Sobriety News 2001

New Editor - Same Agenda
A big round of applause for Bill C and his dedicated service work to the AA community.

With the guidance of a higher power this publication will continue predecessors’ efforts to comply with the TRADITIONS of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, and deliver the pertinent news in the Harrisburg Area. This is your publication, and service in submitting newsworthy articles will help make this informative for the entire AA Community, as well as enhance your own recovery program.

PENNSCYPAA picnic...Prophetic?
The final fundraiser for PENNSCYPAA XIII was held at Veterans’ Memorial Park in Susquehanna Township on June 23  An enthusiastic group talked recovery, played volleyball, satisfied appetites, and wrapped up with a stimulating AA meeting. What started as a somewhat rainy day, ended with the sun smiling down on a happy, joyous and free gathering

Central Office AA Hotline
The Central Office AA Hotline is now state of the art! We will now be offering all 56 AA groups the opportunity to serve a part of the hotline. Over the past few months, a special committee was set up to look into ways to better serve the still suffering alcoholic. The committee has researched how other Intergroups operate and maintain their hotlines. A system has been developed that will provide two methods for group members to handle 12 step calls.
The first method is through the Central Office Hotline at Fellowship House at 1251 S. 19^th St., Harrisburg. This phone will be operational from 10am till 6pm daily. These times may remain flexible. Calls may come from people desiring information, literature, AA members needing help in finding a meeting, or newcomers who want information, or 12^th step calls. 
AA members who are looking for service work during the day can volunteer by calling Tina H. Tina can be reached by leaving a message with the Hotline (234-5390), at home (238-3545), by Email (spicee308@aol.com), or you can volunteer through your Intergroup Representative. 
The second method is new and operational. Those who are unavailable during the day can be AA Hotline operators too, through the use of a cellular phone. When the Central Office Hotline is closed, all calls will be forwarded to the new cellular phone. If that phone is not operational, there will be voice-mail, which the volunteer can retrieve at the earliest opportunity.
Intergroup Reps. can sign your group up for a month. Your Intergroup Rep. will train you how to operate it. Your Intergroup Rep. will have everything you’ll need to easily handle any calls you may receive. Please remember, our phone service helps hundreds who need help each month. Many of us are here because someone took the time to pick up the phone when we needed help. Surely, you will get much gratitude from volunteering to be a Hotline Operator
Doctor Bob in his last message put it this way, “Our 12 steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words love and service. We understand what love is and we understand what service is. So let’s bear those two things in mind.”

We are self supporting
Through the contributions of our members we are able to do many things to help the groups, members, and newcomers within the District. For the past several months, however, the Intergroup’s copier has been out of service. If any AA member has an old, but working copier that they would be willing to donate for service work, will love yourself for doing it. We love you anyway. Donation may be made through your Intergroup Rep

Groups Continue Support of HAI For the month of June, contributions from four groups totaled $451.61. This brings the total contributions, year-to-date to$2488.53. We would like to thank the following groups for their contributions to the Harrisburg Intergroup Fund. They were Hershey, Bridge Street, 19^th Street, and Trudgers & Survivors groups. We would also like to thank all the groups and members who continue to donate time towards Intergroup’s activities. These activities include men's and women’s prison meetings, literature, the AA hotline, and the many other vital AA functions that help alcoholics recover in our area. Intergroup performs those services to our AA members which no individual group is prepared to perform, and it coordinates activities between the 56 groups it serves. Remember that we can do together what none of us could do alone.

PENNSCYPAA XIII this month
Armed with a fresh and creative video and an enthusiastic crowd of supporters the PENNSCYPAA XIII committee successfully bid for this year’s event to be held in Harrisburg. If you attended any of the many fundraising events this past year, you know what an enthusiastic and hard working group they are.
Thanksgiving, Dinner with Santa, and Valentine’s Day galas, as well as two Monte Carlo nights, Murder Mystery Dinner, and the June Picnic showed a creativity and work ethic that promises to make the upcoming conference one to remember (only if you attend).
The Conference will be held at the Holiday East on Lindle Road (the exit off the Turnpike spur of I-283) July 27-29. Tickets are still available at $15 from members of the host committee or at the door. The banquet on Saturday night will be $24.
One of the features of this event will be the Saturday evening speaker, Kathy M from the Pacific Group, who will wow the crowd with her experience, strength and hope. Father Bill from the Caron Foundation is a truly inspirational speaker on Sunday morning also. There will be lots of recovery events during the weekend, but “We are not a glum lot.” So there will be lots of fun too, including a pool party and other opportunities for AA fellowship.

Unity our first tradition
If you have earned some sobriety time, you may find that serving on the UNITY COMMITTEE of the Harrisburg Area Intergroup may be just the kind of service work that can earn you some more. The newly formed committee will be chaired by Charna D., who witnessed the value of such a group in the Scranton area. The committee will visit  groups, upon invitation, to explain the workings of your Intergroup. This will certainly be a rewarding, educational and personally valuable experience for volunteers. You can volunteer through your Intergroup Rep.>

Editor's Note
In the June issue of Sobriety News, an article, titled GSRs,“Guardians of the Traditions”, highlighted the vital role GSRs have in Alcoholics Anonymous. Articles like this help AA members better understand how every aspect of AA services make up the AA triangle. We welcome and encourage AA members to share their opinions on any AA issue. Intergroup recognizes that all AA members have their own opinions and ways of working their program, as do our groups. Articles printed in Sobriety News are not intended to be statements of AA policy, nor does publication of a personal opinion or any article imply endorsement by AA or Intergroup. Bill W. wrote in Pass it On, page 316, “As I long since learned that no man can dictate to an AA group, I tell each fellowship to abide by the wishes of the majority of its members.”

Just for Today
Jim D. contributed the address of the Just for Today website which will send you week daily recovery messages if you sign up at Messages such as this appear: “It surprises some people that AA members continue to attend meetings after years of recovery. But I find at least three good reasons for this practice: first, it helps me maintain and enhance my personal sobriety; second, I can contribute to and benefit from AA’s caring community; and finally, I can stay close to the spiritual ideas, which are the basis of our Twelve Step program." Check it out!

SOS Conference nearing capacity
The York conference is filling fast. The exciting list of speakers may be part of the reason. Past success may be another reason. The Fourth annual Sunlight of the Spirit Conference will be held August 17-19 at the Holiday Inn at 334 Arsenal Rd. York This is located near exit 9E from I-83. A right to the light, and another right onto Arsenal Road, and you are there. Tickets are still available at $20 per head. Tickets are available by calling Bill or Linda M at (717) 741-9021. The list of speakers is quite impressive, as usual. It starts Friday, August 17, at 8pm with Bobby C. from Philadelphia. Saturday starts with Jeanne M from Baltimore at 8:30am. Saturday at 10:30 is a panel with Clancy I and Johnnie H, followed at 2pm with Pat Y from Pasadena. At 4pm is Johnnie H from Long Beach, and at 8:30 Sandy B from Tampa rounds out the day. The Conference wraps up on Sunday with the enthusiasm of Clancy I of Los Angeles at 9am.You’d be hard pressed to find a better excuse to leave the Susquehanna Area, than this traditionally strong conference. If the speakers are not enough, the friendly York members and the other meetings and work groups should be.

This and That
The Intergroup Picnic is scheduled for September 1. More particulars will be available next issue, but pencil in that date. The Pennsylvania AA Conference will be held at the Clarion Convention Center in Carlisle (formerly the Embers) August 3-5. Keep your ears open for more info if you are interested. Don’t forget the Harrisburg Area Intergroup meeting Thursday the 5^th at 6:45 pm, and the District 36 General Service Rep meeting on Monday July 9^th at 6:30pm; both meetings need your support at the Fellowship House. The 20^th anniversary of the Mechanicsburg Serenity Group will be celebrated at the Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church, 300 East Simpson Street, same town. The doings will be held between 6 and 9pm. A well-respected speaker from New York City will be Fran M. The evening is open to the whole family. There will be lots to eat, but you can bring a dessert, if you wish.

Traditions Checklist
Many find that a review of the Traditions Checklist keeps them on their toes in practicing AA principles in all their affairs. Also many use the Traditions as a method of governing their relationship with a spouse. An effort will be made to give the checklist for the tradition matching the month.

           TRADITION SEVEN

1. Honestly now, do I do all I can to help AA (my group, my central office, my GSO) remain self-supporting? Could I put a little more into the basket on behalf of the new guy who can’t afford it yet? How generous was I when I  was tanked in a barroom?

2. Should the Grapevine sell advertising space to book publishers and drug companies, so it could make a big profit and become a bigger magazine, in full color, at a cheaper price per copy?

3. If GSO runs short of funds some year, wouldn’t it be okay to let the 

    government subsidize AA groups in hospitals and prisons?

4. Is it more important to get a big AA collection from a few people, or a smaller collection in which more members participate?

5. Is a group treasurer’s report unimportant AA business? How does the  treasurer feel about it?

6. How important in my recovery is the feeling of self-respect, rather than the feeling of being always under obligation for charity received?

July Speakers
The Friday 8:30pm speakers for the 19^th Street Group are: July 6, Cheryl G; July 13, Tracy G (Carlisle); July 20,Angie E; and July 27, anniversary night. The Sunday 8pm Bridge Street Speakers are: July 8, Tom T from Up the Creek; July 15, Todd H from Fairfield; July 22, from Middletown is Alan M; and July 29, from Clean and Serene is Paul K. The Hershey speaker meeting will host Jim and Jane D from 40^th Street on July 7, and on August 4 will be Joyce F. The Middletown Survivors Thursday night speaker July 19, at 7pm will be Sidney S from Bowie, Md., and July 26 will be anniversary speakers.