Volume 33, Issue 8 AUGUST 2017

ScaanSOUTH COUNTY

AA NEWSLETTER

The Hand of AA

24 Hours a Day

561-276-4581

South Palm Beach CountyIntergroup Association, Inc.Serving A.A. Groups inBoca Raton, Boynton Beach,Delray Beach and Lantana33 Years of Service ~ 1984-2017

THE STEPS & THE TRADITIONSSTEP 8 - “Made a list of all persons we have harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”

TRADITION 8 - “Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional,but our service centers may employ special workers.”

Professionalism … the occupation ofcounseling Alcoholics for fees or hire.

My name is Tommy B. and this week onlyI am offering a special. I will take you throughthe first three steps for $500. Or, for $1,000, youcan buy the Fourth Step and I will throw in theFifth Step at no charge. This sounds silly, does-n’t it? In the very beginning Bill W. and Dr. Bobset out to write the Big Book and plans to buildspecial hospitals, teach the Big Book to only aselect few. They were to be “missionaries”, spe-cially trained to go to these hospitals and deliverthe message contained in the Big Book ofAlcoholics Anonymous. In 1937 the OxfordGroup was getting tired of the drunks only meet-ings. So, Bill W., Dr. Bob and the first fortydecided to set out their own. Bill W. and HankB., Bill’s first success, tried to raise money for thebook but failed. We all know what happened …they left the Oxford Group … they wrote andpublished the Big Book and at last made nomoney. They did realize though that this was a“gift” from God and to be given away … we wereto never be paid for 12th Step work.

Today some 80 years later, people say allthe time at AA meetings … “When I walked intothe program” … you never walk into the program… you walk into the fellowship. The program isthe 164 pages found in the book titled“Alcoholics Anonymous”. Now about this fellow-ship … it can be found in Club Houses,Churches, etc. But who sweeps the floors?

Who mops? If there is a kitchen, who ordersthe food and cooks it? For meeting placesshould be clean and comfortable. Volunteersare great, but they get new jobs or they tire of itand leave. So that is why we hire “special work-ers”.

Have you heard of the General ServiceOffice in New York or your local Intergroup orCentral Office? Where do we get the books,the monthly SCAAN, chips, medallions? Whatabout the Quarterly Assemblies? And whatabout our members who choose to work intreatment centers or the therapy field? They, ofcourse, are free to do so. However, this is not12th Step work. Nor are they to use the nameAlcoholics Anonymous anytime.

So, I would like to take this opportunity tothank all the AA professionals who work behindthe scenes and do sometimes “thankless job”.Although our 12th Step work is to never be paidfor, if it was not for the tireless efforts of thesespecial workers, there would be no fellowship …because there would be no Where & Whenmeeting lists … no desperate phone calls to beanswered, no pamphlets to be given out. TheAlcoholics Anonymous fellowship needs thisvital backbone so we as members can gather tohelp the sick and suffering and to fulfill our pri-mary purpose. Without these special workers,this could never happen.Love and service,Tommy B.

TRADITION EIGHT

“Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional,but our service centers may employ special workers.”

Page 2

Listen, World! By Elsie Robinson

I too do not know to what I reach… I do not know thenature of that which answers my prayer, or fills myneed… but I do know that there is something greaterand wiser than my common understanding. I do knowthere is something… because I see it and feel it allaround me… I see and feel a greater beauty andstrength all around me… a greater power.And so, though I cannot comprehend its resources norexplain its methods, I reach out to this greater beauty,purpose and power.As a small bird lays its wings on the winds of the heavens -So I lay my purpose and plan on the power of God -As small plants strike their roots to the depths of the soil -So I root my need and desire in the soul of God.I PRAY.I do not know what happens when I pray –nor why it happens.

I do not know if Anyone hears – nor how He hears – BUT I KNOW THAT SOMETHING HAPPENS…SOMETHING HEARS.As a wild goose drinks of the marshes -As the wave responds to the tide -SO I DRINK OF THE PURPOSE ABOUT ME… SO MY HEART IS MOVED BY ITS TIDE.I PRAY.I pray because prayer is the law of my being… asbreathing and eating and sleeping and working arelaws of my being.AND MY PRAYER IS ANSWERED – As breathing and eating and sleeping and working areanswered.PRAYING IS NOT “RELIGIOUS” ANY MORETHAN EATING OR LAUGHING OR LOVING ORWORKING ARE RELIGIOUS. PRAYER IS JUSTLIFE AS THEY ALL ARE LIFE.I will pray as I live… I will accept prayer and observe

prayer as I accept and observe life… I will pray as abird sings… as a plant blooms… as a wind calls… as atide rises.And somehow, somewhere, the answer will alwayscome.

SPBCI Archives CommitteeArchives Chair – Mike B.

• you received without cost, now give without charge

• humility is our acceptance of ourselves

• trying to pray is praying

• get it —-give it—-grow in it

• we’re responsible for the effort not the outcome

• this is a selfish program

• ego=edge god out

• keep your sobriety first to make it last

•I drank: too much—-too often—-too long

• AA will work if you want it to work

• what you hear and see here, stays here

•principles before personalities

• the 7t’s —-take time to think the thing through

• your big book is your sponsor too

• sobriety delivers everything alcohol promised

• possibilities and miracles are one in the same

• get out of the driver’s seat.......let go and let god

• how==honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness

• slogans are wisdom written in shorthand

• everyday is a gift that is why we call it the present

• we had to quit playing god

• don’t compare—-identify

• don’t intellectualize——utilize

• living in the here and now

• AA spoils your drinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• if you want to drink——-that is your businessif you want to quit———-that is AA’s business

• in AA, we get understanding———for nothing!

Some Slogans

Page 3

South Palm Beach County Intergroup Profit & Loss - June 2017

OOffffiiccee VVoolluunntteeeerrss

Dennis, George, Hunter, Joe H., Susan S., Marianne,

Sami, Chris, Matthew, Samantha,

Harry, Corie and Amy

Intergroup Activity Log June 1712th Step Calls 3First Call to AA 2Meeting Inquiries 135Business Inquiries 180Walk-Ins 275QB Sales Receipts 259

Page 4

GROUP CONTRIBUTIONS: JUNE 2017 AND YEAR-TO-DATE 2017

New Intergroup Reps.Downtown Delray ~ Sean S.

People With Time ~ Tristan D.Sobriety For Breakfast ~ JC R,Womens BBSS Delray ~ Lucy L.

AA HOTLINE – RELAY PHONEThe Hand of AA is Available 24 Hours a Day!

August - Wine Into Water

September - Tradition Three

October - Women Living Sober

November - No Matter What

December - Tuesday Men’s Solution

BIRTHDAY CLUBSOUTH PALM BEACH COUNTY INTERGROUP

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY!Your donation goes to help the valuable services provided by Intergroup includingthe AA hotline, meeting schedules, 12 step work, literature inventory, SCAANnewsletter and hospital/institution meetings.

Name Anniversary Date

Home Group Contribution* $*Recommended contribution is $1 for every year of sobriety.

If you would like a reminder notice next year, please fill out the address portionbelow or provide an email address.

Address City

State/Zip Email Page 5

Intergroup Business Meeting Minutes – June 28, 2017Chair: Cheryl S: The meeting opened with a moment of silence followed by theSerenity Prayer. Chair called for approval of last month’s minutes; Linda P. madea motion to approve May 31, 2017 minutes. The motion was seconded andpassed unanimously. Chair welcomed new group reps. Vice Chair: Billy R: Elections will be held next month. All positions are listed inthe SCAAN. Please see me if you have any questions regarding service posi-tions!Treasurer: Gary K: Thank you to Jeannie for running the financials reports inQuickBooks and sending them to me. For May 2017, we had positive net rev-enue of $1,572, versus $2,497 for the same month last year. Year to date our netrevenue is $5,101 behind last year by 40%. Expenses are running about evenwith last year. Group Contribution Income for the month of May was half as muchas May of last year but this is mostly due to a group making a single, large con-tribution last year. Year to day, group contributions are about 10% behind lastyear. Big Book Sales and Total Sales for May were ahead of May of last year.Year to date Big Books Sales and Total Sales are also around 10% behind lastyear. The Intergroup picnic brought in a profit of $1,530. Thank you to the groupsthat contributed to Intergroup in May. All contributions received through the endof last month are included in this report. We remain transparent in our financialreporting. The P&L statement and group contributions are always included in theSCAAN are available online. Members may also stop into the Intergroup officeanytime to review the reports. Please feel free to reach out to me should youhave any questions or suggestions. Remember, this is your Intergroup.Secretary: Jay W: Please remember to sign in on the Intergroup Rep rosters anddouble check that all of your contact information is correct, thank you!Office Manager: Jeannie G: Thank you to all who do service for AlcoholicsAnonymous! State of Florida Department of Revenue May Sales Taxprocessed/paid and IRS Form 941 for May 2017 has also been processed/paid.The office was closed at 4:00 PM on June 6th due to “flooding of parking lot”;phone was transferred to Office Manager cell phone. Comcast Remote CallForwarding was used to transfer to relay phone at 5:15. Sami, Friday AM volun-teer, donated labor and materials to repair Office Manager chair. Jay, SPBCISteering Committee Chair, will e-mail the Committee Chair Exit Survey Form2017 to all Chairs. Printed copies are available tonight. Please see Jay. TheSPBCI By-Laws amended April 27, 2017 have been review/approved/executedby Steering Committee and e-mailed to JC, SPBCI Webmaster, to be uploadedto www.aainpalmbeach.org. The executed original will remain at the SPBCIoffice. Steering Committee reviewed/approved the Liability Policy for July 22,2017 thru July 22, 2018. A check in the amount of $1,211.60 has been processedincluding the executed documents will be mailed to Agent.New Group Reps: JC R. from Sobriety for Breakfast, Lucy L. from Women’sBBSS, Tristan D. from People With Time, and Sean S. from Downtown Delray!Committee Reports:Archivist: Michael G: Excused absence. No report.Archives: Mike B: Archiving has been moving forward. The MP3 project will notbe completed this month (our computer tech help was out of town on vacation),but we are getting very close. We have been discussing some future projects forthis year once this project is complete.Bridge the Gap: Bari W (women): Excused absence. No report. Tom K (men):Excused absence. Nothing new to report. No phone calls received fromIntergroup. I continue to let others know about Bridge The Gap services.General Service Liaison: Arlene P: Founders Day Fling was a great success

AA EVENTS

November 10-124th Southern States Alcoholics AnonymousService Assembly (SSAASA)Sheraton Atlanta Airportwww.area15aa.org

OTHER EVENTSThe Other Events listed below are presented solelyas a service to SCAAN readers, not as an endorsementby SPBCI.

August 17-2059th International Conf. of Young People in AAHilton - Chicago59th.icypaa.org

August 25-27The Women In Recovery ConferenceDelray Beach Marriottwww.thewomeninrecovery.com

September 2Delray Central House Bingo Night - 7:30 PM$5 - Play all evening

September 3Delray Central House Group Meeting Palooza - 3:30 PMMeeting, workshops, food, fun and fellowship

October 26-29Promises in Paradise - St. Thomaswww.promisesinparadise.com

BIRTHDAY CLUBElizabeth B. July 14, 1987

Spiritual Awakenings - Home GroupCongratulations 30 years of sobriety!

Jeri V. August 9, 1989“Members at Large”

Congratulations 28 years of sobriety!

South Palm Beach CountyIntergroup Association, Inc.

2905 South Federal Highway • Building C, Suite 15-16Delray Beach, FL 33483

24-hours: 561.276.4581Email: southcountyaa@comcast.netWebsite: www.aainpalmbeach.org

Office HoursMonday-Friday: 9am - 5pm

Saturday: 10am - 1pm

STEERING COMMITTEEChair - Cheryl S. Vice Chair - Billy R.Treasurer - Gary K. Secretary - Jay W.

Office Manager - Jeannie G.

COMMITTEESArchives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike B.

Archivist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael G.

Bridge the Gap - Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom K.

Bridge the Gap - Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bari W.

General Services Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arlene P.

Group Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason W.

Hospitals & Institutions (W) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Natasha V.

Hospitals & Institutions (M) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tolbert

Liaison to North County Intergroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kendall C.

Public Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheldon

SCAAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John T.

Telephone Relay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony C.

Twelve Step Committee - Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve J.

Twelve Step Committee - Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie K.

Where & When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheryl M.

with over 250 people. Thanks to Fern House, The Lantana Group, The HolySpirit Catholic Church, The Triangle Club, Palm Beach County Intergroup, andall the volunteers. 10 new General Service Representatives were introduced.Volunteers are needed to drive visitors who are blind to the Triangle Club formeetings. H&I is looking for volunteers for north and south counties. The web-site cannot be used on phones, only on tablet and computer. The website is upto date now, and a template for mobile devices is being worked on. The Quarterlymeeting is 7/21-7/23 in Sarasota, District 4 is hosting. Florida State Conventionis 7/27-7/30. Southern States AA Service Assembly will be 11/10-11/12 inAtlanta. Group Information: Jason W: Nothing really new to report. Have been visiting 2groups per month over the past couple months that currently aren’t being repre-sented here at Intergroup to let them know that they too have a voice here. It’snot as many groups per month that I’d hoped to be visiting, but it’s the best thatcan be done within my current time/life constrictions. The good news is that thereare still plenty of groups still to be visited! And this is an awesome committeechair commitment to have if you like meeting new people and attending newmeetings!Public Information: Sheldon: Absent. No report. Hospitals and Institutions: Tolbert D. (men): No report. Natasha V (women):Absent. No report. SCAAN: John T: Excused absence. Articles are always welcome and can beemailed to the Intergroup office. Please submit by the 15th of the month.Telephone Relay: Tony C: Relay phone is covered until January 2018. Thephone was returned by Steerage to Captain’s table and Carry the Messagegroup will have the phone for the month of July.Where & When: Sheryl M: Cut off date for any changes is August 15th for theWhere & Whens coming out in October. Please report any changes in informa-tion to Jeannie at the Intergroup office.12th Step Committee: Katie K (women): I went through and called all women onthe phone list this weekend. I updated everyone’s availability and one wasremoved. Still waiting to hear back from 10 women. I will be calling them onemore time and if there is no response after the second call they will be removedfrom the phone list. Total as of now is 17 women plus the 10 pending. List will beaccurate and up to date by elections in July. Still taking volunteers. Stephen J(men): Continued to call and update the phone list as needed. I plan to submita final revised list to pass on to the next chair when they are elected next month.Liaison to North County Intergroup: Kendall C: I unfortunately missed thismonths meeting due to the fact that I forgot. But I have summarized the minutesI receive from them: Their office manager, Ed B, has submitted his resignationas the Intergroup office manager. He has served in this position for the last sevenyears. The Advisory Committee met last week and the primary discussion wason the office personnel. It was felt that the office needs a full-time, full-chargeoffice manager so they will be actively recruiting the position as an hourly job -40 hours a week. The candidate must have a good background in accountingand experience with QuickBooks, be conscientious and good with people, and ifa recovered alcoholic - have at least 5 years of sobriety. If you know of anyonewho fits these criteria please urge them to send their resume tobluecrest823@msn.com or the Intergroup office e-mail (pbciaa@bellsouth.net).They will be starting this process immediately. They went into their fourth roundof the elections for the committee chair positions. They would also like to set upa luncheon in August or September to recognize the amazing service that Ed

August Service MeetingsAugust 13

District 8 General Service Business Meeting - Triangle Club4:00 PM: GSR/DCM SHARING

4:40 PM DISTRICT 8 BUSINESS MEETINGAugust 23

SPBC Intergroup Steering Committee MeetingWednesday, 5:30 PM - SPBCI Office

August 30SPBC Intergroup Monthly Business MeetingWednesday, 7:00 PM - Delray Central House

had done for Intergroup with permission from the chair and the group of course.The project to transition their financial management system to QuickBooks soft-ware is progressing nicely and they have hit just about all of their target dates.They went live on the new system on June 1st and will be running both systemsin parallel for the next month or two. Opening checking balance for May 2017was $9,629.46. Revenues were $6,736.58 and Expenses were $10,429.32,resulting in a deficit of $3,692.74. The closing checking balance for May was$5,936.72. The Office will be closed Tuesday July 4th for Independence Day.The continued business of filling the vacant chairperson positions for followingcommittees were presented to the group; Archives Committee Liaison, PublicInformation, 12 Step List, Phone Volunteer, Today Newsletter, and The Whereand When. The positions for chairperson of the Public Information, 12 Step List,Phone Volunteer and the Today Newsletter remain vacant. Thank you for lettingme be of service!Serenity Scramble Golf Tournament: Elections for the Serenity Scramble chairposition were held. Sarge volunteered for the position.Old Business: Committee Chair elections will be held in July.New Business: The chair brought up the idea of having an Intergroup GratitudeDinner this year. A motion was made by Arlene P. to have a fall fundraiser forIntergroup. Discussion followed. Peter A. amended the motion to take the ideaof having a Gratitude Dinner, or fall function, back to homegroups to discusswhether they want an event at all. Discussion followed. The motion was voted onand passed.Next Business Meeting: July 26, 2017Closed meeting with the Lord’s Prayer.Respectfully,

Jay W.