ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS / AREA 93 / DISTRICT 17
Monthly District Meeting /April 7, 2008 revised 5/7/08
Maureen called meeting to order at 6:30
A Moment of Silence followed by the serenity prayer
12 Concepts read by Laura
Attendance -
DCM – 1
Alt. DCM – 1
GSRs – 15
New GSRs – 1 New Faith
Secretary Report – Winter - the March minutes were approved.
DCM Report – Maureen
I would like to thank all of you and your groups for sending me to PRAASA. I
feel so privileged to represent District 17. Alaska
is beautiful and it was truly a spiritual experience. There were 950 attendees
and it’s an amazing feeling to be with all these people who truly love and want
to serve Alcoholics Anonymous. One woman shared that “service was gratitude in
action.” That has really stayed with me.
The fresh air was fabulous; I kept opening the window at the hotel to breathe
the crisp clean air. The food was so delicious I couldn’t stop eating. Most
important the fellowship rocked I was truly inspired to be a part of AA and Area
93. One highlight was a woman who attended from Russia
and her trip was funded from one of the districts in
Alaska so she could learn about the service structure to take back to her
country. Another was hearing Greg M. the General Manager of the NY General
Service office share his story.
The days were full and so much information was shared it was hard to keep track
of it all. I’m beginning to understand that service is like reading the Big
Book. I keep reading and hearing the same information yet I hear it differently
every time and more and more of it sinks in.
- How well do I carry the message?
- To what lengths am I willing to go?
- Let it begin with me
- Lead by example
- Take the action and the feelings will follow
- There is always more to do
- The importance of an active home group
- Participation is the heart of an AA group
Some new information -
- On line meetings are really taking off in some areas where you can make 7th
tradition contributions through pay pal
- Our fellowship has not grown since 1990
- We are a spiritual movement with a business aspect
- Unity in the Home Group – do you conduct a meeting inventory?
- Is the Grape Vine visible at you home group?
- Knowing where the money goes – does you home group know?
- Service is more than just contributing money
- For GSO to be fully self supporting (operating budget) $6.38 per member
annually
DCM Sharing –
- District work should be visible action
- Give self addressed envelopes when district contributions come in
- Are GSRs participating in district committees?
- Conduct a district inventory – what is our primary purpose and are we
fulfilling that?
Now on to the Pre-Conference Workshop and Assembly in
Pismo Beach
Another spiritual meeting – it was beautiful driving the coast everything was
green and the wild flowers were blooming – The presentations were awesome and
District 17 had a great turn out. We were well represented with presentations
Winter, Tom and Mike were great.
At the Assembly, Debbie gave some feedback on the Opinion Polls she has to
date: She said many people were confused – Alphabet soup – GSO stands for
General Service Office and there is only one for US and
Canada – many people say GSO when then refer to General Service. She
would like us to refer to “General Service Office in
New York” always including he New York.
Also the local office is Central Office and no – they do not forward group
contributions to other service entities as many indicated on the opinion polls.
Also, almost all of the polls she has revived to date have not seen or heard of
the “Self Support” – Where Money and Spirituality Mix” pamphlet. We need to get
these to the treasurers/secretaries at our meetings. I’ve given each of you one
tonight.
Also she’s concerned that no one knows about the Young Peoples Video Project
Even if there are no young people at you meetings, announce the project as they
may know young people who would participate. All the information to participate
is on
AA.org.
Thank you for letting me to be of service.
Alt DCM Report – Michael – It was great to see Dist. 17 well represented at
Pismo Pre-Conference. Thank you to those who spoke on panels. Welcome to
Faith, new GSR.
Treasurer Report – Jeff – Make sure groups make their checks to Dist. 17.
Report approved unanimously
Area Standing Committee Reports
Archives: Dan – Archive Packets/ Archive Workbooks: how to get history about
your group. In Oxnard you can view Archives. Please fill out information about
your group.
CPC: Jeff – They’re in the process of reviewing the CPC Kit. We had a booth at
the National Assoc. of Black Social Workers; April 1-5 where we gave out AA
related lit.
Treatment Facilities: Winter – We are compiling a data base of facilities within
Area 93 to find out who needs information about AA.
Finance: Maureen – Contributions are down.
Grapevine/La Vina: Tom – Big push over the summer into the fall; get
subscriptions up. Made Grapevine cans; groups can do a lottery for
subscriptions.
Guidelines and Policies: no report
Literature/Audio Visual/Newsletter: no report
Public Information / Accessibility/ Website: Michael & Paul (Accessibility) ––
Found a studio for a good rate for ASL project. 4 districts are working on
this. It was asked if our district would support a possible $75 toward the
project. Group supports the idea.
Registration: Mark – Wants to get all meetings in our district registered.
SFV Liaison: no report
H&I Liaison – no report
SFV Inter-group Liaison – no report
Old Business:
1. Local out-reach to police stations/hospitals/hotels/shelters etc.: Maureen
– Central office gave us business cards & lit. Ready to go over there but needs
to give them a contact. Laura – Contacted hospitals; thinks we should put Dist.
17 as the contact. Maureen thinks it should be Central Office as the contact.
District 17 - March 3rd Minutes (Cont’d)
New Business
1. Traditions/Concepts reports - not in attendance.
2. Open Discussion… What’s going on at your meetings?: Discussion on what to
do when a meeting has a very high 7th tradition.
3. Host Local Event 2008 – Michael, Jeff and Mark set up a committee to
getting the ball rolling on hosting a local service event in October.
Birthdays/Good & Welfare
7:30pm – Adjourn Responsibility Declaration
Upcoming Events:
May 18th Area Assembly in Simi Valley, CA
Submitted and prepared by Winter
Thank you for allowing me to be of service.