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News and Notes From the General Service Office of A.A.

Christmas Mail Warms Hearts at G.S.O. This is the season of the year when Christmas greetings flood the mail at your General Service Office. Every post office delivery brings dozens, even scores of Christmas cards bearing postmarks from every state in the union, every province of Canada, and other countries around the world. And we on the G.S.O. staff pore over and cherish every one. Whether the greeting is addressed to the staff as a whole or to individual members, we accumulate in file folders the cards and the envelopes they came in. And when each folder is bulging to overflowing, we circulate it from desk to desk so all of us can go through and enjoy and savor every communication. Every folder is crammed with joy and love and gratitude and spiritual kinship. We are full of delight one minute. The next, we are moved to tears. We are sad we cannot acknowledge each card and greeting. But it would be physically impossible. So we send you a collective greeting in this issue of Box 4-5-9 every year. In our hearts, we thank you all each and every one. One of the greatest pleasures is to hear at this time of year from people we haven’t been in touch with for some time: past delegates, past trustees, members we have met at conferences or conventions who have become dear friends. The staff member in the next office just burst out of her door yelping joyously, “Here’s a note from a person I rode on a plane with six years ago! He’s been sober ever since!” A large percentage of the Christmas cards are from other lands. A.A. friends overseas seem to want to touch base at this special season. Here’s a card with kangaroos on the front. Guess where! That’s right, Australia! The note inside reads, “To all at G.S.O. New York. Best wishes for Christmas, and may 1982 bring you all much peace and serenity. Fondest love, Bob McC.” He’s a past World Service Meeting delegate. Others by the drove are from England, Ireland, France, Germany, Finland. . . from Sri

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VOL. 26, NO. 6! HOLIDAY 1981

Dear Friends, The message of Christmas is the same each year. It is the same hope andjoy of the beginnings of things, and yet it is different. The A.A. message is like that, too. Each new day, it is the same hope of recovery that we share at our meetings the same joy of living. Arid yet, like Christmas, each new day and each new meeting are dUferent. At Christmastime, we remember one another with presents. At our A.A. meetings, one day at a time, we are constantly offering one another gifts so lavish that nonA.A.b might well think us profligate. Gifts of courage, trust, and simplicity. Gifts of tolerance, laughter, and honesty. And so many more. We don’t have a corner on these gifts, of course. They were part of the Christmas message long bejbre our beloved Fellowship came into existence. Now, thanks to A.A., we are sober and able to enjoy the Christmas message, and rrotjust once a year. Every single day of the year, one day at a time, we can celebrate and share the message of Christmashope and joy for the world. The more you think of it, Christmas sounds just like A.A., doesn’t it? And A.A. is exactly like Christmas. Thanks be!

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Lanka and Bombay, India. . . from South Africa and Iceland and all over South America. And from many, many other faraway places–personal and moving evidence that our beloved program works miraculously in all countries and all cultures. Yes, that means that many of the greetings are in other tongues. For instance, here’s a gorgeous card with an artistic still-life photograph on the cover showing a

gold watch with its hands at midnight, a crystal goblet of brandy, and a spray of holly leaves. The member sending it has put his own significance to the picture by writing inside, “Aqui son la copav el tiempo que no pude deterier

ayer. Hoy, gracias a mi Poe/er Superior y a A.A., he cornprendido que es por Dios que debo de vivir.” Translation: “Here are the cup and the time that I could not stop yesterday. Today, thanks to my Higher Power and to A.A., I have understood that it is for God that I should live.” It’s from Frank L. in the Dominican Republic. I don’t know Frank L., but he has enriched my life with his sharing. A lot of the cards are from Lone Members and Internationalists (members on ships at sea). I sit here and try to picture what it must be like to be alone somewhere out there where there are no meetings to go to. And I am deeply moved. Typical of so many is this one from Tanzania: “Another year sober It gives me a warm feeling to have a friend in far-off New York. Thank you for another year of happiness.” No less touching are the greetings from prison inmates. Many, from individual prisoners, are addressed to the staff member serving on the correctional facilities assignment. But here is a card signed by 14 members of the New Hope (wonderful name!) A.A. Group in the Virginia State Penitentiary. In fact, all the cards from groups kind of get to me. They’re often slightly dog-eared from being passed from hand to hand and signed painstakingly, lovingly by “Shirley A.,” “Tom,” “Big Swede,” and perhaps 20 or 30 more. Other group-type cards come in from intergroups and central offices and from service offices overseas. So many of the messages say not only “Merry Christmas” but “Thank you,” too. “Thank you for coming to Saskatchewan and sharing with us.” “Thank you for the wonderful day touring G.S.O.” “Thank you for that unforgettable Convention in New Orleans last year. It was the highlight of my A.A. life.” You’re welcome, you’re welcome all of you! There are elaborate, costly cards, and lovely, simple cards. There are cards signed simply “Anonymous.” (Curiously, that touches me deeply.) And then there are scads of cards that are signed but are nevertheless anonymous, intentionally or unintentionally. They are signed simply “Paul” or “Ann” or “Irv.” (That’s why we keep the envelopes; the postmark may help us identify “Iry Who?”) And in folder after folder, card after card is from a wonderful A.A. member we may not know at all. They are outpourings of gratitude for sobriety from people who don’t know who else to write to. “Thank you forhelping make it possible for me to maintain my sobriety one day at a time for 30 years and nine months.” Or “By the grace of God, the Fellowship of A.A., and the Twelve steps of recovery, this will be my first sober Christmas in 25 years. I would like to thank you all for being there when I reached my bottom.” “God bless you, G.S.O. 2

staff, and thank you for the many hours of dedicated service to help the suffering alcoholics all over the world.” And so on and on. It’s embarrassing. We dab our eyes and blow our noses and move on to the next cards. For, you see, it is we who are grateful to you . . And we wish you in return the best of A.A. during the coming yeara day Bob P. at a time, of course.

A.A.’s mourn their loss of LaVelle C., Southwest U.S. regional trustee and A.A.W.S. director, who died October 14 in El Paso, Tex. Those who knew her cherish the mneinorv of her warmth and charm, and we can all be grateful for her loving A.A. service.

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’I Wish I Had Someone To Tell It To’ One of the services provided by G.S.O. is correspondence with A.A.’s “inside”inmnates of correctional institutions who have little or no contact with A.A. and are staving sober vqthout many of the program advantages most of us take for granted. The need is great; the opportunity is there; yet too few outside A.A.’s even know of this service, much less participate in it. Right now, there are far more inmates requesting letters than there are A.A.’s to write them; in fact, the gap is so large that many on the inside face a waiting period before hearing from outside A.A.’s. Young members, especially, can help, since the prison population is largely composed of men and women in their, teens and twenties. Drawings on pages 2 and 3 copvright’hv The reprinted with permission

A.A. Grapevine, Inc.;

BOX 459 is published bimonthly by the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous, 468 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. ‘Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1981 Mail address: P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163

Subscriptions: Individual, $1.50 per year; group $3.50 for each unit of 10 per year. Check – made payable to A.A.W.S., Inc. – should accompany order.

Here’s how it works: When an inmate writes requesting a correspondent, his or her name is sent to the outside A.A., who makes the initial contact. Often, a friendship begun by mail becomes sponsorship by mail (of course, as is customary, men with men and women with women). Most of all, the A.A.’s inside are reassured that they’re not alone, that when they’re released, the hand of A.A. will certainly be there as they adjust to sober life outside the walls. If you want to correspond with A.A.’s inside, write the Institutions Correspondence Service, at G.S.O., and get your name on the list. What are the rewards? A couple of letters from inmates provide the best possible answer: Joseph D. writes from Cheshire, Conn.: “Ijust finished reading one of your pamphlets. It really made me think. I’m now in jail for a parole violation, which I got from drinking. I wasn’t supposed to drink when I was on parole, but I did, and I got way out of control. I uTecked a car, got into fights, and had several blackouts. And I lost a very special person from drinking, and I know I can never get her back. “A.A. is for me since I’ve been back injail. I’ve been really getting into the meetings and getting a lot out of them. But there’s a lot I don’t understand about my drinking problem. I’m nineteen years old and powerless over booze. Right now, sitting in my cell, I feel whipped.

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I feel my life has no meaning at all. I wish I had someone to tell it to, but there isn’t anyone. Please help in any way you can.” And a letter from Ronald E. in Freehold, NJ., isjust as telling: “I’m being incarcerated because of some trouble I got in while drinking, and hanging with the wrong company. You see, I didn’t think I had a problem with drinking until I got into this mess, but believe me, I know it now. I thought I was cool, and got more girls from drinking, but I’m paving for it now. “I just can’t control my drinking, and if drinking is going to put line in places like this, I don’t need it at all.

Thank you for reading my lettersometimes it feels good to get it out in the open. I’m attending A.A. meetings here in the county, and I know I’ll overcome this problem, with help. Could you send me some pamphlets? Thanks.”

Do You Speak Thai or Chinese andA.A.? Whether this little anecdote is authentic or not, it makes a point. Seems a person who knew little English read one summer that “Bill W. had a coat of tan.” The translation: “Bill W. had a brown jacket.” That’s an extreme example of the oddities that can crop up when A.A. literature is translated into other languages. With the growth of the Fellowship around the worldmuch of it due to wider availability of A.A. literaturethere is increasing concern that when the message is carried in print, it should be carried exactly as it was originally written. One answer to this problem is translation checkers, and the General Service Office is currently looking for bilingual A.A.’s to check Big Book translations in Chinese and Thai. If you have the expertise to make sure such a translation is correct, both to the letter and to the spirit of A.A., please be in touch. And translators are constantly needed for many other languages. Responsibility for literature translation and publication approval rests with A.A. World Services, Inc., and the A.A.W.S. board has developed stringent guidelines. While no permission is necessary to translate literature, copyright permission is necessary for publication. A copy of the translationdone in the country of origin-is sent to the General Service Office, where a staff member gets in touch with a translation checker. This person then goes over it carefully, making sure that it conforms to the spirit of A.A., that the Steps and Traditions are translated as close to the English as possible, and that the meaning is in no way changed. Only then is permission for publication granted. In the past, A.A.W.S. granted permission retroactively for translations already published. This policy has been changed (because it could put theA.A. copyright in jeopardy), and now permission can be granted only in advance of publication. Another reason for this policy is that some deviations have occurred in translation. Which one of us, new to the program, didn’t want to revise the Big Book? Indeed, Bill W. and the other early A.A.’s encountered great opposition to some portions. (It was called “too religious,” for

New Pamphlet Clarifies Anonymity Principle

example. “What about the agnostics among us?”) Today, English-speaking A.A.’s sometimes object to that same religious orientation, or to “anti-feminist” language, or to flowery, outdated phrases. In the same way, some translators in other countries have felt it would be helpful to adapt parts of the Big Book to meet the different needs of other cultures. Always, A.A.W.S. refuses. Its board of directors mostly alcoholics who recovered through the Big Book insists on keeping the first 11 chapters intact, just as written 42 years ago. They feel that Alcoholics Anonymous has grown to its present size, not by changing the Big Book, but by keeping it the same. Only that policy will ensure that the original message is carried to future generations of suffering alcoholics. The translation and production process has already been described in Box 4-5-9 (Aug.-Sept. 1980). Briefly, as long as there are responsible A.A.’s willing and able to make arrangements in a country, A.A.W.S. is ready with financial and other aid (which is repaid from sales after the literature is produced). It’s suggested, especially in small countries where the A.A. population is very small and resources are limited, that local A.A.’s start with translation of the three basic recovery pamphlets (“This Is A.A.,” “44 Questions,” and “Is A.A. for You?”). Then, with some experience to build on, they go on to the Big Book. That procedure makes some literature available during the time-consuming process of translation, checking, and production. Today, translations of the Big Book are available in 13 languages: English, Afrikaans, Finnish, Flemish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Spanish. In process of translation or in preliminary stages are Big Books in Dutch, Thai, and Chinese. And all those foreign translations are in addition to the 3,000,000-plus copies of the Big Book in English already distributed by G.S.O. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? 4

“Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions. . .” reads part of Tradition Twelve. And anonymity is probably the most misunderstood of all A.A.’s traditional principlesby A.A.’s and non-A.A.’s alike. The new edition of the pamphlet “Understanding Anonymity” (enclosed with this issue) was produced to help correct prevailing misunderstandings. In addition to a clear and helpful explanation of the principles underlying anonymity, taken from personal and media viewpoints, it includes questions designed to help both newcomers and oldtimers better understand this fundamental tenet of the Fellowship. The revision grew out of what the trustees’ Public Information Committee felt was a growing confusion over the last two Traditions, especially at the media level. With anonymity breaks averaging ten to 20 a month (and happening mostly because of honest misinterpretations), the committee undertook a pamphlet revision, which was taken to the 1981 General Service Conference and approved. The new pamphlet (priced at 15) delineates how anonymity functions for the individual who is concerned with personal protection, and for the A.A. involved with the media and concerned with protecting the Fellowship as a whole. It’s hoped that sponsors will share it with newcomers, so that misunderstandings can be cleared up from the beginning. And it will be useful, too, for representatives of the media, who occasionally find the Traditions difficult to grasp (yet almost invariably cooperate gladly when they do understand).

More Answers for the Nonsmokers in A.A. The mailbag for this issue was filled with responses to the article on problems of nonsmoking A.A.’s, in the Aug.-Sept. Box 4-5-9. Louise K., from Wilbraham, Mass., had a double, positive response to that issue. She writes: “Reading Box 4-5-9 has prompted me to do two thingsenclose a check for a subscription and send along my own experience regarding two of the articles, on smoking and on special groups. My experience covers both. “Having a serious lung disease has meant being on

oxygen 24 hours a day, and while I simply went to regular A.A. meetings using a walking oxygen unit, there came a time when my doctor said, ’No more meetings where there is any smoke.’ He felt my seven years of sobriety meant I could stay sober from all I had learned in the program. He didn’t realize the rewards of working with newcomers, or the fellowship found at meetings. “A morning nonsmoking meeting was started by one friend, and for a year we met in our homes, all women. A few newcomers, a few with lung problems, a few who simply abstained all different sorts of sobriety, but basically covering our Third Tradition. We were not a scheduled regular meeting to start, but a ’special’ group. “Word spread about the meeting, bringing about a decision to find a church to meet in, register with our intergroup, call it a closed women’s nonsmoking group, and see what would happen. Our attendance now ranges from six to 28. We are able to pay the church a small rent and to contribute to our intergroup office and G.S.O. Several members have respiratory problems; some have none, which is a good balance. “It is impossible to put into words my gratitude for this meeting, or for the friend who started it. There are now a no-smoking Step group and a mixed discussion group within traveling distance, so more people like me can make more meetings. “One addition: Our group has had several nervous newcomers who felt they couldn’t go to smoky meetings. Things have a way ofworking out if one has the faith that they will.” From Quebec City, Que., comes a novel solution: “Hi, my name is Gilbert B., and I’m quite nervous because it’s the first time I’ve written New York. “We just started a group two months ago, in the residence of the Sisters of Charity, where there is no smoking at all. The sisters gave us an extraordinary solution, which is easy and not at all expensive. “It’s a fluid called oil of cloves. When we used it last week, in a room of about 40 by 40 feet, where there were about 86 people, primarily smokers, we had the feeling of being in a smokeless room. “We simply put three drops of the oil in a ball of cotton wool, placed this behind the curtains, and the problem was solved. Since it’s a very concentrated product, we put it in a small jar so it wouldn’t burn or stain anything. After the meeting, we can replace the cover on the jar and save it for the next meeting.” Don P., a nonsmoker, tells us how he feels about it: “I would go along with not smoking at our meeting if it were to be put to a vote. I attend church also, and I don’t smoke there. Neither do I get up and leave during the course of the service to smoke. “I would dislike to see anyone asked to leave an A.A. meeting if they insisted on smoking, because if they have

a desire to stop drinking, they have met the only requirement for membership. We do not have the right to kick them out or make them feel unwelcome. “I don’t want anyone who can’t tolerate smoke even to go on a Twelfth Step call with me for it may be harder to tolerate other smells, too. I have learned also that I can’t control other people, and that instead of insisting that conditions change to suit me, I have to change to meet conditions.” Joe F., from Brea, Calif., tells us he’s not much of a letter writer, but the nonsmokers article prompted him to this response: “I had to quit many meetings because I became physically ill from the cigarette smoke. I have been sober ten and a half years and recognize the importance of meetings to maintain my sobriety. I found a lot of opposition from smokers, who feel it is a threat to their ’rights’ to speak of not smoking. “Finally, I determined to start a nonsmoking meeting, with no one excluded from joining. We simply ask the smokers to retire to the outdoors to smoke. So, a little over two years ago, our nonsmoking meeting was started, with six people present. For a long time, there were only us five or six, and one night (a Thanksgiving) found me and just one other alcoholic there. “Our resident smokers do not take offense, since some of them object to the thick smoke at other meetings. Our group has grown to about 18. “To show how the Higher Power works, some of us who were the original members felt the group had grown too large. Two weeks ago, we started a new nonsmoking meeting. To those who wish to start a meeting: Have courage and perseverance; if there is truly a need for such a meeting, it cannot fail.”

G.S.R. Corner

Delegate Corner

How to Enlighten a Group

A New Conference Blooms

From California come some constructive suggestions for obtaining a G.S.R. in a group that doesn’t yet have one: Ti. Attend the meeting, perhaps with another service person. Ask the secretary for time before the meeting, when people are fresh and receptive. Make your report short and light. 2. Let the group know that without a G.S.R., they’re missing out. With a G.S.R., they will receive information from G.S.O., will know what’s going on in the Fellowship as a whole, and can have a voice and vote in A.A. (If there’s time, show the chart of the structure of the Fellowship.) 3. Have elections right then! (Remember, two years’ sobriety is suggested for service jobs.) 4. Mention the 60-30-10 Plan later – it’s not the point right at the beginning. 5. Congratulations on ajob well done!

From West Germany comes word of its First General Service Conference, held April 10-12, 1981, in Darmstadt. Friedel H., Conference secretary (and former World Service Meeting delegate), writes: “Our groups elected 50 delegates, and 17 elected trustees (four nonalcoholic) and nine ’special workers’ (staff) were also members. There were five service committees and five workshops on the Traditions, under the overall theme ’Unity.’ “As you know, it is a lot of work to prepare a Conference, besides a private full-time job. Sometimes, I was very discouraged, and it was hard to keep my Se renitv. One day, I received a letter from a delegate, anxious whether he was the right mail because he was ’only’ five years sober. He closed with the words But I have learned in A.A. that a good thing will always succeed.’

Help for the Handicapped When we speak ofA.A.’s with “problems other than alcohol,” we seldom mean those with crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs Yet nianv members with handicaps do have trouble getting to meetings, and thus potential trouble with staving sober. Some central offices are now responding to this need by making information available about meetings that are accessible to A.A.’s with walking handicaps. The Los Angeles Central Office, for example, sends out a return postcard that reads as follows: “Help us help the person on wheels, walker, or crutches to attend your meeting. Please fill out the other half of this card if there is convenient access to your meeting by wheelchair, crutches, or walker.” The return half of the postcard has space for listing group name and address and other information, and boxes to check for accessibility by people using each type of navigating aid. Is your central office making a similar effort? We’d like to hear about it.

Central Office Corner

The Districta Vital Link ScottJ., a district treasurer in Aurora, Minn., Put together a helpful letter on group and district financing. Here’s part of it: “Let’s start with your group: Does your group have a treasurer? Where does the money go? How is your financial situation? Do you pay rent? “Now, let’s talk about the district: The district gives us all a voice in the Fellowship. Much Twelfth Step work is done by district committees. “The D.C.M. (district committee member), as the link between us and the area, attends several meetings a year, both area assemblies and district meetings. This costs about $125 for a weekend. “The district public information committee carries the message through the media; its Grapevine and literature committee, through distribution of A.A. literature to groups. The district sends out a monthly newsletter, costing about $75 a year, and holds workshops at a cost of about $100 each. “The district needs your support. It’s only as good as you make it.”

D.C.M. Corner

Ills)’

II) !iIEIIBULLET I N B OARJr

Items and Ideas on Area Gatherings for A.A.’sVia G.S.O.

HOLIDAY 1981

Twelve Tips on Keeping Your Holiday Season Sober andJoyous Holiday parties without liquid spirits may still seem a dreary prospect to new A.A.’s. But many of us have enjoyed the happiest holidays of our lives sober an idea we would never have dreamed of, wanted, or believed possible when drinking. Here are sonic tips for having an all-round ball without a drop of alcohol.

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5. Skip any drinking occasion you are nervous about. Remember how clever you were at excuses when drinking? Now put the talent to good use. No office party is as important as saving your life.

!

6. If you have to go to a drinking party and can’t take an A.A. with

newcomers to ITicetings, answer the phones at a clubhouse or central office, speak, help with dishes, or visit the alcoholic ward at a hospital.

you, keep some candy handy.

Be host to A.A.friend.s, especially

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3. Keep your A.A. telephone list with you all the time. If a drinking urge or panic comes postpone everything else until you’ve called an

A.A.

4

4. Find out about the special holiday parties, meetings, or other celebrations given by groups in your area, and go. If you’re timid, take someone newer than you are.

time.”

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11. Enjoy the true beauty of holiday love and joy. Maybe you cannot give

7. Don’t think you have to stay

newcomers. If you don’t have a place where you can throw a formal party, take one person to a diner and spring for the coffee.

Don’t sit around brooding.

Catch up on those books, museums, valks, and letters.

10. Don’t start now getting worked up about all those holiday temptations. Remember “one day at a

I. Line up extra A.A. activities for the holiday season. Arrange to take

2.

9.

late. Plan in advance an “important date” you have to keep.

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material gifts can give love.

but this year, you

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12. “Having had a

S. Go to church. Any church.

Planning a February, March, or April Event? Please be sure to send your infOrmation on February, March, or April events for A.A. ’s in time to reach G.S.O. by December 15. This is the calendar deadline for the FebruaryMarch issue of Box 4-5-9 (to be mailed January 15). Naturally, G.S.O. cannot check on all the information submitted. We must rely on local A.A.’s to describe the events accurately.

Flip up this end of page

No need to spell out the Twelfth Step here, since you already know it. . . .”

Calendar of Events December 4-6

.

Kansas City, Missouri. S.W Re. Forum. Write: Reg. Forum Secy., P O. Box 459, Grand Central Sta., New York, NY 10163

4-6

Fairbanks, Alaska. Quarterly Area Conf. Write: Ch., P . O. Box 73882, Fairbanks, AK 99707

4-6 – Sikeston, Missouri. Five-State Roundup. Write: Coord., P.O. Box 285, Gideon, MO 63848

many more events, Grapevine topics listed on reverse side

December 4-6 Jacksonville

Beach, Florida. Sixth Annual N. Fla./S. Ga. Annual Gratitude Weekend. Write: Ch., 1201 N. 1st St., Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

24-25 – Minneapolis, Minnesota. Christmas Alkathon. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 35551, Edina, MN 55435

26-27 – Neosho, Missouri. Winter Holiday. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 43, Neosho, MO 64850

31-jan. 1 – Deer Park, New York. Alkathon, 24-Hour Open Discussion. Write: Ch., 47 W. 14th St., Deer Park, NY 11729

31-Jan. 1 – Minneapolis, Minnesota. Alkathan. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 35551, Edina, MN 55435

31-Jan. 2 Detroit, Michigan.

Tenth Annual New Year’s Alkathon. Write: Ch., 634 Lakewood, Detroit, MI 48215

January 1-3 – South Padre Island, Texas. Lower Rio

5-7 – Ocean City, Maryland. First Seaside

Grande ValleyJamboree. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 10017, Port Isabel, TX 78578

Winter Conf. Write: Coord., 308 Belvedere Ave., Cambridge, MD 21613

8-10 – Hamilton, Bermuda. Fifth Annual

5-7 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Nat.

Corn’. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 177, Warwick, Bermuda 724

Women’s Conf. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 54753, Oklahoma City, OR 73118

8-10 Jackson’s Mill, West Virginia.

5-7 – North Hollywood,

15-17 – Houston, Texas. 20th Annual Area

5-7 – Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Conf. Write: Treas.,3914 Roseland, Houston, TX 77006

31st Annual Rally. Write: Ch., #8-2020 Douglas St., victoria, B.C. V8T 4L1

Winter Get-Together. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 825, Clarksburg, WV 26301

15-17 – Biloxi, Mississippi.

Gulf Coast Roundup. Write: Ch., Rte. 9, 1 Nottingham Cii- ., Gulfport, MS 39501

22-24 Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Second Annual Midwinter Conf. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 6256, Hilton Head Island, SC 29938

24 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 22nd Group Anniv. Breakfast. Write: Ch., 7102 Limekiln Pike, Philadelphia, PA 19138

Closed Meeting Topics From the Grapevine

29-30 – Bl;’theville, Arkansas. 25th Annual Coon Supper. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 401, Blytheville, AR 72315

29-31 – Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada.

December: Read “The Jingle Cat” and “Gratitude Tree” and discuss other ways to turn seasonal blues into holidayjoys; use the provocative “Making Amends” to enliven a meeting on Steps Eight and Nine; let “Our Right to Be Responsible” spark a good session on Tradition Four; get down to “Basics” and share the ways you’ve applied our A.A. slogans in daily living. January: “Temporary Sponsor” offers many ideas for a meeting on sponsorship in general; “Our Spiritual Gift” urges wider discussion of the spiritual base of the A.A. program; for two meetings in a Traditions series, ” ’Carry This Message”’ and “MoneyIt’s Not a Dirty Word” suggest examining what Five and Seven mean to the individual member, as well as to the group.

February

All Fellowship Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 62, Marengo, Sask. SQL 2K0

CalUbrnia. San Fernando valley Cony. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 916, Saugus, CA 91350

12-14 – Oakland, California. Young People’s Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 989, El Cerrito, CA 94530

12-14 – El Paso, Texas. 20th Annual Jamboree. Write: Secy.,P.O. Box 1405, El Paso, TX 79948

12-14 – Palmerston North, New Zealand. 19th National Cony. Write: Cony., P.O. Box 1111, Palmerston North, New Zealand

12-14 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Tenth Annual North Shore Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 91953, West Vancouver, B.C. V7V 4S4

20-21 – Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada. Second Annual Roundup. Write: Ch.,P.O. Box 87, Fort McLeod, Alta. TOL OZQ