I i I ' I II. News and Notes From the General Service Office of A.A. VOL. 38, NO.6 I HOLIDAY ISSUE 1992

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1 ' ' 459 News and Notes From the Genera Servce Offce of A.A. VOL. 38, NO.6 HOLDAY SSUE 1992 ; ; Dear Frends, "Abandon yormef to God as you understand God. Admt your fmts to Hm and to your feows. Cear away the wreckage of your past. Gve freey of what you fnd and jon rts. We sha be wth you n the Feowshp of the Sprt, and you wt surey meet some of m a.r yott trt.tdge the Road of Happy Destny. "May God bess you and keep you-unt then." Acohocs Anonymous, P. 164 n 1947 B wrote, "To neary everyone Chrstmas brngs thoughts of warm tes to be renewed, gfts to be gven and recefed. Fresh and wondrou. s the vson of Hm who shtnes down the cmtures to a who w ook up and behod." OtJrng ths seasort ofsptrtuct renewa and Yebtrth, a/tofus hereatg.s. 0. are gratefu for theopporttmty to have served the Feowshp over the past year. We extend best wtshes for the Hoday Season and the new year as we a wqrk together n the Feowshtp of the Sprt, one day at a tme. Wth A.A. ove, ' ;

2 Box "-5 9 s pubshed bunonthy by the Genera Servce Offce of Acohocs Anonymous, 475 Rversde Drve, New York, NY Acohocs Anonymous Word Servces, nc., MaU address: P.O. Box 459, Grand Centra Staton New York, NY Subscrptons: ndvdua, $3.50 per year; grtjup, $6.00 for each unt of10 per year. Check_made payabe to A.A.W.S., nc.- shoud accompany order. A.A. Groups Sunve Hurrcane Andrew Pcture ths. A hurrcane named Andrew comes rampagng through your area, wrecks your home, knocks your A.A. meetng ha to hgh heaven, and then your state governor, hs eye on aw and order, sets ex curfew. What do you and your feow A.A. group members, who have aso, mcdentay, a ost ther homes, do? Smpe. You wat a few days- that's a, just enough to get your bearngs-and then you come up wth a practca A.A. souton. You decde to hod your reguar nght-tme meetngs outdoors dn ate afternoon nstead. And when the teephone cas from many parts of the country come pourng n, offerng food, cothng, m oney, books, what do you do? You say, "Thanks a ot, we're dong just fne." "We got a ot of offers of hep, but we've decned everythng. We're sef-supportng," expans Pete M., D.C.M. of Dade County, Forda. "We're a fne now, A.A. s strong, ave and there's nothng happenng down here that we need hep for. We apprecate a the concern, but we're gong to ve by the Tradtons and be sef-supportng. We' be just fne." Of the 123 groups n Dade County, three groups were n Andrew's drect path: the Homestead Group (150 members); South Dade (200 members); and Three Legaces (20 members). roncay, Pete tes us, the Homestead Group, stuated n the most wdey-shown area by the meda, came through reatvey unscathed; ooters broke nto the group's storefront wndow and stoe a mcrophone. Eey, a the budngs surroundng t were razed. "The Homestead Group met outdoors for a whe because they had no power, no ar condtonng or eectrcty. But they're back n operaton and are n good shape," Pete added. n fact, they're a sttng on boxes and boxes of A.A. terature, sent from Ceveand, the hometown of one of the group's members who spends sx months n Forda. The South Dade Group "got hurt the worst. Ther budng was teray torn to the ground," Pete says. Donatons, by members, of a coupe of generators and the fndng of a new ste has put the South Dade Group back n busness and "we have our usua 23 m eetmgs a week agan." The Three Legaces Group, whch used to meet n a church, now meets n a member's home. Athough the roof of the church, pped off by Andrew, was repaced, the church s st operatng as a food dstrbuton. center. A tod, the three groups comprse about 400 A.A. m embers and every one of them ost hs or her home. "A ofus have ost everythng," Pete says, wth ttncanny cheerfuness. "You have to see the devastaton of South Dade to w1derstand. There's nothng eft." Whe everyone has found temporary odgng esewhere, some m embers have decded to move away from the area permanenty anq "that's the saddest part of t a," Pete says. "We don't know how many have m oved, but we do know those we ost were good, strong members. They're gong to be mssed." Pete says he expects, ke so many others, t w take a year to rebud hs home and two years to rebud the cty. Rght after the hurrcane ht, "everyone was takng about Andrew. Now we're back to takng A.A. agan. Sef-pty? We're not supposed to do that. You see, A.A. s reay workng down here, t's just beautfu." Pete says that the annua Dade County Grattude Dnher w be hed as schedued on October 24th. "t's aways a seout, wth about 1,000 A.A.s attendng and, as usua, we' be sendng our $3,500 contrbuton to G.S.O. Lsten, we A.A.s just pck up and go on." The Lousana deegate, Sd M., tes us that, athough severa of the state's panshes were severey damaged, A.A. meetng paces were "genera1y not dsrupted. But many A.A.s aong the Lousana coast, n Terrebonne, St. Mary's and Lafourche parshes, ost ther homes or ther beongngs and many have no nsurance." A sm<tr curfew to the one n Forda was ordered n }A)usana, he says, but t ony affected schedued A.A. meetngs for a few days. Deadne for Drectory nformaton -March 1, 1993 A remnder for area deegates: f you haven't aready returned your group nformaton prntouts, pease remember that the fna deadne for ncuson n the drectores s March 1, Prntouts corrected to show up-to-date. group nformaton and returned to G.S.O. by the areas, w be used to produce the 1993/94 A.A. Drectores: Eastern U.S., Western U.S., and Canadan. These confdenta drectores st groups and contacts; deegates and trustees; centra offces/ntergroups; and nternatona contacts. 2

3 Hodays R.evsted Come ate fa, many of us n the Feowshp wonder f the wag who sad that acohosm S a threefod dsease--thanksgvng, Chrstmas and New Year'swasn:t,just maybe, on the rght track. Memores of past, booze-drenched hodays oom embarrassngy arge. We begn to project. Suddeny we forge.t we're n ths Feowshp a day at a tme, no matter what day t s. Some of us ook nto the weeks ahead feehng as f fear, oneness, a sense of emptness, even depresson, had setted permanenty nsde us. Yet, n spte of OW' goomy forecastng, our hodays qute often turn out not ony we, but far better than many prevous hodays. The presents we receved were certamy apprecated and we actuay enjoyed the famy reunons. But the most astng mpressons were often from the ove and support we experenced m our group hoday ceebratons. t's safe to say that A.A. group ceebratons are hed n most parts of the word, wherever Chrstmas (or Hanukkah) s ceebrated. Large or sma, n remote rura areas or densey-popuated ctes, the sharng and hosptaty aways center around a reguar A.A. meetng. Beyond that core, the stye of group gatherngs are as vared as the members choose and regona customs dctate. No doubt every A.A. m ember wth at east one hoday behnd hm or her has a story to share. Here are a few: "My frst Chrstmas n A.A. s the most memorabe," vng n a furnshed room near the rehab from whch he had just been dscharged. "As Chrstmas approached, found out that a marathon meetng was beng hed from 9:00p.m. Chrstmas Eve to 12:00 noon Chrstmas day at that same rehab. Chrstmas Eve came and yours truy was nervous as a get out. " got to the rehab eary and spent the nght attendng meetng after meetng. Sober drunks were comng n and out a nght and a warm feeng permeated the pace. Many brought cgarettes and gfts for the patents and there was much aughter and feowshp. Ths, thought, s what have been ookng for a my fe. These peope. understand me, they at e not judgng me and they are aughng about ther drunken escapades.. As the nght wore. on, new faces kept appearng, everyone sharng how they had taken care of ther famy obgatons, payng Santa Caus, etc., but had to come to ths meetng to share ther grattude. for a A.A. had gven them. What an mpresson These peope actuay eft a warm, cozy house and famy to share ther experence, strength and hope wth me and others on Chrstmas Eve. may be stupd, but not crazy. have never eft." wrtes john G., of New York Cty. Speakng perhaps for most ofus,john contnues, "A the ensung Chrstmases have been wonderfu, but frst mpressons are ndebe." A month before Chrstmas John was on wefare, 3

4 Rchard B. wrtes of an eary Chrstmas n A.A.: "A group of Southwest Mssoud ans were at a meetng when the topc was 'hoday bues,' so they decded to do somethng about t. The resut was the A.A. Wnter Hodays Conventon. "Because t was n a rura area at a sma hote and beeause t was known that many members woud spend the hodays wth ther fames, there was reuctance n the begnnng. But t was decded that, even ftwere aways very sma, t woud be there for those who needed t. The conventon s usuay hed on the weekend betwen Chrstmas and New Year's and frequenty, because ofbad weather or eectrca outages, has dffcuty gettng speakers. One speaker, who came back after eght years to speak a second tme, shared that he had receved a ponsetta the frst tme, addressed to hs famy; the card read, "Thank you for sharmg your acohoc wth us ths Ch'stmas.' There are peope who have to mss ths conventon because of famy obgatons, but others have never mssed, sayng, 'A.A. s the ony famy have.'" Ceebratng Hanukkah, the Festva of Lghts, n jerusaem, "was aways a rea tra," wrtes fred. "Candes need to be t. Lghtng one cande wth the shakes was qute an experence; tryng to ght eght tn a row was a major msson. "One tme eft a beautfuy ad tabe after the soup course to go to the bathroom, stopped off to take a tte nap and ddn't wake up unt four o'cock n the mornng." There were many ncdent's ke ths, Fred reates, but one day "a neghbor who had been watchmg may drunken behavor for months took me to my frst A.A. meetng. There were peope dnnkmg coffee, taung, aughng and obvousy havng a grand tme. After the meetng started, they asked me why had come and what wanted. sad ''m n a rea mess.' They sad, 'Don't take that frst drnk and come to meetngs. And get an acohoc pa.' Though had arrved qute drunk, heard what they sad and have not had a dnnk from that day to ths." Esther H., remembers the onemess of her frst AA. Chrstmas after gettng sober n September "Aone wth my 2-year-od chd/' Esther tes us, " was ut off from my famy n Canada, and from the whoe word. 'd been marred to a West ndan and, around the hodays, had aways made a West ndan frutcake, saturated n rum. f or weeks before Chrstmas 'd start marnatng the fruts, tppng away at my mxture the whoe tme. 'd use a rea expensve rum, teng mysef ths was about favor "Now was newy sober, a aone, and unabe to make my beoved frutcakes for a my reatves. shared my concern wth an A.A. frend who suggested: 'How about makng a carrot cake nstead?' The recpe he gave me caed for soakng rasns and appes n appe juce. oved t. coud go through the same motons. We, every year snce 1974 've made hoday carrot cakes and take them to my A.A. group," Esther says. Esther contnues that, "Havng come from a jewsh home, durng my frst days n A.A. J frst went to a synagogue, but coudn't fee a connecton. Then went to chmches but coudn't connect there, ether. So btgan to sng the Hanukkah songs remembered from chdhood to my daughter. There were no peope n my fe that frst Chr<tmts, but bought us a tte tree and adorned t wth storybook characters. To ths day my 20-year-od daughter and have a tree, Hanukkah candes-and carrot cake For me, sobrety was a mrace. Hanukkah was a ceebraton of the mrace of the ghts. The brth of Chrst symbozed the brth of a new me." From Quebec, Rosa re V. reates that every Chrstmas, for the ast eghteen years, hs group hods a round robn meetng n December. Everyone s asked to reca hs or her frst Chrstmas wthout acoho. Rosa re wrtes, "The message we transmt, especay to the newcomers, s that A.A. gave us a new fe. t s a message of hope." 1993 Regona Forums Reguna 'Forums strengthen the Feowshp's Three Legaces of Recovery, Unty and Servce, by provdng an opportunty for A.A. group and area representatves, as we as any nterested ndvdua A.A.s n a partcuar regon, to share experence, strength and hope wth representatves of the Genera Servce Board and G.S.O. and Grapevme staff members. These weekend sharmg sessons enhance and wden communcaton, and hep spark new deas n better carryng the message through servce work. Mangs regardng each Regona forum w be sent to G.S.R.s, area commttee members, deegates, and centra offce/ntergroups, approxmatey three months ahed of tme. n 1993 Regona Forums are panned as foows: East Centra- May 14-16: fort Wayne Marrott, Fort Wayne, ndana Northeast-june 4-6: Radsson Hote, Burngton, Vermont West Centra-August 6-8: St. Coud Cvc Center, St. Coud Mnnesota Eastern Canada (Speca Forum)-September 24-25: Charottetown, Prnce Edward sand Southwest-December 3-5: Henry V Hote, St. Lous, Mssour Pease post Twew Tps on K«png Your HoHday SeUOJ Sober andjoyou (page 11) on your group budetn board. 4

5 Bg Book Avaabe n Sgn Language for The Hearng mpared After many months of pannng and fmng, t s ready-a set of fve vdeo cassettes of Acohocs Anonymous, desgned for the deaf and hearng mpared. The cassettes contan the unabrdged frst 11 chapters that consttute the basc text of the Bg Book, as we as "Dr. Bob's Nghtmare," n whch co-founder Dr. Bob shares the story of hs persona recovery n A.A.; the Forewords, "The Doctor's Opnon," and the Appendces are aso ncuded. Thanks to carefu pannng, t satsfes the vared needs of the hearng mpared. Experenced nonacohoc Amercan SgB Language (ASL) transator Aan R. Barvoek (who s known as "A B."), who s totay deaf, fs the "bg pcture" throughout n hs avender turtenecked shrt. As he sgns n ASL, the text n Engsh smutaneousy fashes beow, and the voce of another nonacohoc, Php E. Gambares, s heard readng the exact narratve. A certfed sgn anguage nterpretator, Ph s a soca worker who specazes n therapy wth the deaf at a menta heath cnc for dsabed persons n New York Cty. He fees that the new verson of the Bg Book "w hep open the way to sobrety n A.A. and a rea sense of beongng for thousands of deaf acohocs who have known soaton of the deepest knd." Work on the project began at the Genera Servce Offce about 10 years ago n response to requests from hearng-mpared A.A. members for terature and vdeo tapes. A vdeo cassette of Chapter Fve of the Bg Book was put together under the supervson of the Group Servces coordnator. Soon more than 10 cassettes were beng ordered every month, n addton to servce matera deveoped for the hearng mpared, such as the servce pece, "A DeafNewcomer Asks... "and a stng of contacts avaabe to the deaf n the U.S./Canada. t qucky became apparent that one chapter was not enough. So, wth the approva ofthe A.A. Word Servces Board, the work of recordng began n Unke A B., Ph has hs hearng. However, each s the chd of deaf parents; ther common bond and enthusasm for the project transated nto a workng rapport that encrced a those nvoved, from the vdeo supervsor and ne producer of Natona Audo Vdeo Transcrpts, nc., the producton company, to the G.S.O. project coordnator and an outsde consutant. "t was a tremendous chaenge," recas Ph, "and at the same tme we had fun." Whe AB. was sgnng, he expans, " was watchng hm and synchronzng the narraton nsde a soundproof booth we qucky dubbed the 'doghouse.' "An exact match of voce to sgnng s not possbe some of the tme," he ponts out. "For deaf persons who use ASL, Engsh s a second anguage. Aso, doms and abstract concepts are hard to sgn; and some phrases ABOVE: A B. and nterpreter/teeprompter Mare Taccogna revewng a segment pror to fmng. Ph Gambares s n the sound booth n background. BELow: Ph n the "doghouse." A.S.L. project pmducton team: nterpreter/teeprompter Mare Taccogna; Keth Gardner, ne producer and Mchae Wson, vdeo supervsor/edtor, both from Natona Audo Vdeo Transcrpts, nc. Standng, Ph and A B. A members of fmng and producton team are nonacohocs. 5

6 used n the Bg Book, such as 'Rarey have we seen a person fa' (Ch. 5) and 'As we became subjects of Kng Acoho, shverng denzens of hs mad ream' (Ch. 11) do not have strcty comparabe ;;gns. Many of these expressons, pus some of the od-fashoned words and sometmes mdy sexst anguage, unavodabe n a book pubshed over 50 years ago, kept thngs vey. We spent approxmatey 100 hours vdeotapng, and there was no ack of harous fubs, or outtakes, ether n the end, fee, we mantaned the factua and sprtua ntegrty ofthe text whe makng the sgnng as authentc and cear as possbe." For the acohoc who s deaf or hard-of-hearng, the new ASL vdeo of the Bg Book opens a wde wndpw to A.A.'s message of recovery and hope. Avaabe, from the Genera Servce Offce, on 1 h-nch VHS cassettes (VS-1), $38.00; 20% dscount appes. VBWPON' Do You Have to Be a 'Pure Acohoc' to Beong to A.A.? "At the Kansas Cty Area Conference for Young Peope n A.A. ast August, heard a rumor to the effect that the story n the Bg Book, Acohocs Anonymous, tted 'Doctor, Acohoc, Addct' s n danger of beng deeted because t addresses addcton to both acoho and drugs. mysef am excusvey acohoc, but woud consder mysef an antquated foss n bnders f refused to accept those duay-addcted young peope who have been attracted to the A.A. prbgram." Wrtng from Sprngfed, Mssour,jm S. added, "My home group meets at the unversty here, and the newcomer who has been addcted excusvey to acoho s a rare brd ndeed. see no vadty to my acqurng any sort of snobbery from my snge-addcton status; have enough character defects at- s wthout addng such pompous hypocrsy to boot.'' n response, a G.S.O. staff member noted t hat B W. had addressed dua addcton, as t reates to A.A.'s sngeness of purpose, "qute ceary" n the february 1958 ssue of the Grapevne (subsequenty reprnted n The Language of the Heart and excerpted n the pamphet "Probems Other than Acoho"). Addressng the queston, Can a pu or drug taker, who aso has a genune acohoc hstory, become a member of A.A.?, B answers wth a resoundng "Yes." Then be hypotheszes: "Suppose that we are approached by a drug addct who nevertheess has had a genune acohoc hstory. There was a tme when such a person woud have been rejected. Many eary A.A.s had the amost comca noton that they were 'pure acohocs' guzzers ony, no other serous probems at a. When acohoc ex-cons and drug users frst turned up, there was much pous ndgnaton. 'Wha t w. peope thnk?' chanted the pure acohocs. Happy, ths fooshness has ong snce evapora ted." As for the "rumor" that the story "Doctor, Acohoc, Addct" s beng removed from the Bg Book, the G.S.O. staffer contnued n hs etter to Jm, "t s just thatrumor. n fact, there s no ntenton at present to make any changes at a n the Bg Book. Some day a fourth edton undoubtedy w be contempated and, as happened n the past, some stores may be. deeted n favor of more contemporary matera. But that's a ong way off." Snce ts pubcaton n 1939, the story secton of the Bg Book has been revsed twce. The second edton was ssued n 1955, the thrd n 1976, n accordance wth Advsory Actons oft he Genera Servce Conference. n both nstances, teray years of contnung daogue preceded Conference acton. The Loners-nternatonasts Meetng-Stayng Sober Through Letters Every two months Leonard A. waks to hs oca post offce n the vage of Effduase, Ghana, to pck up an eagery-awated enveope from G.S.O. n New York Cty. A the enveope contans s a sx-page newsetter, but to Leonard-and hundreds ke hm around the word who cannot attend A.A. meetngs- the newsetter s both anchor and fene that nks hm wth feow A.A.s n smar soated stuatons. t's caed the Loners-nternatwnasts Meetng (LM), and t's maed to newcomers and odtmers ake who are tucked away n remote towns n the Repubc of Chna, Thaand, ceand, Turkey, the Russan Federaton, Saud Araba, ndonesa or even Venna, Vrgna, and Ceveand Heghts, Oho. "Dear A.A. Frends," the confdenta newsetter aways begns, under a ogo of a country mabox next to a porthoe through whch s seen a shp on the hgh seas. foowng the Preambe, the meetng-n-prnt begns wth etters from A.A.s n Aaska, say, or the Phppnes, or Lancaster, caforna, each one sharng the wrter's experence, strength and hope. t's amazng how, readng these p:ges, one experences the same feengs of safety and welbeng that a ttendng a reguar AA. meetng offers. And that, of course, s ts purpose. The LM was argey the branchd of a recoverng 1 j f j j j r j r f r

7 drunken sa1or, Captan Jacks. who understood very we, back m the ate 1940s, that to mantan hs sobrety he needed to reach out to hs feow drunks through etters. A.A.'s phenomena wordwde growth s now argey attrbuted to Captan Jack and hundreds of nternaonahsts ke hun who, sang the seven seas, carred the message wherever they dropped anchor. The LM s assembed by a G.S.O. staff member who breaks the etters that arrve at G.S.O. nto varous headngs, At the end of each LM s a confdenta st ofthe names and addresses ofthose who "partcpated" n the meetng, new members and changes of addresses. Many LM members correspond wth each other, frequenty estabshng feong frendshps, Members of the LM Group fa nto varous categores. Loners are A.A.s who ve n areas where they are unabe to attend A.A. meetngs. Seagong A.A.s are known as nternatonasts who, when possbe, fonn groups aboard shp; there are now ffty-sx Jnternatwnast Groups meetng aboard shp or n ports. Port Contacts make themseves avaabe when seamen or other A.A. vstors arrve, and are sted n the LM Drectory. Housebound members, who cannot go to meetngs due to 1Jness or other physca probems, are known as Homers. Loner Sponsors are A.A. members who wr1te to LMs, sharng group-fe experence wth them and often sendng tapes or workng the Steps through the ma. Ltte dd Captatn Jack (as he came to be known to thousands of A.A.s) know that hs etter of March 28, 1946 to the Genera Servce Offce woud bear the frut that t dd. "My probem s ths," he wrote. "Coud obtan addresses of A.A. branches n Portand, Mane; Provdence, R...; New York Cty; Abany, Phadepha, Beaumont, Gaveston, and Corpus Chrst, Texas?" He contnued that he was "st at sea on o tankers, on whch have served for ten years and have few contacts ashore wth A.A., and have to rey on the Book and the guy upstars. Are there any magaznes or terature to whch can subscrbe and to whom shoud pay dues?" Charotte L. ofg.s.o. not ony provded CaptanJack wth the names of A.A. contacts n those ctes he re<:fuested, but she encouraged hm to wrte to other seagong members, whch he dd. Eventuay, he woud wrte to another staff member that "etters have become a hobby wth me." They take "the pace of meetngs and hope n the course of events may have heped somebody." t was not tmt the pubcaton of a three-part artce by Captan Jack, "A 'Loner' at Sea," prnted n the October, November, and December 1948 ssues ofthc Grapevne that pans began to take shape to start an nternatonasts meetng by ma. Letter response to the artce by a seaman prompted yet another G.S.O. staff member, Bobby B., to suggest to Captan]ack that he consder starttng a "Round Robn Meetng" through etters; t woud be smar, she wrote hm, to one that A.A.s n soated stuatons n South Amerca had begun around that tme. CaptanJack responded posttvey and suggested cang t "The Far East nternatonast Group." He sad "that woud eave t open to one members statoned ashore n the Far East and aso to men who sa... these waters under fags of dfferent natons." The South Amercan Round Robn meetng, accordng to G.S.O. archves, dd not contnue for very ong. An A.A. Loners meetng, begun n 1960, dd con. tnue, eventuay mergng n 1976 wth the Captan's orgna nternatonasts meetng. LM frst came out n 1949, as The nternatonasts Round Robn. t conssted of a few pages of etters receved at G.S.O., typed up by a staff member, and maed out to a sma band of nternatonasts determned to stay sober no matter how soated they were. By 1963 t had become "fancer"-5 or 6, one-sded pages, mmeographed on bue paper. Two years ater there were 30 nternatonasts sted n the 1965 nternatonasts Drectory. Membershp grew steady. The atest ntematnnasts/ Loners/Homers Drectory sts 248 nternatonasts, 386 Loners, 36 Port Contacts, 150 Homers, 56 nternatonasts Groups (one group mght meet on a partcuar tanker, for exampe), and 990 Loner Sponsors. Every year, there's a Loners-nternatonast Conference, hed n Akron, Oho, and there are usuay severa nternatonast speakers at the nternatona A.A. Conventon. Captan jack attended the 1985 nternatona Con venton n Montrea, three years before hs death, n December 1988, at age 91. A fc\.v months earer he had ceebrated hs 42nd A.A. annversary. He had remaned actve n the Feowshp, partcuary seekng out new. comers n Portand, Mane, where he had retred, and he never stopped answerng the many etters he receved. And so t contnues. "... need hep," wrtes OJ., from the Phppnes n the May)une 1992 ssue. He started a group but ony "four or fve acohocs attend," athough"... acohosm s rampant n the Phppnes." nternatonast Debby C. wrtes, "My husband and are about to embark on a voyage throughout the South Pacfc on our 40-foot saboat. We have an nternatona Drectory and pan to contact other frends of B W. over VHF rado when we are n port." Recenty, G.S.O. receved a etter f om A.A. member Wey H., who reated how someone n hs home group had asked, "Has anyone ever wrtten to the New York Offce for nformaton?" A young man rased hs hand and sad, "When n the GufWar, feeng much aone on tht shp, wrote askng for a etter. got 350 repes, was the envy of every saor on shp and got the courage to ask for other frends of B W. We started a meetng at 4 a.m., the ony tme avaabe for a of us." He s sober and busy wth hs A.A. work n Houston. ' 7

8 SERVCES AT G.S.O. Spansh Desk at G.S.O. Serves Hspanc Members n Ther Own Language., ' «There are many Spansh-speakng A.A. members who don't speak Engsh. They meet n more than 800 Hspanc groups n the U.S., Puerto Rco and canada, and a too many of them are unaware that we're here to serve them n ther own anguage. Consequenty, they mss out on a ot of supportve servces that are thers for the askmg." for nstance, contnues DannyM., nonrotatng coordmator of Spansh Servces at the G-enera Servce Offce, "How many Spamsh-speakng members know that amost a A.A. terature s avaabe n ther natve tongue, from the Bg Book to The A.A. Servtce Maruw. and the annua Fna Report of the Genera Servce Conference? How many know that our Spamsh pamphets and Gudenes are constanty updated aong wth ther Engsh counterparts, or that the Spansh Lterature cataog s avaabe from G.S.O. free of charge?" The wde range of audovsua materas n Spansh may be one of A.A.'s best kept secrets. Ther avaabty comes as wecome news to many a H1spanc member tryng to stay sober n a confusng Engsh-anguage cuture where rues of grammer and syntax seem made t.o be broken. Even more reassurng s the fact that Drumy s ever avaabe to answer questons and end support-speakng n Spansh, Engsh or, f you prefer, Portugese or taan. Wth the hep of nonacohoc ngust]ohn de Stefano, Danny coordnates and revses Spansh transatons of matera handed by the other G.S.O. staff assgnments, especay t1e nternatona desk. "Our goa s to provde servces to the Hspanc A.A. communty whch are as equa as possbe to those provded to Engsh-speakng A.A. groups," he expans. "Aso hepfu to them s the Spansh. edton of Bo.t: 4-5-9, whch s djstrbuted to a Hspanc groups." Danny aways has severa rons n the fre- for exampe, assstng the staff wth correspondence n Spamsh, preparng to represent G.S.O. at a conventon, and hepng an mdvdua Spamsh group to regster wth G.S.O. As the G.S.O. staff representatve to CA TAL (the bero-amercan Commsson on Transatons and Adaptatons of A.A. Lterature), he aso works wth other Spansh-speakng countres wshng to produce ther own transatons of A.A. hterature. "We seek unformty, consstent wth the sprt and meanng of the orgna Engsh verson," he says, "but of course there are changes refectng the cooquasms of a gven country." As more Spansh-speakng peope come nto A.A., Danny ponts out, "we are seeng mproved communcaton between the Spansh- and Engsh-speakmg groups. Most of our Spansh-speakng members want to become an nformed and ovng part of manstream A.A. We stand ready to hep n evexy way we can." New From G.S.O. The AA. Servce Manua/Tweve Concepts for Word Se1vce, edton. Hstory of A.A. servces, expanng the Conference structure. (BM-31) $1.55. Drectores: nternatona A.A. D1rectory (MD-1) 75 ; Canadan (MD-2); Western U.S. (MD-3); Eastern U.S. (MD-4). (MD-2-4) $1.35 each. Confdenta to A.A. members ony. "The A.A. Group" (Htmganan transaton) (&J-16) $2.50. "Letter to a Woman Acohoc" (Bugaran transaton) (SB-34) $1.75. Posters of Tweve Steps and Tweve Tradtons (n Spansh). Each poster s approxmatey 25" X 35" and s sutabe for mountng or just hangng on meetng room wa. Steps (SS-83); Tradtons (SS-84) $6.55 each. 20% dscount appes to a above, except the AA Servce Manua. R. Portand A.A.s Meet On TV to Reach the Sufferng Acohoc Ours s a program of attracton, not promoton. But how can we cru 1y our message to the suffermg acohoc who doesdt know A.A. exsts? And the one who knows we do, but has msconceptons and fears.,. or ese wants our hep but doesn't reaze t's as cose as the phone? Such questons have ed to an exctng outcome n Portand, Ot egon, where a seres of A.A. meetngs created especay for teevson are keepng the ntergroup hotne hummng, Expans jeffe1y P., charperson of the Pubc nformaton Commt of the Portand ntergroup: "Unke the eary days of A.A. when the 'meda' conssted prmary of newspapers, magaznes and rado, current 8

9 statstcs show that n the 1990s, more than two-thrrs of Amercans get ther day news from teevson. 'he rgorousy obsevng the Tweve Tradtons n the producton of ths seres, we fee that 1V as a whoe affords us the greatest opportunty to share the attracton of AA. wth the greatest number of peope. beeve that B _w 1, sad t b est when he stated, 't's hard to be atracttve f you're nvsbe.' " Created by an ad hoc group of the P.. Commttee, the 13 one-hour m eetngs have been arng three tmes a week on varous cabe access channes, whch together reach a pproxmatey 1.2 mon vewers. The basc format remans the same throughout and resembes an A.A. meetng as cosey as possbe, wth compete protecton of anonymty. Approxmatey eght A.A. members partcpate n each m eetng, ther taks nterspersed usuay wth bref pubc servce announcements prepared by the Genera Servce Offce. As they share ther expertence, s trength and hope, fbr about fve mnutes each, thetr hands and torsos are evdent, but ther faces are dsgused by a computerzed mosac pattern. As the eader says at the begnnng of the meetng, "The A.A. m&mbers partcpatng here represent a crosssecton of the communty. The spectrum ranges from nteectuas to terates... from the avo;rfu to those who were once outaws. From bankers to housewves, from rch to poor, the dtsease of acohosm knows no soca boundares." The eader ceary addresses anonymty: "Durng ths broadcast, you w not be abe to see the faces of the partcpattng A.A. members, nor w1 they use ther fu names. We are not a secret socety, nor are we ashamed of beng A.A. members-qute the contrary. We ceebrate our program of recovery, not those who practce t." Because of the anonymty factor, the 1V meetngs do not revea the warmth and camaradere that bonds A.A. m embers as they mx together at the start and end of "rea" meetngs. However, the sharng of the speakers s vared, candd and drect; the great potenta for dentfcaton thus compensates for the vsbe absence of nteracton. There's Rusty, sober 11 years, who "earned bow not to drnk, then earned how to ve"... and Bruce, who says he was "termnay unque" beft>re comng to A.A. n 1983 for the second tme... and young Peter, who c.xpans that when he drank. he became Fred Astare, but ony for a whe. n 1988 he dscovered that "the ony way not to get drunk. s, don't drnk.." Fnay, there's Kay, n AA. for sx years, " found," she shares, "that the peope n the program contnue to ove you even when you can't ove yoursef." Jeffery reports that the TV seres "has been produced at a oca cabe access studo that s avaabe to a Portand area ctzens who want to produce and ar ther own programs over the cty's cabe access chan 0 es." He emphaszes that the Portand n tergroup, whch owns the copyrghts to a 13 meetngs n the present seres, "s happy to make copes avaabe to other P.L comm ttees that woud ke to use them n ther areas." The ony charge woud be for dupcatng and mang the 1 /2-nch vdeotapes. For further nformaton, you may contact: Portand Area ntergroup, 1650 N.W. Front Ave., Sute 130, Portand, OR C.P.C. Takng Pus Teachng Add Up to Attracton n Northwest Texas "Our Northwest Area extends from the top of Texas to the bottom and a aong the b01 der, so when set out to do workshops, tend to cover a ot of terrtory. But they're generay we-receved and am aways gratefu for the opportunty to do them." The wrter s Steve H., who ves n Borger, r exas, "about' 50 mes north ofamaro," and chars hs area's Commttee on Cooperaton Wth the Professona Communty. "At the workshops," he says, " te how others n the Feowshp have stayed sober and carred the message to sufferng acohocs, and how have, too. "Ouro s a progra m of a tracton, but you can't attract peope to somethng they don't know anythng about, so just keep takng about what we can do and what we can't. don't know f t has actuay heped anyone ese but t has defntey heped me to stay sober, and has certany enhanced the quaty of my sobrety." Steve notes that four of the dstrcts n hs area "have actve C.P.C. commttees, and they have been busy sendng out etters to professonas, wth favorabe response. One dstrct, that ncudes the good-szed ctes of Mdand and Odessa, has targeted judges, probaton offcers and the ke, as they've had probems wth ' paper-sgnng' for the court referras they send to our meetngs, aong wth some dsrupton dffcutes. We're confdent that a tte educaton about AA. and a ot of communcaton w turn thngs around." Overa, nterest n C.P.C. "s sower than we'd ke," Steve acknowedges. "But t's pckng up and, m eanwhe, we're dorg what we can here to make sure as many peope as possbe know that Acohocs Anony. mous s avaabe to anyone, anywhere, who wants our hep." 9

10 CoJTectona Factes 3a Box' Fundng Can Chase Away the Out-of-Books Bues The "ja box" has become a common sght ths past year at meetngs throughout Northern New Jersey. Sm py a cardboard contaner of ndetermnate sze, t s where members contrbute everythng from od Grapevnes and Bg Books to pennes, dmes and doars for the purchase and dstrbuton of A.A. terature to acohoc nmates n the area's approxmatey.28 jas and prsons. (A new terature s purchased drecty from the Area Lterature Commttee.) The branchd of the area Co Tectona Factes Commttee, the ja boxes arc ktnkng cousns of the pnk and green C.F. coecton cans that have been poppng up across the country (Box 4-5.9, Oct.-Nov. 1991). Charperson TomS. emphaszes that, "t s not the ntenton of our commttee to take money away from a group's reguar coecton; rather, ths program s desgned to hep satsfy the ever-ncreasng demand for A.A. terature. "The nmate popuaton s growng at an aarmng rate, and many of those commttng crmes do so under the nfuence of acoho. Spare change gven by gratefu recoverng acohocs can go a ong way n provdng hope and a 'meetng n prnt' to those who are st strvng for sobrety." The C.F. commttee has turned over more than one new eaf n ts approach to terature dstrbuton. "n the past," Tom ponts out "we woud ma out terature from our ntergroup offce wthout keepng track of how much we were sendng or to whom. Now, at our bmonthy C.F. commttee meetmgs, A.A.s who sponsor meetngs 'nsde' can pck up terature, provded that they sgn ther names, the amount taken and the facty nvoved on an nventory sheet. "Furthermore, meetng sponsors are ess apt to gve out terature wy.ny. We've come to reaze, for exampe, that we smpy can't suppy each nmate wth a persona copy oft he Bg Book; nstead, we are donatng copes to a number ofthe factes' 'mn-a.a.' brares, where they can be borrowed, read and passed aong. t s our hope that as more and more A.A.s partcpate n the ja-box program at the oca eve, there w be a essenng of the fnanca stran on G.S.O., whch at present s enormous." Robert A., who chars the Greater Newark Dstrct C.f. Conunttee, reports tha t "some members aren't content just to toss cons or od Grapevnes nto the ja boxes. 've seen peope buy a new copy of the Bg Book or Tweve and Tweve or Lvng Sober from the terature dspay and pace t carefuy n the ja box-often wth a hasty scrawed message of grattude and hope, such as 'f can recover my fe, so can you' and ' Pease remember, n A.A. you' never have to be aone agatn.' " Treatment Factes For Some Acohocs, Medcaton s a Must "We-ntentoned A.A.s who advse new members to stop takng prescrbed medcatons may be payng wth fre," says Meody T., mmedate past charperson of the ntergroup Treatment Factes Commt-tee n Cncnnat, Oho. The probem has surfaced ma ny, she expans, "wth acohocs n Dua Dagnoss unts n our treatment centers. Some of our A.A. peope are a too aware that drug msuse can destroy sobrety; at the same tme, they may not reaze that for serous medca condtons rangng wdey from aerges, epepsy, and heart troube to cnca depresson, physcan. prescrbed medcaton s often a must." What to do? "For one thng," Meody reports, "a our charpersons have access to the pamphet 'The A.A. Member-Medcatons and Other Drugs,' whch dscusses the matter n deta. t aso makes t cear that sobrety n A.A. aone does not quafy members to pay doctor. We offer ths pamphet as we to treatment facty admnstrators and staff." Fortunatey, for the sake of cearer communcaton and understandng, Meody adds, "many of the A.A. charpersons n our Dua Dagnoss unts are duay dagnosed themseves, as acohocs who aso suffer from some form of menta ness. n fact, one, who prevousy had been dagnosed as 'crmnay msane,' ceebrated eght years of sobrety n September. These peope are keeny aware that psychatry s best practced by those quafed to do so. Therefore, dscusson at our meetngs s mted to A.A.-rea ted topcs and to what we have to share wth each other: our experence, strength and hope n recovery." 10

11 BOXG BULLETN BOARD tems and deas on Area Gatherngs for A.A.s - Va G.S.O. HOLDAY SSUE 1992 Tweve Tps on Keepng Your HoHday Season Sober and joyous Hoday partes wthout qud sprts may st seem a dreary prospect to new A.A.s. But many of us have enjoyed the happest hodays of our ves sober-an dea we woud never have dreamed of, wanted, or beeved possbe when drnkng. Here are some tps for havng an a-round ba wthout a drop of acoho. partes, meetngs, or other ceebratons gven by groups n your area, and go. f you're tmd, take someone newer than you are. Lne up extra A.A. actvtes for the hoday sea.son. Arrange to take newcomers to meetngs, answer the phones at a cubhouse or centra offce, speak, hep wth dshes, or vst the acohoc ward at a hospta. Be host to A.A. frterus, especauy newcomers. f you don't have a pace where you can throw a forma party, take one person to a dner and sprng for the coffee. \ O f.:) M(:... Keep your A.A. teephone st wth you a the tme. f a drnkng urge or panc comes- postpone everythng ese unt you've caed an A.A. J Skp any drnkng occason you are nervous about. Remember how cever you were at excuses when drtnkng? Now put the taent to good use. No offce party s as mportant as savng your fe. f you have to go to a drnkng party and can't take an A.A. wth you, keep some candy handy. Don't thnk you have to stay ate. Pan n advance an "mportant date" you have to keep. Don't st around broodng. Catch up on those books, museums, waks, and etters. Don't start now gettng worked up about a those hoday temptatons. Remember-"one day at a tune." Enjoy the true beauty of hoday ove and joy. Maybe you cannot gve matera gfts- but ths year, you can gve ove. Fnd out about the speca hoday Go to church. Any church. "Havtng had a... "No need to spe out the Twefth Step here, snce you aready know t. Fp up ths end of page - for events on reverse sde.

12 BOX(W) BULLETN BOARD tems and deas on Area Gatherngs for AA.s - Va G.S.O. HOLDAY SSUE Q.,Q = "' Q. "' : c: Q. "' Q Q. "0 ; oj - = 1 '-1 =,, Caendar of Events Events sted here are presented soey as a setvce to readers, not as an endorsement by the Genera Serv1ce Offce. For any addtona nformaton, pease use the addresses provded. December SkestoJ, Mssour. 1.2fh Annua Fve "5" Corners Conv. Wrte: Ch., 205 N. jackson, Kennett, MO Vrgna Beach, Vrgna. Southeast RegJOna Fontm. Wrte: Regona Fontms Secretary,.Box 459, Grand Centra Staton, New York, NY jac<.sonve Beach, Forda.. 17th N. FLS. GA Grattude Weekend. Wrte: Ch., Box S1134,Jacksonve Beach, FL Myr-te Beach, South Caroma. Sandapper Round. Wrte: Ch., Box 14634, Surfsde Beach, SC ]anuary 3 - Chcago, nos. Second Annua Bazng Tras Mega Akatbon. Wrte: Ch., 2018 W. Gddngs St., Chcago, L Dae Cty, Vrgna. Candeght's C'..eebraton of Sobrety. Wrte: Gh., Dox 4139, Woodbrdge, VA Mnneapos, Mnnesota. Hoday Event. Wrte: Ch., Box 19194, Mnneapos, MN januaty 1 - Mrmeapohs, Mnnesota New Year's Event. Wrte: Ch., Box 19194; Mnneapos, MN january 3 - Waterbury, Connectcut. NECYPAA, Wrte: Ch., Box 301, Storrs, CT January Dodge Cty, Kansas. 23rd Southwest Kansas Conf. Wrte. Ch., 1413 Pershng, Sana, KS _ Houston, 7'e.ras. 31st S E. Texas Area Conf. Wrte: Ch., Chessngton, Houston, TX t;arksburg, West Vgrta. Jackson's M Rotmd..up. Wrte: Ch., Box 825, Carksburg, WV Laughn, Nevada. Thrd Annua Rver Round. up. Wrte: Ch., Box 8039, Ft. Mojave, AZ Eau Care, Wsconsn. Bg Book Semnar. Wrte: Gh., Box 1592, Eau Care, ws A - Raegh, North Carona. 26th Tar Hee Mtd Wnter Conf. Wrte: Ch., Box 184 t2, Raegh, NC Z-2A - jamestown, North Da<.ota. Dst. 6 12th Annua Roundup. Wrte: Ch., Box 774,Jamestown, ND _ Fot1: Waton Beach, Forda. Fourth Annua Emerad Coast Jamboree. Wrte: Ch., Box 875, Fort Waton Beach, FL Bytheve, Arkansas. 36th Tr-State Coon Supper. Wrte: Ch., Box 675, Bytheve, AR Crstchurch, New Zeaaruf. 30th Natona Conv. Wtte: Ch., Box 2062, Chrstchurch, New Zeaand Abert Bay, Brtsh Coumba, canada. Ffth Annua Ray. Wrte: Ch., Box 290, Abert Bay, BC VON AO February.'>-7 - FrYdercton, New Brunswck, Caru:u:La. Sxth Mtd-Wmter Roundup. Wrte: Ch., 31 Pne Grove Tree Ct., Comp 32, Ste #1, RR #8, Fredercton, NB E3B SWS Unversa Cty, Caforna. 18th S:V AA Conv. Wtte: Ch., 7970 Woodman Ave. #201, Van Nuys, CA 91Q Arevad oto Cty, Phppnes. Naton<r Conv. Wrte: Ch., Paza Rza jaro, oo Cty, Phppnes We.t f'a.m Beach, Forda. Wnter Roundup. Wrte: Ch.,Box325,B.ocaRaton, FL ;-Wa rw1c<., Bermuda. Bg Book Study. Wrte: Ch., Box WK178, Warwck, W.K.B.X., Bermuda _ Burngton, owa. Southeastern owa Roundup. Wrte: Ch. Box 431, Ft. Madson, owa ' Kan= Cty, Kar1sas. Sunfower Roundup. Wrte: Ch., Box 1281, Msson, KS Corpus Chr.st, Texas. CBA Jam. boree. Wrte: Ch., 3833 So. Stapes, Sute 44, Corpus Chrst, TX Wmngton, Deaware. NERAASA Pannng a Future Event'? Cosed Meetng Topcs From the Grapevne For more detaed suggestons, see the pages noted. December (page 44): Anonymty, our sprtua foundaton; Grattude; Keepng the memory een. January (page 31): Newcomers. '93. Wrte: Ch., Box 3721, Wmrtgton, March Van couver,.brmsh Coumba, Canada. North Shore Round-up_ Wrte: Ch., Box 91086, West Vtncouver, BC V7V 3N3.'>-7 - jeky sand, Georga. SLxth Umty Weekend. Wtte: Ch., Box 1464, Tfton, GA Cherty H, New jersey. 29th Southern NJ G.S.C. Wrtte: Cb., Box 25, Cementon, NJ _ Goodyear, Ar:wna. West Vaey Roundup. Wnte: Ch., Box 1491, Surprse, AZ Amt>s, owa. Am for Ames Roundup. Wrte: Ch., Box 2491,Ames, Topeka, Kansas. K.S.C.Y.P.A.A. Wrte: Ch., Box3342, Lawrence, KS Pease send your nformaton on febntary, March or Apr events, two days or more, n tme to reach G.S.O. by December 10, thecaendarde:jdne (or thefebnu:u-y/march ssue ocbar4-5-9 For your convenence and ours- pease type or prnt the nformaton to be sted on he Buetn Board page, and ma to us: Date of event: from to, Name of event: Pak1ty, staw or prov.): For nformaton, wrte: (exact mmng address) Contact phone # (for offce use ony): Fp up ths end of page - for events on reverse sde