Sobriety News
September 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.

SEPTEMBER Calendar of Events*
 

 

LOOKING AHEAD*

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

To links and current events

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 another 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. A link has been added to the Meeting Schedule so you can print out the schedule on a single sheet of 8 1/2X11 paper. This schedule is current with the latest information available. If you see an error, or information for your meeting has been changed, the schedule will be updated if you notify Sobriety News at asdungan@mindspring.com or if you notify an Intergroup Officer or mail the info to HAI, Fellowship House, 1251 S. 19th Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105. This current schedule can be duplicated for group purposes from this link at any time it is needed, and will be maintained in as current a state as possible to try to minimize the problems of accuracy encountered with the printed schedules of the past.
    Flyers will be added as they become available and removed when an event passes. If you are looking at this on the Internet, you will see that many of the insert pictures are links you can click on to get added information or flyers. Keep checking.
    The above suggested service opportunity to bring internet information back to the group could also be broadened to include flyers, and current meeting schedules. The printed schedules and flyers will still be available but may continue to have their current disadvantages too.

 

 

 

HELP = His Ever Loving Presence

 

Trinity Monday Meeting Change

Beginning in October, the Monday night Trinity Group is changing to a Step meeting, and the final Monday of the month will be a Tradition meeting.

Day of Sharing in Lancaster County

Lancaster County Intergroup is sponsoring another Day of Sharing on October 6 from 1-5:00PM at the East Petersburg UCC Church, on main Street in East Pete. There will be a panel on sponsorship, a brief presentation on Bridging the Gap, a sobriety count up, a lady with one year's sobriety will share about getting sober in Lancaster, a book raffle, Free FOOD, and the guest speaker will be Bill M from York.

Pockets of Enthusiasm

Pockets of Enthusiasm presents "The Problem Has Been Removed. It Does Not Exist For Us." The Conference will be held in Virginia Beach, VA on November 8-10, 2002, at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort at very reasonable rates. The conference is $20. Guest speakers are Don P, Karl M, Michael C, Michael E, Bobby C, Clancy I, and Tom F. Register before October 15. See the Flyer, click here.

Pearl of the month  contributed by Jim M. c. from the Language of the Heart, pages 236 & 237

    Those adolescent urges that so many of us have for top approval, perfect security, and perfect romance--urges quite appropriate to age seventeen--prove to be an impossible way of life when we are at age forty-seven or fifty-seven.
   Since AA began, I've taken immense wallops in all those areas because of my failure to grow up, emotionally and spiritually. My God, how painful it is to keep demanding the impossible, and how very painful to discover, finally, that all along we had the cart before the horse! Then comes the final agony of seeing how awfully wrong we have been, but still finding ourselves unable to get off the emotional merry-go-round.
   How to translate a right mental conviction into a right emotional result, and so into easy, happy, and good living--well, that's not only the neurotic's problem, it's the problem of life itself for all of us who have got to the point of real willingness to hew to right principles in all our affairs.

17th Annual Harrisburg Area Intergroup Picnic

The HAI 17th Annual Picnic at New Cumberland Borough Park held August 3rd was a big success. There was plenty of barbeque chicken, dogs, burgers, and side dishes. There were games for the kids, and for the adults. The doings began at noon and everyone helped clean up at 6:00PM. Of course there was the usual stimulating open discussion meeting at about 4:00PM complete with sobriety countdown. Special thanks to Elaine S for chairing the committee that did a lot of work to make this another day of fellowship and fun . They include Bill P, Cathy S, Lois S, and Sue B.                        

Hershey Annual Picnic

The Hershey Group's Annual Summer Picnic was held this year at the Campbelltown Fire hall on Saturday August 24. The Speaker Harrisburg Bob kicked things off at 11:00AM sharing his dual diagnosis that required him to take medication for part of his problem but emphasizing how he could not get sober without working the steps with a sponsor, or improving his conscious contact with a God of his understanding. The festivities began after the meeting with Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Sodas, side dishes, salads and desserts. The weather did not cooperate with plans for softball, horseshoes, and volleyball, but that didn't stop the fun and fellowship. Congratulations to Bob S, who picked up a 20 year chip and Beth H who earned a five.

Cumberland Valley Intergroup Picnic

The weather was beautiful in Carlisle for the CVI Picnic on August 24th at the North Middleton Borough Park. Things got started about 10AM, there was a meeting at noon, there was a lot of fun with the white elephant auction (Gee, wonder who got stuck feeding that thing this year.), and there was a lot of family fun for all.

Acts of Recovery in Baltimore

The Baltimore, Acts of Recovery held on August 24th provided those who attended another enthusiasm building experience in hearing speakers who walk the walk that they talk.

The first speaker, Jane C has two home groups, The Bug Light, and the Fourth Dimension in York and she is active in both. Jane's assigned topic was "the downward spiral" and she drew a vivid picture that is all so familiar to many of us. She spoke of several of the world shaking concepts she has gathered into herself from hearing speakers like Jessica, Graceanne, and Alicyn at events similar to this one. She said last week she was waiting for a speaker to finally reveal to her how you could do things, when you really just don't feel like it. After the figurative drum rolls she got her answer, you just do it, and she knows that's the best answer that she's ever going to get.

Chris E from the Harbor City Group spoke of his early meetings when he knows he was the only person there who wasn't laughing; he wondered what was wrong with those people. That's difficult to believe now, witnessing his very well developed sense of humor about his own insanity and character flaws. Chris talked of his own self-centered attitudes that affected all his relationships. He had always believed that his measure was what other people thought of him (nice uninsured car, fine home, beautiful wife, fantastic job), but he has found that in the end, it is what he thinks of himself that matters. In this spiritual program, it is what he does for others that dictates that.

Olivia N is from the Bethel Group of Upper Marlboro, MD. Olivia recited Chapter 5 from memory (almost) in her very informative delivery of the 12 Steps. She said that when she first came to the Alcoholics Anonymous Program she was told to work the steps, and she always did what she was told to do. But later, she became happy, joyous and free when she started living the Steps.

Bob H is a member of the Penn Hills Group of Baltimore and has been since his second meeting in 1974. It was there that he got a sponsor who suggested that he do things that he would never be willing to do; but he finally knew that if he took a drink it would be the blinking lights and last call again, and he had to accept someone else's way, and someone else's God. By going on many twelfth step calls with his sponsor, sharing with another alcoholic what we all have in common, he was able to keep the principles of this program present in his thoughts when he needed them most. If he thinks there are things that he is not hearing any more in meetings, he realizes that it's because he is not saying them and he must.

The next Acts of Recovery will be held Saturday October 19, at Grove City, PA.

The 5th Annual Sunlight of the Spirit Conference

Click Here!!The 5th Annual Sunlight of the Spirit Conference at the York Holiday Inn was another triumph of the SOS Committee, thanks again. Six excellent speakers wowed the capacity crowd on the weekend of August 16-18, and the opportunity to socialize with many alcoholics who are "practicing these principles in all their affairs" was especially gratifying.

    The weekend started off with Dave D from the Hope is Here Group in Alexandria, VA. Dave first joined the fellowship of AA and was a member of the 'parking lot crew', who entered meetings late, left early, and took everyone else's inventory, which left only his own to do in the Fourth Step. He still had the spiritual malady, because he hadn't started working the program, and a relapse was the next logical progression. That didn't happen because he got a sponsor who made him follow the steps, against his own better judgment, and has managed to realize 'The Promises'. His wife had a sonogram that revealed abnormal cists on their baby's brain. During the six weeks they had to wait for the follow-up sonogram, he prayed to God that they would have the ability to handle whatever comes. The follow-up revealed they were gone, but whether God had done that or not, what matters is, he was able to handle the stress with relative peace of mind. This is the grace of the Program.
    What a joy to hear Liz B. from the Jones Beach Group share her story!  From her first words to her closing lines, Liz shared her enthusiastic reflections on 50 years of sobriety. Her message? Find one thing a day to be grateful for, allow yourself only 2 minutes of self-pity, don’t live in the past and always go to the meeting you don’t want to go to. Sound words of wisdom from a truly remarkable lady!
    It was a delight to hear the enthusiasm of Tom F from the Harbor City Group, who laid out the program of action that our Big Book tells us to follow. Tom F delivered a humorous and informative rendition of his early sobriety, and his conversations with his sponsor Wally. The progression of the story carried us through the steps, not the way Tom had wanted them to read, but the way they were actually written. Tom eventually got the message loud and clear that this is a program of action, and it didn't matter what he believed, wanted or understood, the book is about what we do. We could see what Tom does - sponsor many, organize conferences, speak when asked and bring a newcomer with seven days sobriety to the conference with him. Suits up - shows up.
    Karen G. from the Pacific Group in West L.A. told how her drinking lost her a nursing profession she loved and landed her on skid row sucking on a bottle of Mad Dog. But through the grace of her higher power and Alcoholics Anonymous she finally learned to start facing her problems, instead of running away from them. Today, with 20 years of sobriety she again practices nursing, has repaid large debts and has the peace of mind that recovery brings – one day at a time.
        The Saturday night speaker was Don M from Louisville who cautioned that placing the ultimate veto power in the brain, and calling it common sense, is deciding not to do something one doesn't understand or agree with. That will surely kill us. To make a decision to turn our will and our life over to a Power greater than ourselves (even if we don't agree or understand) is only an intention, unless we follow through with the actions of taking the rest of the Steps.
    The conference wrapped up with the sharing of Bob M with 52 years of recovery behind him. He told the story of a woman who'd just gotten a new vacuum cleaner which had a lot of attachments, one for cleaning the dirt out of every corner of her house. She said it was like AA, which has a Step for cleaning out the dirt from every corner of our lives. But, like the vacuum cleaner, you have to use the Steps, and you can't use the steps or the vacuum unless you plug them into a higher power.

Next year's conference will be held August 15-17, 2003. Speakers planned for are Polly P, Sandy B, Sean A, Tom I, and Wayne B. Space is limited, register early. Get a registration form and flyer - click here

Thanks to Elaine S for her contribution to this article.

NEW NATION-WIDE MEETING LIST PROJECT

A new website is being created by optimistic alcoholics who believe the spirit of service lives in the fellowship, and that there will be a grass roots support to accomplish and maintain the accuracy of this source of meeting lists for the traveling alcoholic who needs to find a meeting.  It will take a grass roots effort but need not take too long if word gets out. You can check out the site at www.aacompanion.com and see the bare beginnings. This site is by and for alcoholics who seek recovery through the Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, but has no affiliation with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services or any other organization

The goal of the AA Companion website is to create a single source for finding an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting anywhere in the United States, a national repository of meeting schedules in a common, easy to read format. We are asking for your help and support, not only by asking you to add your local A. A. meeting group schedules to this web site, but also by soliciting other folks that you know in our fellowship elsewhere in America (via email). I guess you can call it another chain letter, except this time you are not being asked for money or being told that bad luck will fall upon you if you break the chain. You have the opportunity to help the alcoholic who needs to find a meeting, which may keep him/her sober, and isn't that How It Works.

Because some locations have websites, some don't, there is a provision to enter your local website address on this site so people can get the meeting information they need. Check the site and make sure that others can find meetings through this national directory either by entering each meeting, or to avoid duplication, by entering the address of the website where the meeting list info is available.

STUFF TO DO
Don't forget the Harrisburg Area Intergroup meeting Thursday the 5th  at 6:45PM. The District 36 General Service Rep meeting will be on Monday the 9th at 6:30PM; all GSRs or alternates should be there. Interested visitors are welcome, but may not participate in Intergroup or General Service business. Witnessing what goes on there is one way to help decide if you'd like to participate in this type of service work.

The Annual Lancaster County Intergroup Pig Roast will be held at Long's Park on September 15, starting with a speaker at 11:00AM. The Pig will be served at noon, and the rest of you will have to eat later. Perhaps Communication was not correct. YOU will be served pig, potato and macaroni salad at noon. After that there are plans for fun and fellowship. Bring bat, glove, cards, or whatever. Price will be $6.00 at the Park, Children from age 6 to 12 will be $2.50, and under that - free. Please bring a covered dish or dessert to help out. Any Donations/Volunteers or Questions, call Gwen 529-6294 or Mike A 385-6260.

Join CVI and District 36 at the Happy Destiny Home Group Workshop Saturday September 28 from 10:00AM to 2:00PM. There will be a panel presentation by representatives of Middletown, There's More to Life, and Mid-City groups. There will be small group discussions on your own experience and questions about how to build a strong and active home group. There will be free food and drinks. This workshop will be held at the 2nd Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, 528 Garland Ave, Carlisle. From Harrisburg take the College St exit (Exit 45) from I-81, Turn left on Walnut Bottom Road. Go under I-81 and make first left past the on ramp onto Garland Drive. Within a quarter mile, turn right onto Rockledge Drive and immediately left into the Church parking lot.

The Middletown Survivors will be celebrating their 13th anniversary on October 12, at the Middletown Presbyterian Church. Festivities will begin at 6:00PM with A Spaghetti Dinner.  April D from the Wrath of Grapes Group of Glen Burnie, MD, will speak at about 7:15PM. There will be a dessert line for the world famous Middletown desserts from 8:00 till 8:15, and the story of Dave D from the Harbor City Group in Baltimore will start at about 8:15. Johnnie H of the Pacific Group will not be able to share his story at this time, due to sudden illness; it is hoped he can come at some later date. Seating will be limited to 250, so don't be late. Bring a dessert along to add to the selection. Click on picture to right for flyer.
    District #36 had planned to bring Johnnie in for a 12 Noon Prison Workshop but this will have to be rescheduled at a later date.

The 2002 Men's Spiritual Retreat begins Friday Oct 4 at 4:00PM at the Precious Blood Spiritual Center, Columbia, PA. The nondenominational retreat is based upon the spiritual principles of AA. It is spiritual, not religeous. Old-timer or newcomer, each is seeking the same thing, to improve their conscious contact with the Higher Power that keeps us sober and Who can restore us to sanity and peace of mind. The deadline for registration has been extended till Sept 9 and you can make arrangements by contacting Jim McA (717) 920-0170 or Buckskin Bob S at (717) 761-6151. Although you can spend $130 for the weekend, you can also commute and only pay $45 for the five meals.

Sunday, October 6, will be "A Great Day To Be Alive" according to the Lykens Winding-it up Group. They're sponsoring another hike to the "Love Rock" starting at 1:00PM and having an Open Discussion meeting on the rock. After the return down the mountain, there will be chili and desserts at the church. Click on the hike logo for the flyer. Print at 319% in Microsoft photo editor. Last year proved to be a lot of fun. The hike is fairly steep, but not treacherous.

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.

*Many 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). It may take 30 seconds or so to download, so be patient.

 

Alcohol gave me wings to fly,
and then it took away the sky.

Traditions Checklist

TRADITION NINE: AA , as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

  1. Do I still try to boss things in AA?
  2. Do I resist formal aspects of AA because I fear them as authoritative?
  3. Am I mature enough to understand and use all elements of the AA program --- even if no one makes me do so --- with a sense of personal responsibility?
  4. Do I exercise patience and humility in any AA job I take?
  5. Am I aware of all those to whom I am responsible in any AA job?
  6. Why doesn't every AA group need a constitution and bylaws?
  7. Have I learned to step out of an AA job gracefully --- and profit thereby --- when the time comes?
  8. What has rotation to do with anonymity? With humility?

NEW MEN'S MEETING IN HARRISBURG

The new Harrisburg Monday Night Men's Meeting will be starting Monday September 9, at 8:00PM at the Susquehanna Valley Evangelical Free Church located at 6433 Union Deposit Road (2 blocks north of Neys Road). The meeting will start as a non-smoking closed discussion. Come support it and make it a really good one. If you have a question, or need directions, call Simon at 421-5645, or Joe at 579-4405.

September Speakers

The Friday 8:30PM speaker meetings for the 19th Street Group for September will be: Sept 6, Mary Beth; Sept 13, Ed S; Sept 20, Paul M; and September 27 is Anniversary Night. The Sunday 8PM Bridge Street speakers are: September 1, Dennis H from There's More to Life; Sept 8, Ron G from 19th Street; Sept 15, Leeann C from Out of the Dark; Sept 22, Chet A from the Carlisle Area Group; and Sept 29, Cheryl D from Bridge Street. The September 7 speaker at Hershey will be Elaine S from the Bridge Street Group. The Middletown Survivors speakers for September 19 will be Rich E and Cheryl H and for September 26 will be Bob H.

Service to another Alcoholic

We can only stay sober ourselves by reaching out to another alcoholic. We can do that by getting our home group to volunteer for a particular 2 hour period each week, allowing group members a brief opportunity to answer the central office hotline. This will also provide the cell phone operator a two hour break which allows planning those things like going out in public where it is quite inconvenient to answer the phone (to say nothing of damaging to anonymity).
     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.

August  Intergroup Meeting

At the August 1, meeting of HAI, the Vice Chair Rich E made a motion that the Al-Anon and Alateen meetings be listed on the HAI Meeting Schedule, and the motion was carried. Chairperson Craig suggested that Reps solicit their group members to give him their copies of the "Grapevine" when they are done with them for prison and half-way house inmates. Bruce N announced that the 40th Street Group would donate two cases of 3rd edition Big Books for the Perry County Prison. The State Hospital meetings were covered by the  Out of The Dark during August, and Millersburg and Winding It Up will visit in September. The cell phone was the responsibility of the  There's More to LifeGroup during August, and September Hot Line will be answered by Out of the Dark.  All corrections meetings could use more support. The August meeting was attended by Reps from 19th Street, 40th Street, Ain't You Had Enough, Al-Anon, Bridge Street, Dillsburg, District 36, Keep It Simple, Millersburg, Rule 62, Survivors, Trudgers, Up the Creek, West Shore, Winding It Up, and Women's Serenity. Did you and your group have a voice?

KISS = Keeping It Simple, Spiritually

Groups Continue Supporting Intergroup
Group contributions during the month of August to the Intergroup Fund were $1158.16. We thank the following 4 groups for their contribution: 19th Street, Hershey, Survivors, and There's More To Life groups. Of course, we also would like to thank all the groups and members who continue to donate time toward Intergroup's activities. These activities include speaker meetings, picnics, men and women's prison meetings, Internet Website, meeting schedules, 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.

SOBRIETY NEWS is published monthly, and is usually available on the website the Tuesday night before the first Thursday of each month, so paper copies can be distributed to Reps at the Intergroup meeting. You can locate this newsletter, as well as lots of other stuff that would interest members of groups belonging to the Harrisburg Area Intergroup, at http://www.aaharrisburg.org