459 New~ and Notes From the General Service Office of A.A.~

Gratitude Makes Waves In the Caribbean Ron and Mary Lou R. say they have leamed that “the only constant in life 15 change.” Their story also shows, once agam, that what goes around comes around.. . and that for us in the Fellowship, gratitude for our sobriety fmds expression in the most unexpected ciJ·cumstances. Ron and Mary Lou are boaters. Five years ago, after losing their fll’St boat on a reef near the Bahamas, they write, “we amved in St. Thomas (U.S. V1rgin Islands). A Mr. Allyn took us in. He gave us work. And he suggested we buy a boat in his marina that had been damaged by hurricane Hugo. We worked for him a year, and when we were able to put a down payment on the boat, Cummaquid, he acted as our cosigner.” Some 31/z years went by. The boat was paid for, ”well ahead of schedule,” according to Mary Lou and Ron. Then, last May, they found safe harbor from hurricanes Louis and Marilyn in Puerto Rico, where they helped start the Sailors Choice Group at Salinas. There they received a call for help from Mr . Allyn back in St. Thomas: “He wasn’t so lucky. His marma was damaged extensively by hurricane Marilyn and required many months of work. We did not hesitate to go to his aid. A.A. has taught us t o be better people and to take

Meeting place ofthe Sa#.ors Clwice Gmup.

VOL 42, No.2/ APRIL· MAY 1996

responsibility-in our lives, and for our debts, financial and otherwise.” So the couple returned with alac1ity to St. Thomas to help their fiiend; and the Sailors Choice Group, adaptlilg just as fast, has gone mobile. “We fly our A.A. flag onboard our boat and hold meetings anywhere, anytlme,” report Ron and Mruy Lou. “We hope sometune to meet you people at the General Service Office. We thank you for sending us literature, which we give out whenever the need arises. It is used well by th ose alcoholics who still suffer. The monies our floating Sailors Chotce 1s sending-$10 a month-is to help you all help others and also so that we can be ‘self-supportirlg through ow· own contributions.'”

’96 General Service Conference Has A.A.’s Future On Its Mind A.A. is a child of the fast-wanirlg 20th century; and as the General Service Conference prepares for its 46th annual meeting in New York City, April21-27, the delegates will be payirlg special heed to this year’s theme: “Preserving Our Fellowship-Our Challenge.” Many may feel as AA co-founder Bill W. did in 1952, when he suggested in the january Grapevine that “clear vtsion for tomorrow comes only after a real look at yesterday. That’s why we A.A.s take personal inventory.” Thus the Conference participants will ask themselves and each other some thorny questions at the general sharmg sessions, and workshop planned: First of all, how well are we canying the message to the alcoholic who still suffers? What are we doing and how are we domg in our home groups, districts and area asseniblies to ensure the future of A.A.? Are we extending the hand of A.A. ·to newcomers at meetmgs, and do we work at providing good sponsorship? How many of our meetmgs are focused on the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions? Do we know our A.A. history? Vllhen put together, like the pieces of a puzz.Je, the shru·ing forms a group conSCience that may help us to see a dear, broad picture of where A.A. is now and whether we are steering a sound

Box 4-5′-9 is published b~monthly by the General Service Offi~

of Alcoholics Anonymous, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115, ©Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1996

Mall address: P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163

Subscriptions: lndiVldual, $3.50 per year; group, $6.00 for each unit of10 per year. Check- made payable to A.A.W.S.,

Inc.–should accompany order.

and spiritual course into the 21st century, which is just around the corner. Aniving at a group conscience in matters big or small is a process that can take a long time. This is because the dissenting voices are heard and the nunority view is considered essential to the unity, effectiveness and survival of the Fellowship. Thus the Conference may act-or choose to postpone or not act at all-on various A.A. matters, many of them presented by one or another of the 11 trustees’ committees. This year, as the 134 voting members of the Conference-delegates, trustees and dlrectors, along with members of the General Service Office and Grapevine staffs-go about the business of working toward consensus on subjects vital to AA. today, they also will be working to help safeguard the future of the Fellowship for today’s members and those to come.

Georgia A.A.s Infuse Olympic Games with Southern Hospitality Let the Games-and the A.A. meetmgs-begin! For the past year, members of the Georgia State Service Assembly have been worklng overtime to make A.A. fellowslup readily available to athletes and visitors at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Four million people are expected to attend the Games, which will be centered in Atlanta and encompass the neighboring cities ofAlbany, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Milledgeville, Rome and Savannah. Says Georgia delegatejoycie W.: “In 1995 the assembly appointed a Hospitality Committee, composed of members from Atlanta and all the other venue cities in the state, and asked them to tlunk of ways in which A.A. might be of service. We have received enormous help from these enthusiastic people as well as from the vari2

ous intergroups and the Atlanta Central Office, and we are very grateful. We’ve also been encouraged by the example of the Norwegian A.A.s who did such a great job making the Fellowship available at the 1994 Wmter Games in Lillehammer.” Early on, Joycie relates, the committee developed a “user-friendly” pamphlet printed in shades ofcoral, gray and white. The cover reads, “Alcoholics Anonymous: Finding the Fellowship During Your Stay in Georgia.” Inside it continues with a warm “Welcome to Georgia and Our Southern Hospitality” and provides phone numbers, in easy-to-read type, that visitors can call for information about AA. meetings in venue cities around the state. Footnotes below add: ( 1) that multilingual meetings will be available (as will some in sign language for deaf alcoholics); and (2) that the phone numbers provided “are for your information and convenience only. Our Sixth Tradition states: ‘An A.A. group ought never endorse, fmance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.’ n “The response to our call for volunteers has been wonderfully gratifying,” Joycie reports. “Among othe1· thmgs, they will staff the phone to give information about meetings, along with directions on how to get to them. Transportation will be furnished by A.A. members whenever possible.” A main concern, she notes, “is for the athletes part1c.1pating in the Games who also may be A.A. members. They will be surrounded by security, and their movement could be restricted. We are very fortunate to have meetings at the Atlanta Central Office and on the GeorgJa Tech campus, which are within this heavily secured circle. However, it appears that we won’t be able to hold m eetings in the Olympic Village itself. We were informed tha t the Olympic Committee has had to turn down many similar requests owing to security and other factors. But we are still workmg with offie1als to see what can be done.” At the same tJ.me, Joyce points out, “nonatbletes will have more mobility, and our doors will be wide open to them. We welcome this exciting opportunity to be of service to our members and prospective members from around the world, and to share Georgia ‘s wonderful A.A. hospitality with love and fellowship.”

We take the Tenth Step . .. In the article “Fifth Annual A.A. Convention sponsored by Native American Indians” (Feb.-Mar. 1996 issue) we identified Area 42 as Mid-Central California. Area 42 is Nevada (in fact, there is no Mid-Central in California). Our apologies to Nevada.

‘Greetings from ajungie River …. ..’ “Greetings from a jungle river”: so begins a briefhistory of a new A.A. group which recently came across the desk ot the G.S.O. stafi”member on the Overseas assignment. The history, along with a request to be officially registered, came from George M. and an anonymous member, who live near Tejax, a fann/ranch/marina;jungle resort on the Rio Dulce. Tejax is a few minutes by boat from Fronteras, Guatemala. The Sweetwater Group of Alcoholics Anonymous (Rio Dulce means “sweet river”) had its first meeting on September 4, 1995, with just four people: “two sober, one slipped, and one drunk.” It now has eight sober members and ten meetings a week and is helping to set up a Spanishspeaking group in the nearby river town ofFronteras. The history opens: “Greetings from a jungle river. It rained today. Today is Wednesday so we had a 9 a.m. meeting and a 4 p.m. meeting. And today is the day Murphy showed up. There are now eight of us. Nine if you count Rebecca who was drinking a fifth a day holed up in her boat. She was Twelfth Stepped by two people who had four and seven days of sobriety. She is now back in Key West, sober and attending meetings.” The Sweetwater Group started when Barry, the manager of a small marina, asked some friends if they could start a meeting. Barry’s psychiatrist had told him to stop drinking and go to A.A., but Barry wasn’t yet sober. The little nucleus of the first group included Tom, who after more than three years’ sobriety, was back out drinking heavily. When Tom was asked to come back in order to help Barry, he said, “Okay-but I’m not going to stop drinking!” to which the sober members replied, “That’s okay, we need all the help we can get.” At the first meeting, the two sober members each thought, “Do I really want to devote my time to this seemingly futile effort?” But –~ ~ something told them to give it at least “an honest effort.”

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meeting began to turn around. Tom took his first desire chip, and when he was sober for a week, jessica and Gene joined the meeting, and Bany sobered up a few days later. jessica’s mother, jennifer, after observing the activity from the sidelines, decided to become number seven. The history continues: ‘jessica can’t make all the meetings because she lives down the river, about an hour by outboard, so we’ve made a couple of trips in Barry’s big cayuco to her house for some wonderful meetings. The second trip was a party to celebrate Tom’s first month and give him his thirty-day chip. (Our chips are made by a famous anonymous river craftsman.) We’ve also enjoyed going to jennifer’s; her comfortable house over the water and her lunch after the meeting was pretty special.” There were so many meetings a week, and so few members, that sometimes everyone felt talked out. Then someone would say, “Well, Murph will soon be here!” So the meetings held on. The history describes what they are like today: “We hold our meetings in jessica and Gene’s small thatched palapa with three sides open to the jungle. In addition to our regular members, there are four dogs and many cats and kittens who usually attend. They give us lessons in tolerance. Often our meeting is interrupted by someone saying, ‘Hey look, there’s a trogon on that limb with the vine hanging down!’ or ‘Look, there’s one of those big neon indigo butterflies.’ And after a few minutes of e~joying the wonders of nature, we are back to the meeting. In some meetings, the conversation may wander into the history of Guatemala or the spiritual practices of the Mayans. Yesterday we read a brief, well-written short story pertaining to alcohol. We gossip, drink coffee, laugh, and stay sober. “Some oldtimers or hard-liners might frown on the looseness of our group, but sitting in the midst of such a flow of positive energy is one of the highlights of my program. These people made this happen. To be on a river of this beauty, to be aware and be sober, to see the healthy growth of new attitudes and personalities, to be so happy- I never thought it possible.” r:~ The history ends when Murphy, with 19 years’ .· sobriety, comes back from Alaska. And who is Murphy? He’s just another recovering alcoholic, 1 but somehow the small, struggling group deter/ 1 mined that it would survive to be there when !,! Mu_rphy retu_rned. It’s the Tw:lfth Step in real 1 actwn: meetmgs are candles ht for everybody, newcomer and oldtimer alike, and the Sweetwater Grou~ took th~ respon_sibility to keep the flame gomg, even m the ram.

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Conference Welcomes New Delegate Area: Washington State East Ben B. is the first delegate elected to serve the AA area known as Washington State East (Area 92), which was created only last year by an Advisoxy Action of the 1995 General Service Conference. When Ben walks into the start-up session of the 1996 Conference, he will also be the first delegate to represent a new area in the U.S/Canada since Quebec gained a fourth delegate in 1973. “This area is truly international in scope,” says Ben. “It includes all ofWaslungton State east of the Cascade Mountains and parts of northern Idaho and British Columbia, Canada, not to mention pieces of Oregon and Montana-in fact, our 1997 area assembly will be held in Libby, Montana. We picked the name Waslungton State East, instead of Eastern Washington, out of the hat; it came up probably because God didn’t want our tongues to get twisted and create confusion between us and Washington, D.C.” The reapportionment has been a long tune coming. In an application for a new delegate area submitted to the Conference Policy/Admissions Com mittee in December 1993, then delegate Burke D. said that the question “has been dlscussed by lhe Washington Area for more than 30 years.” Burke sees !he realignment as “an exciting development for the eastern side of the state. The mountain range dividing our former area was a very real boundary between two diverse A.A. communities,” he points out. “In response to such problems as overcrowded state assemblies and transportation holdups caused by the mountains, we had tried a number of solutions, including the formation of independent standing service committees (Public Information, Correctional Facilities, etc.) for each side, but these NEWDElEGA’IEARFA 1996 ~~-y l)

turned out to be mere Band-Aids.” Now that the eastern part of the state is a n a rea in its own right, Burke observes, “this is a challenging time for the A.A.s !here as they shape their service structure and goals in line with their special needs.” As it does with most matters, the Genera l Service Conference considers applications for new delegate areas the way porcupines make love- vexy carefully. As The A.A. Service Manual (1995-96, p. S72) states, the comprehensrve application form “is designed to determine problems regarding geography and A.A. population,” as well as whelher the current area sexvice structure is developed well enough to provide help for the delegate. When such a request cam e up a t the 1961 Conference, the Manual says , a memo from A.A. cofounder Bill W. provided clanf}cation on the subject. “The Conference Conunittee on Admissions should weigh each application for a new delegate on its own merit, takmg into consideration the primaxy factors of population, geography-and also expense,” Bill wrote. “But this process of adding delegates ought to be gradual, aiming at the remedying of obvious and marked flaws in local conununications. We should, our budget allowing, continue to remedy obvious flaws in local conununications.. . and that is all.” However, he noted, “It should be reemphasrzed that the Conference 1S not a political body, demanding a completely rigid formula of repr esentation. What we shall need will always be enough delegates at the Conference to afford a reliable cross section of A.A. plus enough more to make sure of good local conununications.” Washington State East’s first delegate is a seasoned service veteran with 18 years’ sobriety under his belt, and he has high hopes, “a day a t a time,” for his new area. “We started out with laekluster sexvice participation ofless than 40 percent,” Ben says. “We had 157 votinggeneral service representatives and 404 groups. What I’m hopmg and working for is to see so many AA.s here active in every area of service !hat we’ll break 50 percent partiC1pation and climb even higher. There’s no limit to what we can do to carxy the A.A. message.”

…………_………,.cllll’lihflf~ …..

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Thank you for your patience . .. As many of you know, New York City was hard hit by the Blizzard of ’96. Your General Service Office was closed Monday, Jan. 8 . It was a lso necessary to close early a few days to allow people (many who have a vexy long trip) to get home. As always, G.S.O. employees p erformed well during the difficult days surrounding the “big snow” and our mini-blizzard on feb. 16. To those of you who tried to reach us and heard the taped message, thank. you for your patience.

4

Oldtimers Celebrate 2,000 Sober Years “The n ·ltway had an unexplained gridlock, but they came, and the meeting was delayed for 15 minutes to accommodate them. The location was new to most, and it was hard to find the right doorway in the dark, but they looked for the light and listened for the laughter and found tl1e 1ight place.” Writing in the December 1995 issue of the New Reporter, the newsletter of the Washington (D.C.) Intergroup Association, D.C. delegate Sandy C. is talkmg about the annual Old Timers’ Gratitude Night, “a oneof-a-kind event.” The sobriety countdown at the November 1995 celebration, she reports, “revealed more than 2,000 years of collective recovery in the room”ranging from three days to the 50-plus years accrued by “elder sta tesman” Julius S., 90, of the original Cosmopolitan Group. One by one, Sandy notes, ” the oldtimers spoke of the past, the present, the future. Of how it was in the Fellowship of 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, and how it is today. Despite their ages and variety of experiences, the single theme of gratitude was painted in many colors throughout the evening. There were two husband-wife duos, a father-son team and two brothers among the presenters.” An annual fund-raiser for the Hospital &> Institutions Committee, Old Thners’ Gratitude Night draws both a large crowd and generous contnbutions to support the work of the committee, which brings more than 300 meetings a month to area hospitals and instltutions.

Does Profanity Belong in Meetings? Some subjects in AA adrenalize almost everyone: smoking vs. nonsmokmg meetings, court referrals, medications, and the “right” way to do the coffee refreshment detail, to name some. But ifyou want to see that red flag wave, just mention profanity at meetings. Wlule it certainly isn’t the top problem in recovery, cuss-and-tell sharing evokes a reaction that is immediate and colorful, running the gamut as it does from blue-nose pomposity to pw-ple prose. On balance, however, most A.A.s lean toward good-natured humor and some three- and fourletter words that spell “Live and Let Live.” Over the years the Grapevine, that mirror of A.A. experience and thought, has published stories and letters on what one A.A. described as “rampant cursing” at

meetings. Back in 1970, in response to a letter from a member detennined to “do something about profanity,” several readers wrote in voicing agreement and suggesting that stgns be put up a t meetmgs to renund attendees: “No vulgar or profane language.” However, there wer e those who concurred with J .C. of Rockland, Massachusetts that it’s the message that counts. “At any meeting,” J.C. declared, “my antennae are tuned to catch the message, whether the speaker shovels it, bludgeons it blue, or proffers it in demitasse cups.”

Sixteen years later, in 1981, the February-March issue ofBar 4-5-9 carried an article that aired a South Florida group’s hassle over profanity. But there the problem was two-fold, as shown by the group’s unanimous decision to place a sign at the podium stating, “Please refi·ain from using profanity, and do not discuss your drug problem during your talk.” A group member explained: “Our area has had its share of A.A.s who hardly mentioned alcoholism but discussed their drug addiction at length. And then we have those whose talks are a constant outpouring of profanity. I voted with the other members to put up the stgn; yet I felt a naggmg sense of unease.” Later, the A.A. related, “a young woman with a dualaddiction qualified at our meeting. In the beginning, she glanced at the sign and said she would try to clean up her act. She then referred to those ‘other drugs’ in a vague, almost humorous manner; several of us laughed at her awkward grammatical gymnastics as she struggled to comply with the sign. Again I felt uneasy. “A few weeks later, I had the opportunity to talk about this problem at a Regional Forum. Returning to my group, I shared what fd heard about compassion and tolerance and asked that the sign be removed. As Bill W. satd in A.A. Come.s ofAge (p. 82), ‘ … alcoholism is a quest for survival in which the good is sometimes the enemy of the best, and that only the best can bnng the true good.’ If we begin to set up niles and regulations as to how AAs are to tell their stories, where will it end? Will some groUpS go on to forbid the word ‘God’? What about say5

ing we got sober in a ‘drug-treatment center’? The AA program gives us our freedom, and part of that freedom is to gow as indiVIduals a t our own pace.” Seeing tha t, the A.A. reported, “our group conscience was unanimous: Down with the sign and up with freedom!” Several years later “the sign” again reared its head when a reader wrote to the Grapevine advocating the display of a placard reading, “This group does not condone foul language” or “Leave the barroom language b ack in the bar.” The writer also suggested that announcements be m ade at group, intergroup and service meeti.n@> to the effect that profanity would not be sancboned. The rash of mall that followed publication of this letter in the May 1986 Grapevine was, as before., both pro and con. From California, G.R observed, “In our open meetmgs we usually have newcomers who are hoping to improve theu- lives. What incentive are we offering them if, with our language, we are showing them that we really haven’t made much ofa change for the b etter?” Many felt differently. Countered D.D. of Manhattan, N.Y.: “If there iB one group of people in the world that should be tolerant of the expressions of others, it is the alcoholics recovering in A.A. I am sure there’s room for all kinds of people in our program.” From Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, B.S. explained: “For this alcoholic, my first weeks in A.A. were very shaky. About the only words I could speak w ere four-letter ones of the profanity persuasion. I knew nothing of the other ones like ‘fear’ and ‘hope’ and ‘love’ and ‘care.’ I’m very thankful today that I was allowed to share with the only words I had in my first days of sobriety. Your canng and understanding kept me commg back.” R W. of Miami, Florida, told a similar tale. “Sixteen m onths ago,” he wrote, “it didn’t seem I could fit into any group due to my leather jacket, tattooed arms, motorcycle and, most of all, my trashy mouth. Then I found my home group where they understood that was the only way I knew how to express what I felt inside. What I shared was trash-and that’s what I felt like. Today I no longer feel like trash and my language isn’t half as bad, though not bemg a saint, I fall short often. I thank the old timers who showed tolerance for this newcomer. And I pray that one day at a time, I will do the same for those who come after m e.”

A Home Group Away from Home Back in 1988 some enterprising A.A.s in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, took a flyer, literally, and it succeeded beyond their happiest imagining. The unlikely catalyst 6

was the town’s Experimental Aircraft Associatwn, which every year hosts an international Fly-In that attracts aviation enthusiasts from around the world. “Tens of thousands of people converge on our small community of 50,000 residents,” says Carole T., “and excitement fills the air.” Watchmg the Fly-In, she relates, four local A.A.s had an idea: “Where so many people are gathered, they reasoned, there must be a t least a few who are recovering alcoholics… and wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a regularly scheduled A.A. meeting available on the E.A.A. grounds to accommodate them! The Fly-In committee was contacted, and the idea became a reality.” Exactly 12 people were on hand for the ilrst meeting of the 12-Step High Group in July 1988. Morning meetings would be held daily dunng the Fly-In, at 8 a.m., in a tent beside a lagoon in the Nature Center of the E.A.A. grounds. A special speaker meeting would be held on Tuesday in the nearby chapel. With every succeeding Fly-In, the meetings grow, Carole says. ”Each summer, visitmg A.A.s from the year before return, bringing new visitors with them. We are a real group–registered with the General Sel’Vlce Office. We have a secretary, treasurer, general service representative and liaison to facilitate commurucation and harmony between the group and the Fly-In committee. The ‘meeting before the meeting’ is replete with hot com~e, warm hugs and great conversation. We open in the usual manner, then break up into smaller groups for discussion. The basket is passed according to the Seventh Tradition. CAt the conclusion of the Fly-In, the donatiqns are counted and divided between E.A.A. and G.S.O.) We close with the Lord’s Prayer.” By 1995, Carole adds, “we had grown to include A.A. members from as far as Australia, as near as California. It is wonderful to welcome old mends from prt.’Vious years and to greet those who are with us for the first time. Our 12-Step High Group is mdeed the largest family in the world. We who host it are truly grateful to be a part of this family, of this home group away from home.”

In Ethiopia, A.A.’s Message Is New Again He didn’t know it, but last summer, Berhanu D. of Western Ethiopia, took the Ftrst S1ep: ‘We admitted we were powerless over alcoholic-that our lives had become unmanageable.” “‘ am 18 years old,” he wrote to G.S.O. “I am addicted to alcohol, and I drmk like a fish. I would be grateful ifyou could depart me from alcoholic dnnks.” A junior in high school, Berhanu explained that he

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“had been an abstainer from birth Wltil 1993. Then I went to a party where I took a drink that a mend had doctored with vodka and got very drunk.” Ever since, Berhanu says, “I have been Wlable to stop.” He also indicated in his letter that apprehension over university entrar.ce exams had caused his drinking to accelerate. “My parents, relatives and best fiiends all advised me to stop,” he relates, “but I couldn’t; it is beyond me why. Finally, a fellow I m et told me that ifI wrote to you, you could help me.” In response, jeanie M., who has the International assignment at G.S.O., sent Berhanu a variety ofA.A litera ture, including the Internatlonal A.A. Directory, wluch hsts two AA contacts in Etluopia. “Please do not wait to get in touch with the member closest to you,” she urged. “If, after some time has passed, you fmd there are no AA members in your immediate area, please write to us again, directing your letter to the Loners desk. You nught ask to be added to our Loners/Internationalists list of A.As who are isolated and can’t attend meetings very often. They work our program by writing to each other, and by shanng the1r letters, their experience in sobriety, with the Loners desk here. “Yow- desire for sobriety is most important, Berhanu. I shall be thinking of you while you begin to reach out for A.A. help in Ethiopia. All a t G.S.O. join me in sending you ow- warmest wishes, one day at a time.”

From the Mallbag

Several of the numerous A.A.s responding to the article “How Does Your Group End Its Meetings?” (Holiday issue 1995) were concerned that the General Service omce might be advocatmg a substitute for the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, we were just shanng information and the experiences and views of members. When it came to commenting on this article, responding readers were

oYCIWE.elmingly in favor of continumg to end meetings with the Lord’s Prayer- “If It Works, Why Fix It?” wrote Bill M. of Peoria, nl. In the same issue, “The Mmo.n ty Voice: Watchdog of A.A.’s Democratic Process” elicited thoughtful reflections… as did the Vwwpoint story “Out of Respect for the Program” (Oct.-Nov. 1995), and more. “How Groups End Meetings”-Prank F., of Venice, Flonda, wrote “All the groups I got to regularly close with the Lord’s Prayer. The consensus of my group is that we in A.A. need a Higher Power, one most of us refer to as God, and that the Christian origin of the Lord’s Prayer is, for practlcal pWJ>OSCS, irrelevant to its Vlrtue as a concise and beautlfully simple expression of a good way of life.” John T., from Carolina Beach, North Carolina, said h e was “appalled with [the article]. Please remove my name fi·om the mailing list. … It is the (final) ictng on the cake of the secular humanism all ‘your’ publications are toutmg and the apostasy that is fomenting withm A.A. Another example of self-will run Wild and power corrupts! The ‘Russian closing’ so enthusiastically endorsed has its foWldation in the ‘we’-well, ‘we’ could do nothing but get drunk together. .. . The Lord’s Prayer is the most beautiful, profoWld, humble way to seek [God],”

“Since most of our meetings open with the Serenity Prayer,” DickS., of Neosho, Missouri, wrote, “it is seldom used as a closing. Meeting leaders can elect to close any way they choose as long as those attendmg don’t object, and I have n ever witnessed an objection. Presently, about half of the m eetings close with the Lord’s Prayer and half close with the Responsibility Pledge.” Respondmg to the article on the Minority Voice, John S. , Enfield, Connecticut writes : “Yow- article really hit home for me. In my home group, many members are trying to stress the importance of makmg sur e the minority voice is heard. Like so much else in life, it is a process, and so far we are grateful for progress, not perfection.” On “Respect for the Program” one of the letters said, “I believe that much of the loss of respect in A.A. rooms is the result ofour own get-well-quick therapy. ‘Through our decisions we have allowed ourselves to alter and minimize the very tools that enabled us to begin to live sober and healthy lives .. .. In our group the only literature read routinely is the A.A. Preamble. The Steps and Traditions are displayed for easy reading, and we have a supply of A.A. Conference-approved literatw-e. But we do not read How It Works at any of our meetings because we believe it inappropriate to encourage anyone to begin readmg any textbook at the fifth chapter.. . . I believe that the General Service Office contributes to the problem by printing excerpts of How It Works. -Sue L., Plainview, Nebraska. 7

Addressing the article “How We Behave in Public Mirrors A.A. as a Whole,” M ichael M., of Montreal, has this to say: “During my term as a district committee member in 199L92, a group that hadn’t had representation at the district level closed its doors while owning the landlord two months’ rent totaling $100. Thankfully, not without letting me know of this and giving me the landlords phone nwnber. When the matter was brought up a t the next general service representatives’ meeting, there was an expected reaction, ‘Why didn’t they say anything?’ ‘What will the renting institution think of A.A.?’ My service sponsor suggested that some of us A.A.s split the debt. Then we wouldn’t put money in the bat for however many meetings it took until our share was paid off. That’s what we did, and the appreciative landlord (a theological college) said to contact them if ever they could be of help. “How the debt was paid was a decision made in good conscience. I felt that to belabor the now defunct group’s irresponsibility in the forum of one district meeting gave it the importance it d eserved; to continue putting it on the agenda at future meetings did not. Also, I feel it is important for the district to be in some kind of con tact with groups havtng no cormection with the rest of A.A. It would be well for the district committee to hear th.e members’ concerns and see what support might be offered.”

CoiTectional

Facilities N.Y. State C.F. Committees Explore Ne\V Ways to Cany the Message A.A. members sometimes talk about the isolation and terror of active alcoholism as if it were a cage and they were locked inside it, separated from the rest of humanity. This sense of being imprisoned by one’s craving for alcohol is more than a metaphor ior many thousands of men and women who are incarcerated. For these people, the journey of recovery may begin at the most chflicult point of their hves. Carrying the message to this population was the goal of a one-day conference on “Recovery in Pnson,” held in September 1995, and hosted by A.A.’s Central New York Area, in cooperation with the Department of Corrections. Over 150 pcople-40 state correcnonal persormd and 100 A.A. volunteers- attended the conference, which was organized by Gene K., Central New York’s Corrections chair, and Amy B., Central New 8

York’s C.P.C. chaJr. The conference had two purposes: to increase participation by A.A. m embers in corrections Twelfth Step work, and to further develop a mutual understanding and cooperation between state corrections workers and AA Pa rticipant Bob H. said, “The conference really opened up lines of communication. We A.A.s didn’t know who to contact in the prison system and the state treatment people didn’t know who to contact in A.A. I’ve bt!en in semce work for a number of years, and this is the most productive meeting I’ve ever been to.” The day’s events included p resentations made by corrections personnel on prison treatment programs, explanations of the basics of sec.urity, clearance requirements, and rules and regulations affecting visitors to prison facilities. Regional coordinators of prison programs spoke of the great impact A.A. has on prison morale and commented on the need for more A.A. meetings. jeanie M., G.S.O. staff member who formerly served on the C.P.C. a ssignment, was one of the day’s speakers. jeanie reports that she was impressed by the talk given by Dr. William R. Williford, the dJrector of the state’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse 1Tea tment services, a talk “which seem ed aimed at inspiring the counselors and supervisors.” Another conference presentation came from Roy D., appointed member of the trustees’ Correctlonal Facilities Committee. Roy talked about what happens when lDinates are mandated to A.A. meetings in order to meet requirements for earned eligibility or some other internal program. Afraid of “losing face” with other inmates, some may just swap war stories instead of truly sharing their experience, strength and hope. Roy described some solutions that facilities have come up with to address this issue: at one facility, for example, the A.A. group met for an hour and then attendance cards were signed. After a coffee break, those who wanted to stay could participate in a closed sharing meetmg. Those who were there only to increase their chances with the parole board left after the coffee. One of the serendipitous outcomes of the workshop was the awareness on the part of the corrections people that A.A.s were not “just a bunch of drunks” but a mature, competent, well-organized Fellowship of dedicated and hardworking people, wislung nothing more than the opportunity to share their gift of sobriety. One of the concrete results of the Conference was the mailbox drop program, a way to improve A.A. contacts for the inmate upon his or her release. Modeled on a successful program that’s been used by Michtgan A.A.s for several years, the program is simple: The four A.A. areas in New York State provide a request form for inmates to fill out and send in if they want to establish an A.A. contact to h elp them make A.A. connections upon release. Requests from prisoners at state facilities

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anywhere in the state are addressed to a single post office box. Bob H., SE New York Corrections chair, then reroutes these to the appropriate local contacts. The mailbox is centrally located in Manhattan, because 83 percent of all inmates released come to one of New York City’s five boroughs. Bob says, “The mailbox drop is a way for us to give faster service. It used to be that requests for A.A. help (literature, meeting lists, etc.) might go to different places: G.S.O., the area, or a local intergroup. By the time the Corrections committee got the letter, the inmate might be out. Now, inmates have one address. It cuts our response time in half. We’re still irorung out the bugs, but it’s a great program.” Previously, there were perhaps 20 requests a year for help from the Bridge the Gap program. “Now,” Bob says, “we’re gettmg 80 to 100 requests a month.” Does it ever happen that when an A.A. makes the contact and extends the invitation to go to a meeting, a former inmate says no? “Of course!” Bob says. “But we don’t wony about that. We just cany the message.”

T.F./C.F. Bridging the Gap Makes the Difference “Often we’re in the dark about the results of the Twelfih Step work we do, so we smile when we hear that someone we’ve 1ned to help has made it from treatment or prison to A.A. on the outside and stayed sober,” says Bonnie N., ofSanjose, who chairs the Bridging the Gap (BTG) committee of the California Northern Coastal Area (CNCA). “These stories encourage us to trudge on, and to be grateful to a Higher Power for the happy endings we do get.” One such story concerns Mark, a patient in a local30day treatment facility in Sonoma County. just prior to discharge, Bonnie explains, “he attended an orientation session presented by BTG volunteers and decided be would indeed welcome help when he returned to his home several hours’ drive away in Santa Clara County. So the Sonoma BTGs arranged for Frank, a fellow volunteer in Milpitas, to help Mark make the transition between treatment and A.A. Frank felt a bit rusty- he hadn’t had a. call for almost a year, he said-but he went off to meet this strange newcomer, only to fmd an old friend from his boyhood! The two men renewed their ties, went to meetings together and, as Frank has said, did wonders for each other’s sobriety.” Bonnie also likes to tell about Mike, a prison inmate.

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In a letter addressed to the BTG committee’s P.O. Box,

he said that he had already written to 200 churches and county agencies asking for help upon release. “I heard from just one, a church,” he explained, “but when I wrote back saymg I was an alcoholic, they didn’t contact me agrun.” Chuck C., immediate past chairperson of the BTG committee, “answered Mike’s letter,” Bonnie relates. “He arranged to meet him the day of his release, took him to meetings and introduced him to other A.A.s. Usually our BTG volunteers serve just as temporary sponsors, but in this case Chuck became Mike’s ‘permanent’ sponsor -and reports that he is sober and adjusting well to life in his community.” Then, says Bonnie, “there’s the story that began when my husband, Wayne, attended a meeting in nearby Milpitas. A newcomer named Ron said he wouldn’t be sober were it not for the BTG program, and of course Wayne was pleased. But thai’s not the end: A year and a halflater, I was looking for someone to round out a sixmember panel at a Sunday morrung BTG conference in Fresno, but with no luck. A few days beforehand, Wayne and I happened to go to a local restaurant, and there was Ron-two years sober and pleased to serve on our panel. That’s serendipity for you!” Bonnie also recalls the time juan G., the CNCA Spanish Community Representative, received a Jetter fi·om a Sparush-speaking woman we’ll call Maria, who was about to be released from prison: “She needed to get to Riverside, in Southern Callfornia, and was ten1fied of going, afraid she’d drink. juan made sure that a Spanish-speakmg BTG contact met her at the prison and put her on a bus to Riverside. There to meet her, by previous arrangement, was a temporary AA. sponsor, who immediately wlusked her off to a meetmg.” Plannmg BTG strategy and making certain that there are no slip-ups is exacting and tune-consummg, Bonnie points out. “But each time w e know that the alcoholic’s ve1y life is at stake,” she says, “and we try to leave nothing to chance. In the case of Maria, we know she has stayed away from the bottle, and we’re tluilled. But even when our efforts initially seem to flop, we figure that at the ve1y least we’re planting a sobriety seed for the future. And we’re letting these alcoholics know they don’t ever have to go it alone again.” To help BTG contacts carry the message efftctively to alcoholics in hospitals, treatment facilities and correctional facilities, CNCA’s BTG committee has developed brief, clearcut guidelines, published in pamphlet form. Also of help is a card that the A.A. volunteers can mail or hand out personally to those “inside.” After telhng what Bridging the Gap is about, the card ends on a sharmg note: “Being alcoholics ourselves, w e know the people you will meet in your first days out could make all the difference. We hope we will h ear from you.” 9

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C.P.C. A District Project Bursts Its Seams In Westem Missouri “In the beginning, I guess we thought small,” says Ron S. “Our goal was to open up a district-level dialogue between A.A. and local probation of£cers and colmselors. But it turned out that the officers gather monthly for regtonal training that covers roughly the northern quarter of the state. In A.A. terms, that’s seven whole ctistncts and part of another-about half of MISsouri’s Western Area. So it quickly became apparent that our modest district-level project would require str ong area input to succeed.” Ron chairs the committee on Cooperation With the Professional Community for District 7, which embraces the eastern part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. ”Probation officers and counselors here must attend two sessions a year for extra traming,” he explains. “When approached, the administrators were receptive to our idea of an orientation session and offered full cooperation.” Planning began last March for a late-fall presentation, and Ron’s first task was to enlist the support of the area assembly in view of the large region to be represented. Reports District 7 chairman Jim P., who was there: “Ron stressed the importance of the project at the area, district and group levels. ‘We can’t do anythmg when we are yelling at each other,’ he said. ‘A.A. has a loyalty to the drunk, but the probation officers have no loyalty to us. We needed to be careful not to try to ctictate what the officers should do. The mam thing is, we want to be helpful.’ The assembly agreed and pledged full support.” The regional dtrectors reserved three hours for A.A.’s Nov. 28 presentation. The. first half featured three A.A. speakers-experienced in C.P .C. and Correctional Facilities work. Their topics: What A.A. Is and Is Not, Anonymity, and Affiliation vs. Cooperation. Then the group broke up into A.A. district meetings to get acquainted and provide names and numbers of local A.A. contacts. Approximately 60 probation officers and counselors attend ed the session, says Ron. “The interest level appeared to be high, and afterward several hard-hitting questions came from the audience. Some people said they had experienced clients who were turned offby the ‘God thmg.’ Then an A.A. explained that ‘We don’t force anyone to believe in God. All that’s necessary is to realize that ”I can’t do it by myself, but maybe there’s something stronger that can keep me sober.'” It’s not nncommon for newcomers to use the group as their higher p<>vver.”

10

Each attendee was given a packet of AA literature, paid for by the districts involved in the meeting. Included were a listing of open meetings and group phone nwnbers in the greater Kansas City area, the fliers “Information on A.A.” and “A.A. a t a Glance” and an order form for About AA, the newslerter for professionals. Additionally, Big Books and copies of the Twelve and Twelve were available for purchase. “Now I know whom to contact when I have clients needing help with a drinkmg problem,” one officer said. “I’ve been in probation for three years, and this is the first time I’ve had any contact with A.A. folks,” said another. The regional leaders are already making arrangements to have A.A. back. “But,” says Ron, “since the turnover rate among officers is fairly low, it was decided for now to hold our meetings every other year instead of annually.” Ron admits that he and his C.P.C. committee members are still amazed and gratified by the scope and success of the project. “I’ve learned,” he comments, “that jump-starting communication-not just in the community but inside A.A. between the various service entities-is all-important. That and being ready, to match the professionals’ needs with what A.A. has to offer.” Adds D.C.M. Jim P.: ” In an endeavor of this kind, we need to work together. I mean all of us, both A.A.s and our professional friends. We need each other to r each the still-suffering alcoholic.”

P.I. Hawaiian PSAs The West Hawaii District Public Information Committee has produced and distributed six new ractio public service announcements-including one specifically directed to the female alcoholic that was approved by the local Women’s Group. (According to the P.L committee’s December 1995 report, “the Men’s Group declined the opportunity to run annonncements at this time.”) The psa for women says: “Are you a woman who is questioning her relationship with alcohol? Ifyou want to talk with another woman about this, then you are invited to attend the Honalo Women’s Group of Alcoholics Anonymous on Thesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. For more information about this or other Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for women, call (808) 329-1212.” The other psa’s address both sexes. Content ranges from the friendly-“‘fyou live up Mauka and wish to stop drinking, try A.A.! Feel free to join us at our regular meetings”-to the blunt but reassuring: “If you drink, that’s your business. Ifyou want to stop, that’s our business!”

BOX~ 41519

BULLETIN BOARD

Items and Ideas on Area Gatherings for· A.A.s-Via G.S.O.

C(l.le;,ndar of Events Events listed here are presented solely as a service to readers, not a s an endorsement by the General Service Office. For any additional information, please use the addresses provided.

4- 7-Franklin, Tennessee. National Agape Weekend XVI. Write: Ch., 3313 SW 16th St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312-3638 4-8-Canberra ACT, Australia. 31st National Conv. Write: Secy., GPO Box 1464, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia 5-7-Scottsdale, Arizona. Spring Break Roundup (sponsor ed by gay &> lesbian members). Write: Ch., Box 36366, Phoenix, AZ 85067- 6366 5-7- Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Sprmg Break Round Up. Write: Ch., Box 51255, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32240 5-7-IndiLmapolis, Indiana. GLRCYPAA VI. Wrlte: Ch., Box 441524, Indianapolis, IN 4(>244-1524 5-7-Metairie, I..ouisiana. 28th Annual Big Deep South Conv. Write: Ch., 4041 Tulane Ave., Ste. 301, New Orleans, LA 70119 6-7-Lewiston, Idaho. Fhng in the Spr ing. Write: Ch., Box 52, Kendrick, ID 83537

t2-14-Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.. Sou thern Alber ta Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 212, Lethbridge, AB T1J 3Y5 12-14-Kailu.a-Kona, Hawai!. Eigh th Annual Big Island Bash. Write. Ch., Box 390727, Kailua-Kona, Hl96739 12-14-Roc/iford, Illinois. 1996 NIA Spring Coni: Write: Ch., Box 4134, Rockford, It 61110 12-14-f’ort Wayne, Indiana. 16th ArulUal NE Indiana Conv. Write: Ch., 7531 Mill Run Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46819 12-14-Buffalo, New York. GSA Spring Conv. Write: Ch., Box 501, Ransomville, NY 14131 12-14-Tanytown, New York. SENY Conv. Write: Ch., Box 1688, Madison Sq. Sta., New York, NY 10159

12-14-Gmnd Forks, North Dakota . Northern Spring Roundup . Write: Ch., Box 14121, Grand Forks, ND 58208-4121 12-14-Tulsa, Oklahoma. Th e Tr ail of Hope Sixth Annu al OK Indian Conv. Write: Ch., 5181 South Vandalia, #9H, Tulsa, OK 74135 12-14-Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Fourth Annual Tristate Conv. Write: Ch., Box 4142, Lancaster, PA 17604 18-21-Island of Pores, Greece. Second Conv. Write: Parthenon Conv. Group., 13, Eratosthenous St., Pangrati, Athens 11635 Greece 19-21-Banff, Alberta, Canada. Banff .Round-up. Write: Ch., 128 Riverglen Dr. S.E., Calgary, AB nc 4G2

19-21-Eureka

Springs,

19-21-Fresno, California. 24th Annual Northern CA H&>I Conf. Wnte: Ch., 2812 N. Blackstone, Fresno, CA 93703 19-21- Kansas City, Missouri. 55 Years in the Heart of America. Write: Ch., KCMO #1, 311 W. 80 Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64114 19-21-Erie, Pennsylvania. Erie Area Spring Conf. Write: Ch., Box 3833, Erie, PA 16508 19-21–superior, Wisconsin. 51st Annual RO\mdup. Write: Ch., Box 996, Superior, WI54880 20-21-Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Panhandle jamboree. Write: Ch., Box 553, Scotts bluff, NE 69361 25-28-Killamey, Co. Kerry, Ireland. 1996 jubilee All Ireland Conv. Write: Ch., G.S.O., 109 South Cl.rcular Rd., Leonard’s Corner, Dublin 8, Ireland 26-28-Chipley, Florula. Counuy Roundup ’96. Write: Ch., 2374 Suggs Rd., Chipley, FL32428

26-28- Lincoln, Nebraska. Spring Fling. Wrlte: Ch., Box 30785, LmcoiJl, ~ 68503 26-28-Tamiment Resort, Poconos, Pennsylvar~ia. 29th Annual Round-Up.

Write : Ch., Intergroup Off., 1218 Chestnut St., Ste. 1004, P.hiladelphia, PA 19107

26-28-0rangeburg, South Carolir~a. District 40 Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 1974, Orangeburg, SC 29115 26-28-Clark.sburg, West Virginia. 24th j ackson’s MilJ Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 825, Clarksburg, WV 26302-0825

3-5-Golden, British Columbia, Canada. 29th Annual Round-up, Write: Ch., Box 1405, Golden, BC VOA 1HO

3-5-Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Victoria Rally. Write: Ch., #8-2020 Douglas St., Victoria, BC 8T 4L1

3-5-St. Joseph, New Brunswick, Canada. Ar t;a 81 Sprlng Assembly &> Round-Up. Wr1te: Ch., R.R. # 1, Box 637, Memramcook West, NB EOA2CO

APRIL – MAY 1996

Closed Meeting Topics From the Grapevine For m ore detailed suggestions, see the pages noted. April (page 20): Spi.litual awakerungs M ay (page 51): A.A. in the computer

age

3-5-Grand Rapids, Minnesota. 26th Annual Iron Range Get-Together. Write: Ch., Box 469, Grand Rapids, MN S5744 3-5-Greenville, Mi.ssU>sippi. Fifth Annual Delta Roundup. Write: Ch., 308 LakevTew, Leland, MS 38756 3-5-Laughlin, Nevada. 12th Annual TriState Round-Up. Write: Ch., Box 21809, Bullhead City, AZ 86439 3-5-Gr·eensburg, Pennsylvani.a . 45th Laurel Highlands Cont: Write: Ch., 60 Greenbrier, Pittsburgh, PA 15220 3-5-Richrnond, Virginia. Fourth Annual Primary Purpose Spring Conf. Write: Ch., PPSC, Box 12475, Richmond, VA 232410475 3-5-Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 45th Annual Spring Conf. Write: Tr., Box 71322, Milwaukee, WI 53211

i0-12–Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. 32nd Annual Blossom Tin1e Conv. Write: Ch., Box 851, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6V6 10-12-San Antonio, Te.·ras. Weekend in SA. Write: Ch., Box 1996, San Antonio, TX 78216

17- 19-Courtenay, British Columbia , Canada. 45th Annual Comox Valley Rally. Write: Ch., Box 1337, Comox, BC V9N7Z8

17- 19- Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Annual Round- Up. Write: Ch., Box 5277, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 3T3

Planning a Future Event? Ple~se send your mformati~n on June, July, August events, two days or more, in time to reach G.S.O. by Apnl tO, the calendar deadline for the j une-July 1ssue ofBru: 4-5-9. for your convenience and ours please type or plint the infonnation to be listed on the Bullellll Board page, and mail to us:

Date ofevent: .from _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ t o – – – – – – — — 19 _ __ Name of event:

Place (city, state

———————————-

or prov.): – – – – – – — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – — For ilif()lmation, write: (e.ract mailing a d d r e s s ) – – – – – – – – — – – – – – – – – – — – – –

Arkansas.

Springtime in the Ozarks. Write: Tr., Box 1261, Rogers, AR 72757

Contact phone # ifor office use only): ~–~~——————–

Flip up this end ofpage – for events on reverse side

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17-19-Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. 36th Annual Delaware Conv. Write: Sec., 379 Angola By The Bay, Lewes, DE 19958

17-19-Clearwater, Florida. Seventh Annual Conv. Write: Ch., Box 2571, Pinell116 Park, FL 34664-2571 17-19-Daytona Beach, Florida. Sixth Annual Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 491’1, S. Dayton, FL 32121 17-19-Hammond, Louisiana. Spring Roundup. Write: Ch., 23036 Barnum Rd., Springfield, LA 70462 17-19-Holyoke, Massachzu;etts. 27th Western Mass. Round-Up. Write: Ch., Box 6161, Sprillld1eld, MA 01101 17-19-Lake Se5ago, New York. Sixt h Or.m~e County Spring Conf. Write: Ch., OCYPAA, Box 210, Middletown, NY 10940-0210 17-19-Ttilsa, Oklahoma. 55th Annual State Conf. Write: Ch., Box 700212, Tulsa, OK 74170-{)212 17-19- Bolton, Vermont. Area 70 State Conv. Write: Ch., Box 1996, Wallingford, vro5773 17-19-Sirawano, Wi.sc:onsin. Area 74 47th Annual Spnng Conf. Write: Secy., 247-A W. 15th Ave., Oshkooh, WI 54901 23-26-Waycross, Georgia. Okefenokee Rou nd-up. Write: Ch., Box 403, Waycross, GA 31502 24-26-Kenvood, Ont.ar·io, Canada. Strathroy-Watford Camp-out. Write: Ch., Longhorn Ranch, RR3, Strathroy, ON N7G3H5

Z4-26-Laval, Quebec, Canada. 18th Congress of the Dlst. of Laval and Surrounding. Write: Ch., C.P. 1502 Station, Chomedcy, Laval, PQ H7V lAO 24-26-Ren.frew, Scotland. 40th Scoltish Convention . Write: Scottish Service Office, Baltic ChambcrH, 50 Wellington St., Glasgow GZ 61-U Scotland 24-26-Bfoomingt:on, Mlrmesota. Gopher State Roundup. Write: Ch., l3ox 65.W5, St. Paul, MN 55165-0295 Z4-27-Boston, Massachusetts. Boston Roundup – B.G.L.R.U. Wr ite: Ch., Box 1009-GMF, Boston, MA 02205 31-}une Z-Fiagsta.ff, Ariz.ona. Flagstaff Round-up. Write: Ch., 46 Toho Trail, Flagstaff, AZ 86001

14-16-Springfield, MISSOUri. Heart of the Ozarks. Write: Ch., Box 1607, Springfield,

MO 6S801 Zt -.23-Bronx, New York . B01WCYPAA. Write: Ch., Box 243, Westchester Sq., Sta., Bronx, NY 10461 28-30-Moodus, CormecttCttt. Soberfest ’96. Write: Secy., 46 Brookside, Ave. Naugatuck, CT 06770 28-30- Salt L a lce City, Utah . Pacific Regiona l Forum. Write: Forum Coordinntor, Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163

july 4-7- Ncw York, New York. 10th NYSCY-

june 7-9-Ca/gary, Alberta, Canada. Fifteenth Annual Gratitude Round-Up. Write: Ch., Box 954, Station M, Cala:my, AB TZP 2K4 7-9- Binghamton, New fork. 45th Annual Centra1 NY Area Conv. Write: Ch., Box 837,Johnson City, NY 13790-0837 7-9- Akron , Ohio. Gist Founders Day. Write: Ch., Box 12, Akron, OH 44309 13-16-Hagerstown, Maryland, 26th State Conv. Write: Ch., Box 105, Phoenix, MD 21131 14-16-Cedar Rapids. Iowa. Area 24 Spnng Conference. Write: Ch., Box 71, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-0071

PAA •soaring Spirit.” Write: Ch., 331 Wes t 57 St., Box 116, New York, NY 10019 5-7-Quimby, Iowa. District 15 Campout. Write: Ch., 301 N. 2ud St., Cherokee, IA 51012 12-14-Eu.gene, Oregon . Summerfest ’96. Write: Ch., Dox 11824., Eugene, OR 97440 19-21-Edson, All:>erta, Canada. 36th Dist. 5 Roundup. Write: Secy., #206, 5238-5th Ave., Edson, AB T7E 1R6

19-21- Martinsburg, West Vi’8inia. 44th West V’trginia State Conv. Write: Ch., Box 560, Martlnsb~ WV 25401