Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Page 1
District Trusted Servants DCM—Jeff M.
320-510-3118
Alt. DCM—Rich S.
612-812-4127
Secretary—Open
Treasurer—Nick B.
320-522-1120
Group Records—Lisa B.
952-856-0828
Literature—Dave B.
320-296-1693
Newsletter—Dave B.
320-296-1693
Third Legacy—Ryan V.
320-510-0404
Treatment—Open
Treatment-
Corrections—Matt K.
(320) 510-5361
Treatment-
District Trusted Servants
July 2020 Volume 37 Issue 7
District 17 General Services “IN TOUCH” Newsletter
Next District Zoom Meeting July 14, 2020@ 7:30M
Zoom ID # 603 391 092 (PW 541 982)
Please share the Newsletter with your Group!
Dcm report
Hello Friends,
Please join us for the July District Meeting, July 14, on Zoom. Our Area 36 Delegate Missy P. will be joining us and presenting her annual Delegate’s Report, a review of the annual General Service Conference which took place in May.
Hats off to our Stewart AA Group. They contributed $239 to District 17, which was raised in a fundraiser in early June. John L., the Alternate GSR for the Stewart Group, also shared that the group has been bringing meetings to the Renville County Jail via Zoom.
The Best of the Grapevine Book Bundle is once again available. To learn more, visit: store.aagrapevine.org., or contact District Literature Chair, Dave B. Thanks to all the hard work and due diligence of District 17. Our District brought the proposal to reprint the Best of the Grapevine Books to Area 36 last year. It is exciting to see these books available again.
The June District 17 Meeting was held on Zoom. We were joined by Rob Y., the Area 36 Treatment Facilities Chair. Rob gave an overview of what the Area Treatment Facilities Committee does. Its purpose is to lead and coordinate the work of AA members in groups in their effort to carry the message of AA into treatment facilities.
The District website, district17aa.net, provides us with a way of getting information out about meetings. Greater Minneapolis Intergroup website also provides information and online meeting schedules. Some of our meetings in District 17 have begun to meet live again, as the COVID-19 restrictions are being eased.
I spoke with the Pastor at the Lighthouse Assembly of God Church the site of our District 17 Meeting. He said soon that we could begin to hold the District meeting at the church again, recognizing “social distancing” restrictions.
I encourage any AA member to get involved in service, and to be mindful of our Seventh Tradition obligations. There are still many opportunities to serve on various district committees. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Yours in service, Jeff M., District 17 DCM
Page 2
District Trusted Servants, Cont.
Technology—Rod W.
507-217-1659
Cooperation with the Professional
Community (CPC) - Aaron L.
Public Information - Daisy G.
802-917-2907
Grapevine - Open
Archives—Paul H.
(320) 583-0552
WEBSITE ADDRESS—
district17aa.net
MAILING ADDRESS—
District 17
P.O. Box 224
Glencoe, MN 55336
Tradition Seven: Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
1. Honestly now, do I do all I can to help AA (my group, my central office, my GSO) remain self-supporting? Could I put a little more into the basket on behalf of the new guy who can’t afford it yet? How generous was I when tanked in a barroom?
2. Should the Grapevine sell advertising space to book publishers and drug companies, so it could make a big profit and become a bigger magazine, in full color, at a cheaper price per copy?
3. If GSO runs short of funds some year, wouldn’t it be okay to let the government subsidize AA groups in hospitals and prisons?
4. Is it more important to get a big AA collection from a few people, or a smaller collection in which more members participate?
5. Is a group treasurer’s report unimportant AA business? How does the treasurer feel about it?
6. How important in my recovery is the feeling of self-respect, rather than the feeling of being always under obligation for charity received?
Reprinted from Traditions Checklist F-131 Page 4 with permission from AA World
Services Inc.
Reprinted from Concepts Checklist F-91 Page 3 with permission from AA World
Services Inc.
Newsletter Deadlines
June 20, 2020 for the July 2020 Issue
July 20, 2020 for the Aug. 2020 Issue
Aug. 20, 2020 for the Sept. 2020 Issue
Anyone can submit an article whether you are in general service or a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. Everyone who has any experience, strength and hope they wish to share, YOUR District Newsletter is a great place to do this. If your group has an event planned and you wish to have a flyer included, please send this and/or your articles to: Dave B. at [email protected] or butler.dave @mchsi.com.
Concept Vll: The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.
Do we act responsibly regarding the “power of the purse?”
Do we realize that the practical and spiritual power of the Conference will nearly always be superior to the legal power of the G.S.B.?
Page 3
District 17 minutes
Zoom District 17 Meeting Minutes – June 9, 2020 Open with a moment of silence followed by the Responsibility Statement Introductions – 14 members present via Zoom
1. The dumbest thing I ever did was buy a 2020 day planner.
2. When this quarantine is over, let’s not tell some people.
3. The spread of covid-19 is based on two important statistics: A. How dense the population is. B. How dense the population is.
4. For the 2nd part of this quarantine do we have to stay with the same family or can we change?
5. Coronavirus has turned us all into dogs. We wander around the house looking for food. We get told “No” if we get too close to strangers and we get really excited about going for walks and car rides!
6. Not to brag, but I haven’t been late to anything for 3 months.
Cory, our representative from Minneapolis Intergroup. GSO has issued guidance on the reopening of AA in-person meetings. The rescheduled Gratitude Night has been canceled. The Intergroup public offices are now open to only 2 people inside at a time, with masks being mandatory. Curbside delivery is available for paid items. Twelve-step calls are still ongoing. Please notify Intergroup when, and how, your group is reopening.
Rob Y, Treatment chair for Area 36 discussed how the issues reaching out to treatment facilities during the COVID crisis. “We are the land, not only of 10,000 lakes, but of 10,000 treatment facilities.”
Jeff delivered a discussion of Tradition Six-how AA and special interests, monetary pursuits do not mix. Lisa volunteered for Tradition Seven for the July meeting.
GSR sharing Daisy, Tuesday night Gaylord, first in-person meeting last meeting. Striving to support in-person and
ZOOM meeting concurrently. John, Alt GSR for Stewart- The group is sponsoring a ZOOM jail meeting with Renville County. They
conducted a fundraiser to benefit District 17, since cash flow has been restricted in recent months. Terry, Glencoe Thursday night. awaiting the church ’s decision about having meetings in building. Vic, Lester Prairie Tuesday night had their first in-person meeting last Tuesday outside, in front of
the Lester Prairie City Hall. Josh-Knight Ave Wednesday night, Glencoe- does not know when the Church will allow the group to
resume meetings inside. Rick, Waconia Friday night-ZOOM meetings. Find out this week when church will open to the group. Lisa shared for Aaron, who represents Glencoe By-The-Book, Sunday Night-Church council will
meet Wednesday to decide if they will open the doors for outside groups. Committee Reports
Public Information-Daisy-would like information of current status of groups and ZOOM addresses. Newsletter-Dave indicated there was a distinct savings not sending out newsletters to people who have
recorded email addresses. He would also like to publish ZOOM links for meetings. Literature-Dave has the new “Best of the Grapevine” 3 volume set $23.74. A new literature catalog prices
have not increased. 20% discount on pamphlets. Alt-DCM-Rich reported the Structure Committee was discussing re-districting possibilities within the Area. Group records-Lisa had nothing to report. Treasurer-Nick announced there was $1266.19 in the D17 account.
Old Business-need ZOOM links from groups. Carver and McLeod County fairs have been canceled-Sibley County fair status unknown.
New Business-The Area 36 Assembly meeting will be June 20, via ZOOM. One agenda item will be the proposed calendar changes for Area meetings. Rich reached out to Missy to schedule her to do a delegate report for the July D17 meeting. Anticipation is for the July meeting on July 14 to be ZOOM meeting.
7th tradition contributions… buy a stamp!
We Are Not A Glum Lot
Page 4
District 17 AA treAsurer’s report
Balance as of May 13, 2020 $1,230.42 INCOME
Individual contribution $15.00 Watertown Wed. AA $75.00
Total Income/Contributions $90.00
EXPENSES April Newsletter Postage $21.00 April Newsletter printing $33.23
Total Expenses $54.23
Balance as of June 9, 2020 $1,266.19
Getting Things Done and The Best of the Grapevine Oh my! Here I am writing my thoughts in our District Newsletter! I woke up in somewhat of a daze this morning! Are my thoughts relevant? I think so! Can I get them all down before I forget? I will try! I woke up to my TV blaring something like, “alcohol shall never touch my lips.” I smile, as this fits right into my program. I am old, which of course you know. Being old, one sometimes does not get as much sleep as predicated by the masters of medicine and good health we frequently try to read or listen to. I went to bed somewhat timely, intending to watch the 10 PM news. As I fancy myself being able to multitask, I indulged in reading from my Volume 1 of The Best of the Grapevine about resentments, a common fault of many in AA, at least me, from December of 1966. I decided to read on and read into Chapter Two, Staying Sober and Help Other Alcoholics; Not Today, Thanks from October 1983. I finished and began contemplating the two stories and then what happened was I fell asleep before processing all of my thoughts, the news ended, with the TV blaring, and a lamp gently burning beside my bed, as usual. About 2:30 AM the blaring TV woke me, and I attempted to watch, falling asleep again into that deep, somewhat restless slumber until waking again at 5:55 AM, just before my 6:00 AM alarm in the following state. Not only was I somewhat foggy, waking up, I had a dream, a vision, whatever you want to call it about our District 17, and the role members had to play in getting our Area, then our General Service Office to reprint The Best of the Grapevine. I want to commend our District 17 Third Legacy Chair, Ryan V., for bringing the potential printing cessation issue to the attention of our District way back in January of 2018 and encouraging all District GSR’s to carry this message back to our groups and for them to write to our AA Area with the intention of continuing publication of The Best of the Grapevine. I know many groups wrote letters, many individuals worked on the project, and I apologize as I single out Ryan for congratulations. This project of continuing publication wound its way through the workings of Area to the General Service Offices and in our June, 2020, “World Famous International District 17 News Letter,” in the words of Dave B. we saw The Best of the Grapevine was again in print, available for purchase. So, I emailed Dave B., our District 17 Literature Chair, and ordered a set of the volumes, which arrived a few days ago, and resulted in this dream, vision, minor miracle (?), I had last night. I have two purposes with this letter, one to illustrate members, AA Groups, Districts, GSR’s, Areas can get things done in AA. We, in AA, are indeed an inverted pyramid, and two, to encourage you to buy a set of The Best of the Grapevine for your personal library and perhaps for your Group library. In our Stewart Group we frequently read from The AA Grapevine. I am going to encourage our group to purchase a five volume set of The Best of the Grapevine to have in our library and to occasionally use the letters as a reading for our meeting night and a topic for discussion. Not only will those readings generate great discussion and contemplation, but they serve as keeping our AA history alive for new members as our Group and AA go forward.
Thanks for reading! I hope you could tolerate my opening ramblings! John L., member Stewart Group, Alternate GSR
Page 5
We Are Not A Glum Lot 1. Breaking News: wearing a mask inside your home is now recommended. Not so much to stop
COVID-19, but to stop eating!
2. I stepped on my scale this morning and it said: “Please practice social distancing. Only one person on the scale at a time!”
3. New monthly budget: Gas $0; entertainment $0; Clothes $0 Groceries $2,799; Booze $3,750.
4. Day 37: the garbage man placed an AA flyer in my recycling bin.
5. It may take a village to raise a child, but I swear its going to take a vineyard to home school one.
6. Home School Day 1: I’m trying to figure out how to get this kid transferred out of my class.
7. People keep asking: “Is Coronavirus REALLY all that serious?” Well, the churches and casinos are all closed. When heaven and hell agree on the same thing, it’s probably pretty serious!
Page 6
District 17 Covid-19 update During these uncertain and trying times, many things have changed or are approached in a different way. One of these are our meetings. Many have gone to Zoom meetings:
District 17 5/12 mtg.—Zoom ID # 603-391-092 2nd Tues. @7:30PM Password– 541 982 Gaylord AA—Back to In-person Mtgs. Tues. 8PM
Hutch Step-Action—ID# 819-7263-4510 Also live at Vineyard Methodist Church outside in back Sun. & Wed @ 7PM
Glencoe By the Book—contact Ryan V.
Stewart AA—Zoom ID # 455-053-6176 Password—892 631 Also live @ 711 Hall St. Thurs. 8PM Waconia Fri. AA—contact Rick H.
Waconia Tues. Tradition 3—contact Michael S.
Hutch Mon. AA—Live @ Hutch Alano 8PM
Hutch Sun. Morn AA is meeting outside of Alano 6’ apart 10 AM.
Other Hutch Alano Mtgs.—call group contact in directory
If there are others, please let me know and I’ll print it. Also, we must continue to keep our physical
distance, but that doesn’t mean we keep social or emotional distance. We need each other now more than ever. Stay in touch with sponsees, newcomers and your sponsor, too. We have the technology. Phone, text, email or video chats may make someone’s day or save a life! Stay safe and stay healthy and stay sober!
Just Don’t hold
hands...
yet
Page 7
Applying the concepts IN MY LIFE: CONCEPT SEVEN
Balance of power and responsibility
This Concept talks about the delicate balance between authority (power) and the group conscience. It doesn’t matter if that “group” conscience is from my Home Group, District, Area or from my family, work or other relationships.
I am always amazed when I see how each Concept is tied in with its corresponding Step and Tradition. My major shortcoming is relying on money, property or prestige as a barometer of my happiness and success, rather than TOTAL reliance upon God. How much money I made, how many toys I accumulated or the “tricked out” name tags I acquired were always my goals and unfortunately sometimes still are.
The Big Book says (Pg. 127) “…we found that we could not place money first. For us, material well being always followed spiritual progress; it never proceeded.” I become spiritually self-supporting when I place God first in my life. If spiritual growth is my primary purpose, I won’t want to take that 1
st
drink or be selfish with my time, money or love. If I were to place money, things, attention or lust first in my life, they then become my gods and I can only serve one master. Sometimes I become sidetracked and then I get those little “Spiritual Spankings”. When God wants my full attention, He gives me financial problems, relationship problems or health problems until I begin to rely on Him again, instead of myself, money, toys, recognition, people, places or things.
The second half of this Concept of Service is my guide to using the power of my talents correctly: “We are responsive to the group conscience concerning our service”. I cannot see my own shadow. I cannot see my character defects as easily as you can. If I am to be of “maximum service to God and to others”, I need to improve. I cannot improve until I become open and accountable to the group conscience.
This ‘group’ conscience most often speaks to me through my sponsor, my friends or my family. Sometimes when I am “hard of hearing”, I may need a little “Spiritual Spanking” to get my attention (maybe even a 2X4 across the noggin). As a business owner, if I provide sub-standard work, I may not get paid and won’t be hired again. As an employee, if I provide sub-standard work, I may get fired. If I am unloving, I may lose my family or close friends. If I don’t live a life of attraction, few will want me for a sponsor or even a friend. If I don’t work the AA Program, I may drink again. I need to be open to constructive criticism without being argumentative or defensive. This ‘group’ conscience is God’s Loving Way of talking to me. My job is to listen and apply changes in my life necessary to bring about good service to God and mankind. He allows me to correct the path of my life through openness and seeking advice of others.
One word tells me that I am not hearing the voice of the ‘group’ conscience, is when I perceive
everything to be a “struggle”. Am I “struggling” in my sobriety? Am I “struggling” in my relationships?
Am I “struggling” to make a living? If I am “struggling”, I am not trying to practice these principles, I am
not being accepting and I am in deep trouble. I “struggle” when I don’t pray. I “struggle” when I don’t
listen to others. I “struggle” until I surrender “my” way for “our” way. Then I stop fighting anyone or
anything and I am allowed to achieve peace of mind.
Dave B.
Don’t forget your 7th trADition contributions
Page 8
Page 9
District 17 would like to thank all the Alcoholics Anonymous groups within its borders of McLeod, Sibley and a portion of Carver counties for their generous financial support in the past. During these uncertain times, it is especially important to help carry the message. With this continued support, as a District we have been able to utilize your contributions in the following methods:
1. NEW Meeting directories distributed to groups and many public venues 2. County fair public information booths with A.A. literature available (McLeod, Sibley and Carver
County fairs) 3. Luncheons for the professional offering literature, contact information, and how we can work
together to help the alcoholic find A.A. 4. Workshops for you and your group on various A.A. topics 5. Publishing and distributing our monthly newsletter “In Touch” 6. Operating and maintaining your District website: district17aa.net which includes meeting
schedules, the District newsletter, upcoming event flyers and group news, etc. 7. Self-supporting for our District meeting location 8. Reimbursement of travel for our District officers to required District events 9. Annual P.O. Box rental for contribution mailings 10. Order books and literature for groups at substantial discount
This list in not an inclusive listing of all expenses within the District, but it is meant to help you understand why continued support is necessary to help enable the District to carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic. Over the past couple of months contributions have been down and, as a District, some of the above services may no longer be available if not financially prudent. We encourage your group to continue financial support by reaching a little deeper, so we may function to the best of our ability as your District. If there is a reason why your contribution has lessened or ceased from your group, please let us know if it is a circumstance or concern we can change or correct. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact any of the current District officers or your group service representative (GSR). All officer and committee chair contact information is listed in the District newsletter “In Touch.” Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
District 17
District 17
PO BOX 224
Glencoe, MN 55336
July 2020
Please help your district carry the message
Consider a group or personal contribution
STAY SAFE AND KEEP CONNECTED: Phone, text, email or zoom meetings!
