wom alh% NEW News and Notes From the General Service Office of A.A.

’Let Go’ to Grow The Spirit of Rotation Keeps A.A. Alive Talk about “bleeding deacons” vs. “elder statesmen” and “learning to let go” permeated the air as A.A.’s attending the 1983 Northeast Regional Forum, in Somerset, NJ., gathered for a lively and candid session on “Rotation: Its Implications in Our Area.” Presentations by Conference delegates touched on many aspects. Noting that rotation is “the main method we have to prevent power, prestige, and personal recognition from distorting our best intentions,” Maine delegate Frank R. stressed its importance in putting “a check valve on these intentions.” Since the process of rotation in all service positionsfrom the board of trustees to G.S.O. to the group levellimits the length of individual service, “It also gives the newcomer a chance to serve,” Frank said. Dick D., delegate from New Hampshire, said his introduction to rotation occurred when “I was asked to stop being my group’s coffee maker. That’s when I learned you have to give it away to keep that beautiful feeling!” Since then, Dick has rotated out of several service slots, often with reluctance. “But learning to let go has meant personal growth for me,” he maintained. “I only hope that when it’s time to rotate out of this delegate job, I’ll become an elder statesman and not a bleeding deacon!” (His experience recalls the words of a former G.S.O. general manager, Bob H., in a Conference talk on the subject of rotation: “When [servants in A.A.] rotate out of office, they’re obeying ’the letter of the law,’ but are they obeying its spirit if they still try to run the show? Inability to let go can become something close to an illness. Sometimes, these unfortunate folk need help in learning to really step down. We may even have to pry their hands from the helm, figuratively. But whatever needs doing to make them let godo it! You’ll be doing everyone concerned a favor, including the reluctant ex-servant.”) Using a child’s spinning top as an example, Joseph R., the Connecticut delegate, demonstrated how some-

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VOL. 28, NO. 5/ OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1983

one was needed to start the top rotating and, when it wound down in a different area from where it had started, how someone else was needed to spin it into motion again. He reminded his fellow A.A. servants that “rotation is practiced not to put somebody out of a job, but to ensure that the selfish ones do not hold on, and that all have an opportunity to serve.” Furthermore, he said with a wide grin, “Rotation also limits the time for those of us who serve to mess things up!”

i_u Vermont delegate Sarah G. stressed the importance of an infbrmed group conscience. “The more informed people there are to carry the A.A. message, the faster and further it will be carried,” she said. Without the principle of rotation, she noted, responsibility for carrying the message would rest in the hands ofjust a handful of people, thus causing the Fellowship to become alienated from our Third Legacy of Service. Expanding on that theme, Western Massachusetts delegate Betty R. noted that “the A.A. message is important, not the messenger. It is the spirit of rotation that keeps our Fellowship alive!” Sharing the experience of her home group in Western Pennsylvania, delegate Carol K. said that the chairperson rotates every week; the secretary, every month (unlike most groups, which rotate officers two or three times a year). “This works for us,” she explained, “because it does away with popularity contests and keeps ’principles before personalities.’ All the members get a chance to serve and feel important.”

G.S.O. Staff Members ’Let Go,’ Too On the large sheet enclosed with this bulletin, you’ll find that each staff member at the General Service Office is embarking on a new assignment. The biennial event follows the A.A. principle of rotation, ensuring that no one ever has a feeling of ownership about any assignment, and that every staff member acquires a broad working knowledge of the services provided here.

A.A. Message Turns Inmates’ Lives Around Why would prisoners with no access to alcohol need A.A.?. . . Why should I speak at a jail when I’ve never been locked up? How could the inmates identify with me? . . . Wouldn’t I feel uncomfortable 2 ….How safe is it, anyway? When our group institutions representative asks for prison volunteers, who of us hasn’t filtered at least one of these questions through our heads, then silently held back? The truth is, many of us and mainly because of misconceptions founded on ignorance, according to the A.A.’s who know from firsthand experience. Says Bob M., institutions chairperson for the New Mexico Area: “It is difficult to get outside A.A. people to attend meetings at the prisons here. Yet in my opinion, it’s safer to attend meetings in jails than on the outside.” He himself has been working with alcoholics in prisons for the past four years and considers it “a great way to make Twelfth Step calls.” Moreover, he points out, “A.A. tradition calls upon us, as recovering alcoholics, to be there when a suffering alcoholic reaches out for help, no matter who is calling or from where.” Often with too little help, many A.A.’s like Bob M. are working overtime to carry the message inside prison walls across the country. Their collective experience negates commonly misheld apprehensions in addition to the safety factor, as follows:

Why would prisoners, with no access to alcohol, need A.A.? Actually, bootlegging in prison is not unknown. More important, the A.A. program is far more than abstinence from alcohol. It is a way of living, and its success in prison groups shows that we can help the alcoholic inmate prepare for a sober, good life after release. An editorial in the Houston Chronicle states: “Recent data suggest that . . . conflicts in trying to deal with life can lead [an individual] to drug and alcohol abuse, which then leads to crime. Imprisoning such a person 2

protects society temporarily, but the problem resurfaces once the abuser is released. A.A. has an excellent track record. It addresses the addiction directly but also teaches its adherents discipline and an ethical and philosophical approach to living that many criminals have never experienced in their lives.”

Why should I speak at a jail when I’ve never been locked up? How could the inmates identify with me? It is a chance to share your experience, strength, and hope With other alcoholics. In many instances, you will be the first A.A. speaker an individual hears. Just tell your story like it was and is. Remember, your audience is more interested in learning how you stay sober than in hearing how you got drunk. Talk about feelings – your loneliness, hopelessness, and fearsabout recovery and the Twelve Steps. Alcoholic inmates will identify with you. If you can laugh at yourself, do! Humor is a healing bond, all-important among these people who have little. to laugh at in their daily lives. And dress as you would for any other A.A. speaking commitment. The Fellowship grows by attraction and example. Wouldn’t I feel uncomfortable? Remember our declaration “I am responsible.” Talk to these people as fellow alcoholics. Most of them would never have committed crimes for which they now serve time had it not been for their drinking. For all you know, that sober, attractive A.A. sitting beside you at an outside meeting may have served time in the past for a major crime. In A.A., the chain of recovery “is as strong as its weakest link; it grows in strength to the extent that it is able to reach its weakest linkŁ.” When Bill W. said that, he might well have been thinking of the man or woman behind bars. Carrying the A.A. message to prison inmates requires time and effort. “It is certainly not easy,” comments the Houston Chronicle editorial, “to get convicted criminals sincerely committed to such a program. But it’s worth trying.” An increasing number of outside A.A.’s are willing to try, according to the results of a questionnaire sent to area delegates and institutions committee chairpersons. As reported in the July Correctional Facilities Bulletin from G.S.O., 54% of those responding said it was not difficult to enlist outside speakers in their areas to share behind the walls. But 45% said the difficulty was

Box 4-5-9 is published bimonthly by the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous, 468 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. ‘ Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1983 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.

often because of the misunderstandings continuing just explored. A lot of ex-inmates sober in A.A. today would agree that it is vital to clear away such misconceptions; they are grateful to the A.A.’s who brought the message to them in prison and to those who met them upon release, took them to their first outside meetings, and welcomed them warmly into the “free world” Fellowship.

Now You Can Listen To the A.A. Grapevine –

The familiar expression “hearing it on the grapevine” now has a new reality. We’ve been reading it in our A.A. Grapevine, the Fellowship’s meeting in print, for years. Now, in response to a 1983 General Service Conference action, that meeting is open to the blind and other handicapped, and to all A.A.’s who enjoy a taped meeting-before-or-after-the-meeting in homes or cars. See the flyer enclosed with this bulletin for price and ordering information. The Conference specified that the tape be produced on a trial basis, with future taping to be considered in 1984, and that articles be chosen from Grapevine “clas-

sic” issues (reprints of significant articles over the years). The final selection includes co-founder Bill W.’s “What Is Acceptance?” (in which he reflects on the Serenity Prayer), co-founder Dr. Bob’s “The Fundamentals in Retrospect,” Dr. William D. Silkworth’s often-requested “Slips and Human Nature,” an appreciation of the Steps by Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, and a full measure of articles by A.A.’s on sponsorship, the Slogans, the Traditions, and other aspects of living sober a day at a time in the A.A. program.

Candidates for Regional Trustee Posts Sought The 1984 General Service Conference, to be held in April in New York, will be asked to consider candidates for two regional trustee posts. The rØsumØs of potential candidates should be received at G.S.O. no later than January 1, 1984. The new Western Canada trustee will assume the post currently held by Al H.; and the West Central U.S. nominee is to succeed Joan S. (Al was elected in 1981; Joanthen Joan U.in 1982; both are filling out the four-year terms of trustees who died in office.) Area assemblies make initial choices for regional trustees, and through Conference procedures (see “The A.A. Service Manual,” pp. 98-100), the lists are narrowed down to one per region. If there is no vote of disapproval by the Conference as a whole, the candidates are elected by the General Service Board at its meeting immediately after thfee.

What Is an ’Informed Group Conscience’? When A.A. was a two-year-old fledgling and Bill W. was broke, a well-meaning friend offered him a tempting position as lay therapist, complete with office, drawing account, and a “healthy slice of the profits.” Excited, he went home; it was meeting night in his downstairs parlor, and, he says, “I burst into the story of my opportunity.” But the other members balked at their co-founder’s becoming a professional AA., and Bill

W. backed down. The group conscience was at work. When your group elects a chairperson, and popular oldtimer Jimmy C., who has already served in that office, is passed over in favor of reliable but lackluster Jenny G., group conscience is at work. Perhaps your group members are split over changing the meeting formatpaying dues to the clubhouse you meet incelebrating anniversaries. Nobody’s necessarily wrong or right. But when the matter comes up for discussion and vote, chances are that group conscience will prevail.

Writing in longhand on the ruled pages of legal pads, co-founder Bill of early W. left us no lawssimply principles drawn from experiences A.A. groups. His thoughts on the meaning of “group conscience” are preserved in “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,” ’AA. Comes of Age,” and “Twelve Concepts for World Service.”

Not always understood, group conscience as expressed in Tradition Two is nevertheless a basic and powerful concept that makes it possible for people of diverse backgrounds and temperament to rise above personal ambition and unite in one common purpose: to stay sober and help the still-suffering alcoholic to achieve sobriety. It did not come about easily. As Bill W. has recounted, “Few obstacles have been tougher to remove than those which blocked the way to realization that A.A.’s group conscience can be the only ultimate authority in our affairs.” Over the years, trial and error showed that A.A. groups were not interested in having managers of their service and policy affairs picked for them; they wanted to direct their own paths. It further became apparent that they were very good at doing this. As Bill put it, “The conscience of the group, when properly informed of the facts and issues and principles involved, was often wiser than any leader, self-appointed or not.” To understand the group-conscience ethic, imagine this scenario. Seven A.A.’s are gathered together, with only two small bottles of club soda and five lemons for

Sketch copyrighted ‘ by The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.; reprinted with permission

4

refreshment. Some opt for sharing the soda (with generous helpings of ice and lemon to fill up the cups); others have a different idea. A consensus is taken, and the group conscience prevails: Tapping the water faucet, they make foaming lemonade, enough to go around twice. In most cases, arriving at a group conscience isn’t so easy. Recently, Lawrence H. of Oromocto, N.B., presented this thorny problem to G.S.O.: “At an election meeting of our assembly, members who were D.C.M.’s some ten years ago let their names stand for delegate, even after an hour’s debate. The trouble is that ’The A.A. Service Manual’ now states that ’those eligible may be present or past committee members.’ It used to read, ’…may be incoming or outgoing committee members, or both.” In answer, it was pointed out that “the service manual is not a rigid set of rules but simply suggestions to use as desired in setting up guidelines for eligibility regarding any service position.” The rest of the reply offered further suggestions: “These decisions should be made and voted upon prior to an election. If your area decides that long-past D.C.M.’s are not eligible, for example, then this decision should be made at a well-publicized assembly meeting before elections. When voting on such issues, members should hear from both sidesand have an opportunity to voice their concerns. The Twelfth Warranty, under Concept Four, recommends ’that all important decisions be reached by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity.” In other words, the responsibility for the decision was handed right back where it belongedto the informed group conscience of the New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island Area. Along similar lines, Dutch 0., of Fort Lupton, Cob., asked, “When is it appropriate to take a group conscience? How long should the issue be announced at meetings before acted upon? And how many members should be present before the issue is addressed?” In answer to those questions, G.S.O. suggested that it’s appropriate to take a group conscience when an issue arises that needs to be voted upon. The term “informed group conscience” generally implies that any necessary information has been studied and all views have been heard before your group votes. The group experiences shared with G.S.O. indicate that it’s a good idea to make sure members have been notified in plenty of time to participate; two weeks ahead is usually sufficient. Some groups say that twothirds of the membership should be on hand, but this is not always possible. Each group establishes its own rule of thumb regarding percentage of votes required-but with “substantial unanimity” always the desired goal. As Bill W. wrote in discussing Warranty Four: “When a decision taken in substantial unanimity does happen

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to go wrong, there can be no heated recriminations. Everybody will be able to say, ’Well, we had a careful debate, we took the decision, and it turned out to be a bad one. Better luck next time!”

Come Visit Us On Open House Day! Last November, upwards of 750 visitors attended our annual Open Housea tour of the then newly renovated General Service Office and Grapevine office, followed by an afternoon session on staff functions, including a question-and-answer period. So successful was 1982’s Open House Day that we are happy to announce the 1983 edition on Saturday, November 19 from 9:00 am. to 3:00 p.m. Attendees last year came from all over the Northeast Region (chiefly from Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York), and all of us look forward to repeating last year’s event. See you Saturday, November 19, at 468 Park Avenue South (between 31st and 32nd Streets), New York City.

Do you agree with all four of those points? Has your intergroup or central office collected any other suggestions for this A.A. activity, the most essential of all? Please share! From Denver, Cob., comes a letter that questions the designation of beginners meetings as “closed.” Says Gene A.: “Closed’ in the meeting directory means ’for alcoholics only.’ But did you ever meet a beginner who knew he was an alcoholic? All I knew was that something was wrong in my life. Sure, I slept in the weeds, but that had nothing to do with alcoholism or alcoholics. Those people lost their jobs and families. Me, I didn’t want to work, not until I had ’one more drink’ and could find something befitting my intellect. As for a woman, she’d only interfere with my drinking. “I didn’t come to A.A. I was driven there, a wreck of my past who balked at help. So don’t talk to me about a closed beginners meeting for the alcoholic who knows he’s one.” Central-office coordinator Marion D. writes from Albuquerque, N.M., that a local A.A. has been making cassette tapes of the Big Book in Spanish, to be added to a growing tape library (mainly in English) of A.A. materials. “We believe,” Marion says, “that our office should serve not only the suffering alcoholic but the recovering one as well, and we find our free cassette lending library to be highly popular. In order to borrow a tape for a few weeks, the lender merely signs his or her name and gives a phone number. Many of our sign-out cards are almost blackened with use within six months! This project has greatly increased our outreach, which is why we’re here.”

Mixed-Bag Mailbag One member’s guidelines for making a Twelfth Step call have been sent in from the Emerald Valley Intergroup, Eugene, Oreg. They were put together, through trial and error, by Alex, a seasoned volunteer, who comments, “We A.A.’s have a zealous enthusiasm for helping those who are still sick and so may forget our own safety,” which, he stresses, “must come first” if we want to be around for future calls. Some of his suggested guidelines: 1. If possible, do not go out on a Twelfth Step call alone. Find a companion to go with you. 2. Make an appointment with the person at a time when he or she will be sober and coherent enough to talk with you. And please,follow through. 3. Try to be kind and understanding. Always remember that this person is as sick as you and I once were. 4. Experience shows that men should call on men, and women on women.

New Posters for A.A. Assemblies Committees making plans for area assemblies will be interested in two new posters available from the General Service Office. Together, the two can give newcomers to service a clear picture of A.A.’s structure and the way it operates to produce a Conference action. The diagram called Structure of the Fellowship has been seen as a service piece on a letter-sized sheet and on page 20 of “The A.A. Service Manual.” The Flowchart of a Conference Advisory Action is done in sketch form and appears on page 57 of the 1983 Final Conference Report (now available from G.S.O.to A.A. members onlyfor $2 per copy). The diagram and the flowchart have each been blown up to about 27″ x 39″, and these black-and-white posters will be sent gratis for use at A.A. assemblies, upon the request of area committees or officers.

G.S.R. Corner

Sharing in a Wide Way

Service Is a Two-Way Street

Mindful that A.A. reaches across the world, members of the Three Oaks Group in Gastonia, N.C., are doing something new to help, reports G.S.R. Luther C. “We have purchased a world-globe bank, which is centrally located at every meeting. All contributions are earmarked for the General Service Office. “As a group, and in the proper spirit, we are ever conscious of our personal responsibilities for our own sobriety and also for that of other suffering alcoholics, wherever they may be.”

Service in A.A. is a two-way street; the more you give, the more you gain in quality sobriety. So indicates John B., past delegate from the Southern Wisconsin Area, in a letter to G.S.O. “I went into service because my group asked me to,” he recalls, “even though I didn’t know anything about it and really didn’t want to know. I had to give up a lot of my time and learn to listen to the people who wanted to help me. I had to read all our material the way it was written, not how I’d like it to have been written.” Most important: “I had to learn there was more to our program than my individual recovery. We in A.A. have so much more to offer, and service is another way of passing on our program to people who are still suffering out there and don’t know about us.” Despite the work involved,John notesjust slightly tongue-in-cheek, “Our regional trustee always says that some of us keep looking for ’an easier, softer way’- and he thinks service is the way. I do, too.”

’A.A. Is for Everybody’ Three new Class B (alcoholic) trusteesHelen H. of Melita, Man., trustee-at-large/Canada; Wayne P. of Rogers, Ark., Southwest regional trustee; and Garrett T. of Washington, D.C., Northeast regional trusteeall are serving on the International Convention/A.A. Regional Forums Committee (among others), a focus of keen interest for each. Helen, 12 1/2 years sober, notes that this committee was her first choice: “It’s marvelous for getting local A.A. and the General Service Office together, to learn that weour aimsare so alike.” She also serves on the International and Correctional Facilities Committees. The latter is specially meaningful to her because, she says, “I’m grateful not to have been locked up before I got to A.A.” Wayne, sober since 1969, is working to organize “a mini Southwest Regional Conference, the first of its kind. We’re still in the talking stage, but the delegates appear interested and we’re shooting for late 1984.” Garrett, who has been sober 27 years, is eager to see that “service at the local level doesn’t deteriorate.” Primarily, he is “concerned about group attitudes toward new members coming in from rehab centers and the courtsan area in which I see need for clarification and improvement. A.A. is for everybody.”

Trustee Corner 6

Delegate Corner

Mistaken Identity? No From the central office newsletter in Vero Beach, Fla., comes the heartwarming story of one Twelfth Step call that turned into two. Responding to a call into intergroup from a man who said he was at a local McDonald’s and needed to be taken to detox, a gung ho A.A. pulled into the hamburger place. Sure enough, there was his suffering alcoholic, wine bottle and all, who tumbled happily into the car. “The only trouble,” according to the newsletter account, is that “this was not the original caller. He had left the scene and, happenstance, another needy soul wandered by and so was ’taken for a ride.” Meantime, the original caller phoned again from a different location, wondering where his driver was. Another crew was promptly dispatched, and thus both men wound up in detox. Moral (says the newsletter): “Don’t lean against a phone booth, or someone might take you to detox.”

Central Office Corner

ra)i=$I

m n tw s :i i

Items and Ideas on Area Gatherings for AA.’s-Via G.S.O.

Calendar of Events October Sept. 29-Oct. 2 – Amarillo, Texas. 36th Annual Top o’ Texas Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 412, Amarillo, TX 79105 Sept. 30-Oct. 2 .- Duluth, Minnesota. 38th Annual Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 6771, Duluth, MN 55806

I. I:

Sept. 30-Oct. 2 – Palmyra, Virginia. Second Annual N. Va. Young People’s Cony. Write: Ch., c/o N.V.I., 1057 W. Broad St., Falls Church, VA 22046 Sept. 30-Oct. 2 – Bellevue, Washington. Annual Area Assy. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 5043, Bellevue, WA 98009 Sept. 30-Oct. 2 – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 39th Keystone Conf. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 1084, Winnipeg, Man. R3C 2X4 Sept. 30-Oct. 2 – Indianapolis, Indiana. E. Cent. Reg. Forum. Write: Reg. Forum Secy., P.O. Box 459, New York, NY 10163 Sept. 30-Oct. 2- Salina, Kansas. State Conf, Write: Conf. Com ., P.O. Box 805, Salina, KS 67401 Sept. 30-Oct. 2 – Columbus, Indiana. First Annual Men’s Workshop. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 644, Columbus, IN 47202 2 – Riviere-du-Loup, QuØbec, Canada. 21i6me Anniv. Groupe les Loops (Frenchspeaking). Ecrivez: R.S.G., 2 Ste. Marie, R.iviŁre-du-Loup, Que. G5R 1W5 6-9 – Flamingo, Florida. Agape Oldtimers Ten-Year Reunion. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 4518, Princeton, FL 33032 7-9 – Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Roundup. Write: Com., 3250- 57th Ave., Red Deer, Alta. T4N 5V5

7-9 – Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. 28th Annual Area Cord. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 702, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. P6A 5N2 7-9 – Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada. 11th Annual Dist. 7 Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 2129, Slave Lake, Alta. TOG 2A0 7-9 – Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Annual Bilingual Cony. (Eng./Fr.). Write: Ch., C.P. 460, Sta. R, Montreal, Que. H2S 3M3 7-9 – Arlington, Virginia. 13th N.E. Reg. Cony. Write: Cony., P.O. Box 5673, Friendship Sta., Washington, DC 20016 7-9 – Great Falls, Montana. State Fall Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 7260, Great Falls, MT 59406 7-9 – Orillia, Ontario, Canada. 18th Annual Georgian Bay Conf. Write: Host Com., Lefroy P.O., Lefroy, Ont. LOL IWO 7-9 – Clarksburg, West Virginia. Jackson’s Mill Fall Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 825, Clarksburg, WV 26301 7-9 – Halifax, Nova Scotia. 19th Annual Area Assy. Write: Reg. Ch., P.O. Box 2007, Dartmouth Postal Sta. E., Dartmouth, N.S. B2W 3X9 7-9 – Lahr/Schwarzwald, West Germany. Eighth Eur. Intergroup Annual Area 5 Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 2549, CFPO 5000, Belleville, Ont. KOK 3R0 7-9 – Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Area Assy. Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 742, Sta. A, Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5G4 7-9 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Second Freedom Roundup (sponsored by lesbians and gay men in A.A.). Write: Secy., P.O. Box 15978, Philadelphia, PA 19103 7-9 – Montego Bay, Jamaica, West Indies. Discovery Weekend. Write: Cony., Box 138 Reading, Montego Bay, Jamaica, W.I.

7-9 Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. 27th Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 1257, Prince George, B.C. V2L 4V3 7-9 – Stockton, California. Annual Fall Conf. Write: Secy., 1046 Irving St., San Francisco, CA 94122 7-9 – Lake Yale, Florida. 16th Annual Autumn Mtgs. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 996, Merritt Island, FL 32952 7-9 – Dubuque, Iowa. State Fall Conf. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 612, Dubuque, IA 52001 7-9 – Bakersfield, California. 32nd Annual Area Cony. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 1536, Huntington Beach, CA 92649 7-9 – Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Third Annual Lesbian and Gay A.A. Conf. Write: Ch., 346 Spadina Rd., Toronto, Ont. M5P 2V4

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1983

Planning a December, January, or February Event? Please be sure to send your information on December, January, or February events for A.A.’s in time to reach G.S.O. by October 15. This is the calendar deadline for the Holiday issue of Box 4-5-9 (to be mailed November 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.

8-9 – Mountainburg, Arkansas. First Annual Conf. of Young People. Write: Ch., 4405 Hazelwood, North Little Rock, AR 72116 14-16 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Mini Skid Row Roundup. Write: Ch., #4, 801399th St., Edmonton, Alta. T6E 3S8 14-16 – Grenada, Mississippi. Eighth Annual N. Miss. Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 56, Calhoun City, MS 38916 14-16 – Rapid City, South Dakota. Fall Conff, Write: Ch., P.O. Box 5086, Rapid City, SD 57701 14-16 – Racine, Wisconsin. Area Fall Conf. Write: Treas., P.O. Box 5212, Racine, WI 53404 14-16- Clareshobn, Alberta, Canada. Tenth Annual Roundup. Write: Secy., P.O. Box 45, Claresholm, Alta. TOL OTO 14-16 – Utica, New York. 32nd Annual Area Cony. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 4273, Utica, NY 13504

Closed Meeting Topics From the Grapevine For more detailed suggestions, see the pages noted. October (page 23): shifting the emphasis; our primary purpose; refusing drinks; Step Ten. November (page 16): the A.A. Fellowship’s responsibility; sponsorship; slips; “Is perfect serenity really necessary?”

14-16 – Merritt, British Columbia, Canada. 11th Annual Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 1779, Merritt, B.C. VOK 2B0 15-22 – Los Angeles, California. Sober Sailors V Cruise. Write: Ch., 5008 Mecca St., Tarz.ana, CA 91356 21-23 – Asheboro, North Carolina. Annual Piedmont Fall Fest. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 2513, Asheboro, NC 27203 21-23 -Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Third Annual Triangle Club 76 Fall Banq. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 94, Eau Claire, WI 54702 21-23 – Corpus Christi, Texas. 33rd Annual Area Conf. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 3204, Corpus Christi, TX 78404

Flip up this end of page-many more events listed on reverse side

October continued

November

21-23 -Monterey, California. Fourth Annual

3-5 – Ocracoke, North Carolina. 11th Jam-

Conf by the Sea. Write: Ch., 177 Webster, A-217, Monterey, CA 93940

boree. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 355, Ocracoke, NC 27960

21-23 – London, Ontario, Canada. 30th

34; – Honolulu, Hawaii. 22nd Annual Conf.

Annual Area Cony. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 725, London, Ont. N6A 4Y8

Write: Secy., P.O. Box 23434, Honolulu, HI 96822

– Rotterdam, Netherlands. 35th Anniv. Cony. (Dutch-speaking, simultaneous translation Eng. and Ger.). Write: Ch., Box 1594, Amsterdam, Netherlands

4-6 -jasper, Indiana. 23rd Annual Tri-State

27-30

27-30 – Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis/Bluff City Fellowship Cony. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 240831, Memphis, TN 38124

28-30 – Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. 14th Annual Rally. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 595, Lake Cowichan, B.C. VOR 2G0

28-30 – Rochester, New York. Third Annual Cony. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 314, Penfield, NY 14526

Corn’. Write: Host Corn., P.O. Box 55, Celestine, IN 47521

4-6 – Las Vegas, Nevada.

17th Annual Roundup. Write: Reg. Ch., P.O. Box 43177, Las Vegas, NV 89116

Write: Treas., P.O. Box 2211, Nederland, TX 77627

28-30 – Hays, Kansas. N.W. Kans. Conf. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 326, Hays, KS 67601

29-New York, New York.

Intergroup Assoc. Annual Dinner and Dance Mtg. in Honor of Bill W. Write: Dinner Com., Em. 219, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010

P.O. Box 38, Sta. A, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2L8

18-20 – Latham Springs, Texas. Sixth An-

Third Welsh Cone. Write: Corn., P.O. Box 22, Swansea SAl 1XN, South Wales, United

28-30 – Beaumont, Texas. Second Dist. Confl

11-13 – Vancouver, British Coluinbia, Canada. Area Corn’. Write: Cons’. Corn.,

4-6 – Casa Grande, Arizona. 21st Sahuaro Agape Weekend. Write: Secy., P.O. Box 40214, Tucson, AZ 85717

4-6 – Cardiff,south Wales, United Kingdom.

Lincoln, Nebraska. Fourth Fall Frolic. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 2334, Lincoln, NE 68502

nual Founder’s Day Weekend. Write: Banq. Ch., Alano Soc., 2218 First Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55404

Thanksgiving Program. Write: Ch., Box 755, Jonesboro, AR 72401

Agape Weekend. Write: Coord., 1864 N.E. 46th St., 6E, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

28-30

11-13 – Minneapolis, Minnesota. 43rd An-

18-20 – Jonesboro, Arkansas. 29th Annual

28-30 – West Palm Beach, Florida. 39th

Annual Fall Fest. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 366, Thief River Falls, MN 56701

– Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Seventh Annual Roundup. Write: Ch., 505 McCurdy Rd., Kelowna, B.C. V1X 2P4

11-13

Write: Treas., P.O. Box 43, Neosho, MO 64850

Col. R. Young People’s Roundup. Write: Reg., P.O. Box 1594, Portland, OR 97207

28-30 – Thi ef River Falls, Minnesota. Eighth

Area Assy. Write: Area Secy., 1630 Carlisle Dr., Loveland, CO 80537

4-6 – Branson, Missouri. Annual Area Cone.

4-6 – Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 33rd Annual Area Cone. Write: Ch., 401 – 9th Ave. SW., Suite 188-171, Gulf Canada sq., Calgary, Alta. T2P 3K5

28-30 -.- Portland, Oregon. Eighth Annual

11-13 – Colorado Springs, Colorado. Winter

Kingdom

nual Brazos Riverside Conf. Write: Ch., Preston Tower, Suite 251, 6211 W. Northwest Hwy., Dallas, TX 75225

24-27–Houston, Texos.Roundup (presented by gay people in A.A.). Write: Com., P.O. Box 27703, Dept. 339, Houston, TX 77027 24-27 – New York, New York. Big Apple Roundup (sponsored by gay people in A.A.; all mtgs. signed for deal). Write: Ch., P.O. Box 451, New York, NY 10014

4-6 – Bossier City, Louisiana. Annual TriState Cony. Write: Ch., 1711 Tulane Ave., Shreveport, LA 71103

25-27 – Alfred, Maine.

4-6 – Lincoln, Montana. Eighth Wilderness Agape Weekend. Write: Coord., 23 Konley, Kalispell, MT 59901

25-27 – Hamilton, Bermuda. Annual Keg.

Third Annual Thanksgiving Conf. Write: Ch., 13 Shaw St., Sanford, ME 04073 Cony. Write: Com., P.O. Box 178, Warwick, Bermuda

4-6 – Lake Whitney, Texas. 29th Quarterly Young People’s Conf Write: Ch., P.O. Box 4, Fort Worth, TX 76101

5-7 – Everett, Washington. Seventh Annual Conf. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 1758, Everett, WA 98206

10-13 – Newport, Rhode Island,

Eighth Anniv. Mtg. S. New England Professionals. Write: Secy., S.N.E.P.G., 314-A Gifford St., Falmouth, MA 02540

10-13 – Panama City Beach, Florida. 15th Annual Gulf Coast Roundup. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 1981, Panama City, FL 32402

11-13 – Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Eighth Annual Area Workshop. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 469, Grand Rapids, MN 55744

11-13 – Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Young People’s Conf. Write: Corn., P.O. Box 321, Upper Darby, PA 19082

11-13 – Wetoskiwin, Alberta, Canada. First Roundup. Write: Corn., P.O. Box 6995, Wetaskiwin, Alta. T9A 2Y9

December 2-4 – Denver, Colorado. S.W. Reg. Forum. Write: Keg. Forum Secy., P.O. Box 459, New York, NY 10163

24-25 – Minneapolis, Minnesota. Christmas Alkathon. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 19194, Minneapolis, MN 55419

31 TJan. I – Minneapolis, Minnesota. New Year’s Alkathon. Write: Ch., P.O. Box 19194, Minneapolis, MN 55419