What Weighs 35 Pounds, Stands 14" Tall, and
Is Vital to Our Carrying the Message…?

If you guessed the "Group Information Sheets" (GIS) for our annual Group Records update, you are correct. As you read this edition of the Pigeon, our Area 36 will be actively gathering current information on all the groups in the Area and their General Service Representatives (GSRs) or Group Contacts.

We do this Area-wide update once a year in conjunction with the General Service Office (GSO) in New York, and we have a relatively short period of time to gather this information and make all the necessary changes.

Working from the information sheets provided by GSO, we update all group information (e.g., meeting time, place, format; name, mailing address, phone number of GSRs or contacts). Once that information is gathered, we update the Area Group Records and then send the information back to GSO for them to update their Group Records.

If you are a GSR or Group Contact, please answer the following questions:

·       Was this Pigeon mailed to you, or did you pick it up at a District or Area or local meeting?

·       Have you been receiving quarterly mailings from the Area regarding the Area’s financial health?

·       Have you received at least one letter from GSO in the past year indicating the amount of your group’s 7^th Tradition contributions to GSO, thanking your group for the contributions, and indicating how your group’s contributions have helped carry the message?

·       Have you been receiving Box 459 in the mail?

·       If you were the GSR or group contact last fall, did you receive a complementary copy of the 4^th edition of the Big Book on behalf of your group from GSO?

If the answer to the above questions is “no”, then neither the Area nor GSO has current information for you and your group. If the answer to the first two questions is “yes”, then the Area has current information for you and your group. If the answer to the next two questions is “yes”, then GSO has current information for you and your group. If the answer to the last question is "no", you were not registered with GSO as the GSR or group contact at that time.

Please be sure to respond to your District representative when you are called or your group is visited as we gather this information. To have even more fun, contact your District Committee Member (DCM) and offer to be of service in helping gather Group Records information.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you have regarding this process or Group Records in general (see the contact information earlier in this issue.)

Yours in Love and Service,

Steve K.

Area 36 Group Records Co-Chair