Chairperson's Report - March 2003

First of all I would like to thank the Area for electing me to serve as chairperson for the next two years. It is always an honor and privileged to serve Alcoholics Anonymous in any way I can. I have been blessed in being allowed to participate in General Service over the past 15 years. I have served as GSR, standing committee chair for various district and area committees, alternate DCM, DCM, board member and chairperson (at the Intergroup level) and in this last rotation the Area Treasurer. General Service has given me a place to be useful and get out of myself. It has also allowed me to meet a host of people and accomplish things I never dreamed I could do. If this sounds like a pitch for General Service that alright because I would recommend it to any AA member.

I enjoyed seeing so many of you at the Area Service Conference. The turn out was great and the presentations and discussion was excellent. I want to thank Eric J. for the great job he did in chairing the event. He seems to have chairing this event down pat now so of course it is time to rotate but I feel confident that our new Area Service Conference Chairperson and Alternate Area Chair, Sonja H., will also do an excellent job.

We had our first Area Committee Meeting for this rotation this past Saturday. It was great to see so many DCMs and district standing committee chairs attend. We had more members of our Area Committee attend the afternoon session than I can remember having in a long time. Something new, well nothing is really new in A.A., so something we are starting to do again at the Area Committee Meeting is to have the Area Committee as a whole set the agenda for the Area assemblies. So it is important that all DCMs and area standing committee chairs attend the Area Committee to have input to our Area Assembly agendas.

Speaking of Area assemblies, our first Area Assembly of this year is taking place Saturday, March 22 at the Holiday Inn in New Ulm. Agenda topics include discussion of the General Service Conference agenda items; discussion of A.A.’s relationship with Al-anon; and a special election to elect an area secretary. Kris S., our current secretary needs to step down due to work conflicts. I looked forward to working with Kris and wish him the best of luck.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Area Assembly and working with you over the next 2 years. If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns about our Area that you would like to talk to me about I can be reached at chairperson@area36.org. Please feel free to call or email me.

Yours in love and service
Mark M.
Area 36 Chairperson