a tape from Joe S. of Helena, Montana, this week and played it at our meeting last night. It was appreciated by all, especially as we had two new members present. Evidently Joe had received a tape we recorded quite a while back, and was so delighted he reciprocated, asking us to continue the friendship in this manner, You can imagine our delight, too. It is really wonderful for us to be able to listen to A.A. members so far away and with so much more experience than we have had. All members are anxiously awaiting the G.S.O, taped talks ordered last week.” Since these talks have been made available we have distributed more than 1,000 reels. We hope that they are fulfilling the need for which they were designed, namely, to “carry the message” to small groups that do not have the change to exchange speakers, and to Loners who never have the chance to “go to a meeting.” To remind you, there are eight seven-inch reels. The speed is 33/4; they are two track.

“I never thought that some day I would be invited to have a cup of tea with the Governor of Barlinnie Prison.” So said a member at the endofa meeting held in the prison to tell the Inmates something about A.A. Assembled in the prison chapel were over80 prisoners together with the Governor, two of the Chaplains, one of Doctors and several Prison Staff. Also present were eight members of A.A. Three of this party spoke very briefly of their stories and how A.A. had helped them to solve their “drinking problem.” One of the speakers was an ex-inmate; another was a doctor and the third, a business man. All the speakers stressed the fact that A.A. works for those who really want it and that the new way of living was so attractive to them that A.A. was the only solution for their problem. “Our experience has been one of most helpful cooperation from all the Staff at Barlinnie from the Governor downwards, and we who go there regularly wish to put on record our grateful thanks for all their help.”

WHATS THE ANSWER?

WHAT MAKES A COMMITTEE MEMBER?

A member has written who is concerned about the What does a General Service Committee Member do? Where does he fit into the Conference picture? This letter

growing number of Open Discussion groups in our Fellowship. This kind of a group welcomes A.A.’s and non’s a-

from an active Committee Member in the Central East

like to a discussion meeting. Our questioner feels that

Ontario Area tells us:

publicizing this kind of open meeting may scare off newcomers who won’t feel comfortable about discussing their

“I have asked myself,’What do you do as a Committee

problems in front of non’s. What do you all think of this?

Member?’ Briefly, it’s this: it is necessary for me to cre-

THINGS A.A. CANNOT AND DOES NOT DO

ate and maintain the interest of all groups, to be a good One of ourNewYork members got to thinking and came

listener as well as a pusher, and most of all to strive to ’carry the message.’

up with the following list of things that A.A. cannot do. He had been asked to speak about A.A. before a non-A.A.

’There are 14 active groups in my district with a total active membership of over 200. As a Committee Member I have felt it a ’must’ to get around to all groups in the district to point out how they can be of help in service work, and also to give them an idea of what goes on, from group

professional group. These points are worth sharing we think. Nowadays when so many of our non-A.A. friends are using A.A. as a referral source (blessings on them!), it’s good to review just what we can do and what, traditionally we cannot do to help the newcomer.

motivation

to district meetings to Ontario General Service meetings

1. A.A. cannot furnish initial

and on to world services in New York. There are four In-

2. Cannot diagnose

stitutional meetings to be served, two groups in Millbrook

3. Cannot give medical advice or medication 4. Does not give professional spiritual advice

Reformatory, one in Ontario Hospital (Whitby), and speakers are allowed into the Ontario County Jail (Whitby) weekly.

5. Cannot do professional screening 6. Does not give tips on detoxicants 7. Does not engage in psychotherapy

For the past three years, this Area has held monthly committee meetings at which all G.S.R.’s, Area Commit-

8. Cannot offer professional referral 9. Cannot perform social service jobs, i.e., provide housing, clothing, financial aid, family counseling

tee Members, the P.I.C. Chairman, Finance Chairman and Institutional Chairman attend.

10. Cannot provide a guarantee of sobriety 11.

Does not send a bill

These meetings have been remarkably successful in keeping our lines of communication open and also assist-

UNDELIVERED MAIL CARRIES NO MESSAGE

ing in maintaining our Second Legacy (Unity). Have you ever figured what an incorrect group ad”Our attendance of G.S.R.’s averages about 80%. Con-

dress can cost – in money – in human suffering?

sidering the distance to travel, winter hazards, etc., I feel that this is good. Minutes are sent to the Delegate and also to Ontario General Service. A Public Information Committee has been formed and although there is still lots to be done here. I feel that much has been accomplished in making the public aware of what A.A. can do.

If you fail to correct your group’s address, it may mean that some poor drunk may not get help when he needs it. It may even mean the difference between a happy life and his destruction.

*

*

*

“This year, the Area held its second Conference.

In money? Well, multiply twelve cents by the num-

had the privilege of being the Committee Chairman for the

ber of wrong addresses in our Records and you have

first one last year and assistant chairman this year.

o tidy sum. Every mailing of the “Exchange Bulletin” costs four cents per envelope. For each envelope re-

“We are interested in improved A.A. contact in all localities, such as a telephone answering service in the Peterboro area, A. A. listing in the telephone book in Oshawa, and an announcement ’If you have a drinking

turned for wrong address, the Post Office wants another eight cents – there’s a twelve cents total.

*

*

*

problem, call,..’ inserted in the Oshawa-Whitby newspaper. All this leads to an emphatic request to all who receive G. S. 0. mailings: PLEASE LET US KNOW “Area problems arise and I feel that I can be of assistance in obtaining the experience of others who have solved similar problems, to pass along.”

WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS. PLEASE!