District 20 November/December 2001 Newsletter

DCM Report

I am really excited about the coming year. January 12th and 13th is the Southern Minnesota Area 36 Service Conference. This is a gathering that occurs once a year. It is open to any AA member who wishes to attend. There will be presentations by AA members about their service experience, strength and hope. There will also be an ice cream social Saturday night and an AA speaker meeting.

District 20 is willing to present to your group about: the history of the General Service Office (GSO); the General Service Structure; a short Video: “GSO and You”; information on ways to be of service to the Fellowship, your home group, and District 20; The 12 Traditions; the 12 Concepts of World Service, the 12 steps; Unity, Service and Recovery; registering or updating your group information with GSO; holding a group inventory; or how to stay abreast of all the service opportunities available.

We would like help formulating a budget for 2002. The Finance Committee is to be made up of all the Group Treasurers in the District and will meet in January. Flyers will follow shortly. If your group meets in Minneapolis from north of West Broadway Ave., Crystal, New Hope, Robbinsdale, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, or Champlin you are part of District 20.

There are eleven (11) committee chairs waiting to be filled. These committees would work with various forms of Institutions or people helping to make 12th step work possible.

For more information contact your General service representative (GSR), attend the next District 20 Meeting or contact me.

Vince F.
DCM District 20

Just an Opinion

The difference between open and closed A.A. meetings

(“The A.A. Group” pg. 16)

The purpose of all A.A. group meetings, as the preamble states, is for A.A. members to “share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. Toward this end, A.A. groups have both open and closed meetings.

Closed meetings are for A.A. members only, or for those who have a drinking problem and “have a desire to stop drinking.”

Open meetings are available to anyone interested in Alcoholics Anonymous’ program of recovery from alcoholism.

At both types of meetings, the A.A. chairperson may request that participants confine their discussion to matters pertaining to recovery from alcoholism. Whether open or closed, A.A. group meetings are conducted by A.A. members, who determine the format of their meetings.

District 20 meets the first Monday of the month at New Hope Alano at 7:00p.m. except when this falls on a holiday, in which case the district will meet the following Monday.

The History of My Home Group

Squad 8 has been my home group for the last eight years. It’s an open meeting that meets at 7:30 pm every Wednesday at New Hope Alano. I don’t know the date that the meeting was started, but I do know that it was over twenty years ago. My first experience at Sq. 8 was somewhat painful. All I had to do was open my mouth to get three or four old-timers letting me know how much I had to learn. They asked hard questions and made me feel pretty uncomfortable, but I felt an acceptance and belonging like never before. It became my home group. I later found out that my experience was not unique.

Squad 8 was known to help newcomers get some sobriety and AA involvement in their lives. Newcomers and old-timers alike have made a permanent home out of Squad 8. The old-timers of Squad 8, or hatchet faces, as we call them, are known to attract newcomers and than proceed in pushing their buttons. They would typically do this until the newcomer caught on, put a stop to it, and then keep the tradition rolling.

The meeting usually ranged from 10-20 members. Our Squad would grow slightly larger in the winter and then smaller in the summer. Many of the earlier members that I’ve known have moved on to different cities across the US and others who have gone on to the big meeting. The membership had a reputation for being somewhat long winded. Some of the meetings wouldn’t get out until 10:00 or 11:00, and some rare times the meeting would close around midnight. Among other meetings this earned Squad 8 the nickname of the “Marathon Meeting”. A lot of this was due to whining newcomers like myself although the old hatchet faces put in their fair share passing on their infinite wisdom, giving us phrases like “Go flower your Huggies” and “If your gonna dance, ya gotta pay the fiddler.” In 1996 the meeting held a group conscience and decided to increase our effectiveness by becoming a mixed meeting. This change came hard to some members, as the testosterone ran thick at times, but after a while we all saw the benefits of the groups decision and also how it followed more closely to the traditions.

Two years ago Squad 8 began carrying a strong message of working out of the Big Book. We also began to support sponsorship by explaining and offering it to the newcomer and at times appointing temporary sponsors to those newcomers that would come back time and again sponsorless. This message got out and the number of members grew to about 50 to 60 every week. This forced the meeting through some growing pains.

The meeting survived these changes and today still carries a message that comes straight from the Big Book. The membership is still very well mixed in age and length of sobriety. The quality of sobriety in our meeting is good. This we believe comes from a conviction in working THE program and sharing our common solution.

Mark K 

Treasurer’s Report

Thank you to the following groups who made contributions to the district in October and November of 2001.

Contributions in October totaled $35.00 Expenses for October totaled $70.00 Contributions in November totaled $120 Expenses for November totaled $75.44. On November 30th we had a positive balance of $1,436.70

My Home Group

Having recently relapsed after experiencing 20 months of clean and wonderful sobriety I want to touch on the importance of attending AA meetings and what my home group did for me. My world was very empty and I felt alone before I started meeting friends at AA. I look forward to seeing these people every week and they look forward to seeing me. I can’t stress enough how important it is to not only go to several meetings a week and have a sponsor, but also to participate by opening up and talking about what has happened in my day-to-day life. One of the things I look forward to the most about going to AA is getting together and sharing before and after the meeting. That helped me to start building friendships on a sober level and relating to people in a whole new way.

The other thing that has helped me stay sober is surrounding myself with AA friends that have more sobriety than me. Their experience, strength, and hope help enormously. I can’t stress enough to go to several different meetings and find one you feel comfortable in. Part of my downfall was only going to one meeting a week. Building and having a sober network within AA will has turned out to be one of the greatest blessings I could give myself. Get involved by giving a meeting or doing some other 12 step work. I get out of myself and help others by telling my story. It does wonders for the new person and helps strengthen my own sobriety. I know that if I follow these key ingredients I will once again put significant sobriety under my belt.

Kristy P.

District Officers & Chairpersons

Vince F. - DCM 
Chuck T. - Treasurer 
Mary Ellen J. - Group Records
Andy L. - Grapevine 
Jeanne B. - Intergroup 
Todd F. - Public Information 
Joyce B. - Newsletter