Sobriety News
FEBRUARY 2002

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Sobriety News is a publication of the Harrisburg Area Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is written, edited, and read by AA members, and those interested in the AA program of recovery from the disease of alcoholism, linking one alcoholic to another.

Our desperation to find relief from the bondage of alcoholism has led us to this program as a new "design for living". Many members utilize meetings, sponsorship, self examination, amends, prayer, meditation, AA literature, service to fellow alcoholics, and many other tools to maintain their recovery. This publication is intended as one more tool to live a life of recovery. Because each AA member has an individual way of working this program, divergent views to recovery, within the concept of the Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, are welcome. An effort is made to print all viewpoints in this forum. Articles are not intended to be statements of AA policy, nor does publication of any article imply endorsement by AA or the Harrisburg Area Intergroup.

FEBRUARY  Calendar of Events*

Looking Ahead

* Look for more information about these events in Sobriety News.
 ** See links page for flyer/info

Your Help for the Calendar of Events

A complete Calendar of Events depends on our active members contributing information about their coming events, participation of Intergroups in surrounding Districts, and our ability to gather information. We feel it is worth trying. Let us know what you think. Often, we miss opportunities within the fellowship because the message didn't get out. We all want to carry the message to other alcoholics. This will be one more way we can accomplish that.

OUR FACE IS CHANGING

We now have the capability to update Sobriety News during the course of the month, so events can be added to the Calendar. You may, therefore, find it helpful or informative to check back to the website periodically to see what has been added. Your group has access to a printed copy of Sobriety News through your Intergroup Rep. As changes are made to the Internet copy in http://www.aaharrisburg.org your group will have no way of knowing new information about upcoming events unless a group member with internet access brings the information to the group. This can be an other option for service that members can perform to maintain sobriety through action.
    The HAI index page has various links which gradually will become more active. This month links have been added for the Sunlight of the Spirit website, also a nationwide site listing meetings and Intergroup website addresses, the website for GLRCYPAA 2002, a Flyer for the Carlisle 35th Celebration, and a Flyer for the 5th Annual SOS Conference. It also contains old issues of Sobriety News on one; current meeting schedules on another; Steps and Traditions and who knows what else may show up. Keep checking.

Out of the Dark Anniversary

The 3rd Anniversary Celebration in Wormleysburg for the Out of the Dark Group on Sunday January 6th was a delightful morning fete. There was delicious food, many good friends, and a sobering story by Brian D from the There's More to Life Group of New Cumberland. Each time I hear Brian's story I hear things I hadn't heard before. I don't know if he hadn't said them, I hadn't heard them, or they had been drowned out by that joyous laughter you so often hear in the rooms. He said he often thought of becoming an atheist, but then decided against it because he was afraid God would punish him for that. Isn't fear at the root of all our problems? Congratulations Out of the Dark.

APRIL AT BUG LIGHT

April D shared her inspiring and hope-giving story at the York Bug Light speaker meeting on Jan 26. It was inspiring to see this beautiful and articulate young woman confidently tell of her crippling shyness, her blackout drinking, and in spite of the shame and guilt, wondering when she could do it again. When in desperation she came into the rooms she was willing to surrender. She learned that devoting her life to service in Alcoholics Anonymous she didn't have to drink any more. She was a glowing example of the Big Book in action.
    The friendliness of the large gathering and the quality of the speaker's messages make this the perfect way to spend a Saturday evening. Were you ever all dressed up and had nowhere to go? The fellowship with other recovering alcoholics on the way to, at and from York and a great meeting are certainly a healthy solution to that dilemma.
    You can find directions to the Bug Light 7:00PM speaker meeting in the December 2001 past issue of Sobriety News, or you can take Mount Zion Road south from Rt 30 to about 100 yards past the intersection with Rt 462 (Market Street). The Address is 125 Edgewood Rd, Yorkshire Methodist, York, PA. It will be worth the trip.

Steps = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety

Volunteers for Hotline

You can help assure that help is available for the suffering alcoholic, alcoholics needing meeting schedule information, literature, or other assistance by volunteering to operate the central office hotline, or by getting your group to take the cell phone for a month. Why not give Tina H a call at home (238-3545), or Email (spicee308@aol.com), or you can volunteer through your Intergroup Rep. Central Office needs phone volunteers to handle the phone during the day to help reduce the burden on the cell phone volunteer. This is rewarding service work, and Central Office hours are pretty flexible.

STUFF TO DO

Don't forget the Harrisburg Area Intergroup meeting Thursday the 7th at 6:45PM. The District 36 General Service Rep meeting will be on Monday February 11th at 6:30PM; all GSRs or alternates should be there.

The Carlisle Area Group is celebrating its 35th year of carrying the message with food, fun, and fellowship on February 23rd from 6:30 till 9:00PM. You can find them at the Corner of W Pomfret and S West Streets, Carlisle, inside the Grace United Methodist Church. The guest speaker from Greencastle, PA, is Carolene H. Bring a desert to share and join in the celebration.

Click Here!!

The 5th Annual Sunlight of the Spirit Conference at the York Holiday Inn will be here before you know it. Avoid the disappointment of finding it's already filled and register now. You can get the registration form from the link page, or by clicking on the picture.
    The speakers signed up so far are: Ted B (LaMarque, TX), Karen G (Venice, CA), Dennis N (Charlotte, NC), Dave D (Alexandria, VA), and Don M (Louisville, KY). This Conference is always an excellent enthusiasm stimulator.
    If you don't have internet access, you can call Bill or Linda M at (717)741-9021, or there is still time to write to SOS Conference, PO Box 3538, York, PA, for a registration form.

The dance at Fellowship House on 19th Street is held on the third Friday each month, starting at 8:30PM. It costs only $3.00 for adults, and please, no children under age eleven. Isolation is not a good alternative to enjoying the fellowship of dance. Come and have a good time.

The Grove City - Acts of Recovery will be held March 16 from Noon till 5:00PM. Speakers: Duke H from Pittsburgh, Vicki N from Baltimore, Carol L from Canfield OH, and Steve F from Baltimore will give you a half hour break for a light lunch. Getting four quality speakers on a Saturday Afternoon for FREE is a perfect opportunity to take a newcomer and show them a new way of life.

Click Here!

The GLRCYPAA 12 Conference will be held in Philadelphia this year from March 28 to 31st, in the Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing. They have fun events like a trolley sightseeing tour planned. There will be a bodacious banquet. Join your friends from the Great Lakes Region for a weekend of recovery.
   Click the picture or you can check their website from the links page, or you can contact them at GLRCYPAA, PO Box 7379, Philadelphia, PA 19101, or call Sarah B at (610)664-6506.

Keep in mind that PENNSCYPAA XIV will be held this year July 26-28th in Pittsburgh at the Ramada Plaza Suites & Conference Center at One Bigelow Square, Pittsburgh. The handle for the conference will be ROCKETED INTO A 4th DIMENSION. Tickets will be $12 until June 28, and rooms run from $90 per night. The committee has mailed out registration forms, so they will be around; there will be more on this as we get closer to June.

The Intergroup Bookstore at 19th Street is still open Saturdays from 10:00AM till 11:00 AM for Groups to restock their literature cabinets with books and pamphlets.

"If faith without works is dead,
then willingness without action is fantasy"

Other Stuff to Do*

February 16: There is a St Valentine's Day Dance at 19th Street, Harrisburg, from 8:30PM till midnight. Presented by the 19th Street Activities Committee, the cost will be $3.00 / Person, or $5.00 / Couple. Music will be provided by Bob O'Brein.

February 24: The Rule 62 Group will be celebrating their 3rd Anniversary at their 7:30PM meeting Sunday at St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4200 Londonderry Rd (next to Osteopathic Hospital). Join them at the meeting and for cake and fellowship afterwards. Isn't it amazing how time flies when you're throwing a rubber chicken around the room? Don't take yourself so seriously and join them for the fun.

March 2: The 10th Acts of Recovery Mini-Conference will be held in Baltimore from 12:00N till 5:00PM Saturday the 2nd. The location is the Hunting Ridge Presbyterian Church, 4640 Edmondson Ave, Baltimore. DIRECTIONS: Balto Beltway 695 to Exit 15A (Rt 40 East) Go 2.2 miles, Church is on the left (parking available).

March 15, 16, and 17: The S. E. P. I. A. Round Up 2002 will be St Patrick's Day Weekend in Cape May NJ, at the Grand Hotel. They plan Marathon Meetings, AA and Alanon speakers, Friday and Saturday nite Dances, Ice Cream Socials, Workshops, Beach Meeting, 5-K Walk/Run, Long Timers Panel, and Indoor Swimming. You must register by Feb 28, and rooms will be on a first come first served basis.

* All of the above have Flyers on the http://www.aaharrisburg.org/links.htm page. Some of these provide additional information. If you wish to print copies of the flyers, be aware that to reduce the enormous file size of scanned flyers for transmission on the internet, the physical size rather than resolution has been reduced. Therefore, to print you should adjust the print size of the document using whatever program your system uses to view these files (not the printer icon on your toolbar).

About Acts of Recovery

You will probably be seeing different Acts of Recovery Mini-Conference references in future Sobriety News articles, so just a brief note of information on what they are may help.

The concept of these mini-conferences is to provide usually 4 selected speakers, who have strong recovery messages based upon the program outlined in the the book Alcoholics Anonymous. The idea was a free Saturday afternoon conference to attract newcomers, (who may not be able to afford or may not yet be convinced of the benefits of expensive, distant, or three day events) and perhaps long timers (who still thought their problem was alcohol), and certainly those who believe that a shot of enthusiasm for this way of life is helpful from time to time. Active groups from Virginia to Ohio have been signing on to offer these events. The past record of enthusiastic participation implies there will be more, rather than less of these.

February Speakers

The Friday 8:30pm speaker meetings for the 19th Street Group for Feb 1, Anna Mae; Feb 8, Doug K; Feb 15, Bobby M; and Feb 22 is Anniversary Night. The Sunday 8pm Bridge Street speakers are: Feb 3, Ollie from the Bridge Street Group; Feb 10, Moses B from the Hershey Group; Feb 17, Lisa N from More to Life Group; and Feb 24, Ben T from the Trinity Group. The February 2 speaker at Hershey will be Sam L from the Concordia Group. The Middletown Survivors speakers for February 21, and 28, will be drawn by lot, or the flip of a coin to select the speaking order of the four anniversary celebrants.

Pearl of the Month  contributed by Jim M.  c: The Language of the Heart, page 234

So we do awake, and we are sober. Then what? Is sobriety all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening? Again, the voice of AA speaks up. No, sobriety is only a bare beginning, it is only the first gift of the first awakening. If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on. And if it does go on, we find that bit by bit we can discard the old life -- the one that did not work -- for a new life that can and does work under any conditions whatever. Regardless of worldly success or failure, regardless of pain and joy, regardless of sickness or health or even of death itself, a new life of endless possibilities can be lived if we are willing to continue our awakening.

 Traditions Checklist*

TRADITION TWO: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

  1. Do I criticize or do I trust and support my group officers, AA committees, and office workers? Newcomers? Old-timers?
  2. Am I absolutely trustworthy, even in secret, with AA Twelfth Step jobs or other AA responsibilities?
  3. Do I look for credit in my AA jobs? Praise for my AA ideas?
  4. Do I have to save face in group discussion, or can I yield in good spirit to the group conscience and work cheerfully along with it?
  5. Although I have been sober a few years, am I still willing to serve my turn at AA chores?
  6. In group discussions, do I sound off about matters on which I have no experience and little Knowledge?

*The Traditions Checklist Questions were originally published in the AA Grapevine in conjunction with a series on the Twelve Traditions that began in November 1969, and ran through September 1971. Sobriety News prints the Checklist for the number of the month that corresponds to the number of the Tradition that it deals with, because of the prohibitive length of all twelve. It is important that we be aware of the Twelve Traditions in our lives of recovery, because they help assure that AA will continue to be here for us, and for others who want it.

The Joy is In The Journey

NOT NECESSARILY NEW MEETINGS

There is a new meeting at Fellowship House on Sundays at 6:00PM. The Group will be known as the Never Too Young For Recovery Group, and will be geared for young people and those young in sobriety. Fellowship House is located at 1251 South 19th Street, Harrisburg. See you there.

The Chapter 9 Family group needs the support of recovering alcoholics with families. Check it out on Saturdays at 8:00PM, at Saint Mark's Lutheran Church, West Fairview (South of Enola) at the intersection of Rts 11/15 and Market Street (Uni-Mart). All people in recovery are welcome.

The new Colonial Park Any Lengths Group which meets Thursdays at 7:00PM has become so popular, that they have added Tuesday and Sunday meetings at the same time. All are closed discussion. The 4th Sunday, however is a closed speaker meeting. For those so inclined, all meetings permit smoking. The meetings are held in the Central Penn Installations Building (strip mall), across from Goodall Pools, at 3914b (downstairs) Jonestown Road.

The Mid-City Group which meets Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7:30PM needs your support. The meetings are held in the German Methodist Church on Vine Street, just off South Front Street at the beginning of Shipoke. Tuesdays and Thursdays are closed discussion; Saturday is open discussion; and all are non-smoking meetings.

The Progress Group has voted to make the last Wednesday of the month a closed, non-smoking Tradition meeting. The location is the Ridgeway Community Church is on the corner of Progress Avenue and Elmerton Avenue. 

The Harrisburg State Hospital is starting a new Thursday night Step and Tradition meeting at 7:00PM. Intergroup voted to supply a dozen copies of "The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" to help it get started. If you would like to help get this going, see your Intergroup Rep, or contact Leeann C at 766-8099. Both the Tuesday and Thursday 7:00PM meetings will be named Turning Point. The Tuesday meeting is open discussion.

Groups Continue Supporting Intergroup

For the month of January, contributions from three groups totaled $535.00. We would like to thank the following groups for their contributions to the Harrisburg Area Intergroup Fund. They were 19th Street, 40th Street, and the Progress Groups. We would also like to thank all the groups and members who continue to donate time toward Intergroup's activities. These activities include men and women's prison meetings, literature, the AA Hotline, and the many other vital AA functions that help alcoholics recover in our community. Intergroup performs those services for our community which no single group is prepared to handle, and it coordinates activities between the 56 groups it serves. Remember that we can do together what none of us could do alone.

Correctional Facility Service Opportunity

To carry the message to prison inmates can be a tremendously rewarding experience. Our alcoholic imaginations can give a very distorted idea of what this service work is about. A very large percentage of prison populations worldwide, and in Pennsylvania, are incarcerated because of their inability to consume alcohol like 'normal people'. If you can relate to that, you must know that those who attend meetings inside prison walls are not so different from us after all. Helping these alcoholics can have great benefits for them, and society, but even more so for those who carry the message to them. Crime rates inside prisons are generally much lower than anywhere else outside the confinement, so you need not fear for your safety. Really, aren't you just a little bit curious about what it's like at a meeting in there?

Camp Hill State Correctional Facility: Men's Meetings Tuesday & Wednesday 7:00-8:00PM Contact - Bob I 432-2773 or Kurt Kressler 737-4531

Community Correctional Facility: Speaker/Discussion Men's Meetings 2nd & 4th Thursdays 6:00-7:00PM  Contact - Jim D 566-7244, Moses B 238-3924, Ron M 652-2991

Cumberland County Prison: Women's Meeting - Tuesdays 7:00-8:00PM Contact Gail S 796-1554.  Men's Meetings Fridays 7:00-9:00PM  Contact Chet A 249-3028

Dauphin County Prison: Women's Meetings Fridays 7:15-8:15PM Contact Diane R 330-7122 or John Addison 558-1100.  Men's Meetings Mondays 5:00-6:00PM and Fridays 6:00-7:00PM Contact Moses B 238-3924.

The contact persons listed above are available and willing to receive and discuss concerns related to qualifications, actually carrying the message of AA, and the responsibilities of a Bridging the Gap Person.

January Intergroup Meeting

At the January Intergroup meeting it was announced that the new computer with 128 RAM and an 11.5 gig hard-drive was outfitted with Window 98 and a Lexmark Z43 printer and was ready for use in the office. The cell phone was handled by the Bridge Street Group in January; and the Up The Creek Group volunteered for the month of February. The Millersburg Group chaired the State Hospital meetings in January, Hershey volunteered for February, the Middletown Trudgers will take March, and the West Shore Group will handle April. The new fourth edition of Alcoholics Anonymous has been selling like hotcakes. There were 300 hard covers sold and 61 soft covers in December.  Another large order has been received, as sales are going hot and heavy. Intergroup Reps voted to donate leftover books to the prisons and hospitals. Groups are encouraged to donate 3rd edition copies to Intergroup so they can be donated to prisons and hospitals. It was voted also to donate a case of fourth editions to Camp Hill Prison.

AA IN PRISONS WORKSHOP

On Sunday March 3rd from 1:30 to 4:30PM there will be a workshop on: "What's Happening In Our Prisons", "Basic Training For Volunteers", and an "Ask-it Basket/Bridging the Gap". This will be an open meeting and is designed for AA members, sponsors, sponsees, Intergroup Reps, General Service Reps, and Correctional Facility Staff. There will be refreshments and literature. You don't need to be a current volunteer; interest or curiosity are welcome. This event will be held at the Central Pennsylvania College, College Hill Rd & B Streets, Summerdale. From I 81 north or south, exit at Enola and then proceed down river on Rt 15. Take Valley Road to first traffic light, turn left and then park at the Pizza parking lot on the right. Use walkway parallel to College Inn Rd to rear entrance of building marked CPC.

 

ANNOUNCE YOUR EVENT - GIVE YOUR OPINION

Let the AA community know what's going on in your group, express your opinion on any AA topic you want to share about, or contribute material you find helpful or meaningful in your recovery. You can inform the editor and get your information out by sending your material to Sobriety News, Harrisburg Area Intergroup, 1251 S 19th Street, Harrisburg, PA 17111, or Email me at (asdungan@mindspring.com)