The SOS Conference in York was held this year August 20^th to 22^nd at the York Holiday Inn. The event was sold out, you may take heed of this and register early for next year, because it is well worth it. Doug L from Annandale, VA was the Friday night speaker and got things off to an enthusiastic start. Doug is from the Old Town Speaker meeting in Alexandria, which is patterned from Baltimore's Harbor City Group. Doug's head didn't like him, because it was always telling him he was going to fail, that he was no good, or that something bad was going to happen. He started raiding his dad's liquor cabinet because after the first experiment he found that his perception of the world changed. Once his dad started locking that cabinet, he had to buy his own and he would get Old Heaven Hill Bourbon which cost $2.95 a fifth (good stuff). He'd drink it and wait to become a winner in his own head. He did it as often as he could. Years later he woke up in the hospital as a result of his alcoholism; he'd been going to AA and still drinking. That day he opened his Big Book for no particular reason at random, and he read page thirty. In a single heart beat, the obsession was removed and that was because he realized for the first time that he was powerless. He felt that was such a miracle that he was anxious and excited to work the rest of the steps.
    The first speaker on Saturday was Mildred F from Ontario, Canada, who has been sober since 1973. In her time she has learned that what we do is share our stories of how we developed our relationship with God, and that is her life today. You don't need a big intellect for God to heal your soul. Her big sister Dorothy (who was 15 years older), who they said was retarded, was held in the third grade until she was 16 and the other kids used to tease her. Dorothy would crawl in bed with her at night and ask her why she had ever been born. Dorothy crawled into bed with her for comfort, because Mildred was a little girl full of love. Mildred wondered why her brothers an sisters didn't fix Dorothy, she thought they didn't care. Years later Dorothy asked her if she still cried herself to sleep at night. Mildred said no, and Dorothy said she didn't either, she was very happy now. Dorothy was one of Mildred's most important teachers; from her she eventually learned that only God can fix us. In AA, they told Mildred that she'd be OK if she didn't drink and came to meetings. That never worked for her, but she learned from Dorothy that if you accept life the way it is, life can be joyous and free.
    Shunda M feels that she got sober in Washington DC, but she has lived lots of different places. She finds that God uses her often far beyond her abilities, and she is real anxious to see what He has in store for us today. She said she was an athlete and social butterfly in school, but she never let anyone get to know her. Whenever she took a drink, though, the walls that separated her from us came down. Eventually everything in her life revolved around alcohol. It made her everything she never was, and that allowed her to face life. Finally, she realized that something wasn't right about her drinking, so she went to AA as an active observer. She went to meetings and watched what went on with interest, and then went home and drank. She did that for nine months, but something changed in her as a result of that. She got a sponsor who never worked the steps, but had weathered many difficulties without having to pick up a drink. She called her sponsor and went to a meeting every day for two long long months, and then she drank. She came back to AA the next day, but a few months later got another sponsor and aggressively started working the steps. She then found out that the problem was her, and the solution is God, pretty simple, huh?
    Johnny H from Long Beach, CA, says that alcohol kept him alive long enough to get him to AA; if it hadn't been for it, he'd have blown his brains out before he was nine. He damned near died before he learned that alcohol does for some, something it doesn't do for others. You can't find a solution, if you don't know what the problem is. He went to an AA meeting when he was in prison because there were women, and he wanted to smell their perfume. "Attraction rather than promotion." He kept going back because these people fascinated him. However, he didn't know when he was going home but he'd sit there and make fun of these people who were going home in an hour. He was a taker of things and a user of people, without any conscious concern for another human being. In those meetings in 1959, he found out this is a simple program. It is monkey see, monkey do. You just need to be careful which monkey you see. He was taught that there is a line you must cross over, or you will die. It is the invisible line between being a taker to becoming a giver. He has found that more he shares his story with others, just for the joy of doing it, The more peace and comfort he receives. Once he was able to accept that he was just like the other people in the AA Big Book, he was able to admit that he was a alcoholic, and able to recover.
    His sponsor, Clancy I from Venice, CA, has been sober a year longer, and is the monkey Johnny follows. Clancy had gone to AA intermittently for ten years to take the heat off, but he never could get sober, because his case was different. In 1958 he was in jail in LA for drunkenness. He had urinated in his cellmate's bed, for which he got his teeth kicked out. They then let him on the streets with no money, no teeth, and nowhere to live. Since it was raining, he decided he'd go to AA. They wouldn't let him hang out (out of the rain) unless he went to meetings, so he did. They let him sleep in an abandoned car in the back parking lot, and he got food in exchange for cleaning up in the clubhouse. He finally asked an actor he recognized to be his sponsor. He thought he could get some money out of him. He wanted this guy to like him, so he did what the guy told him. This guy shocked him by saying, 'If you have an alcohol problem, you shouldn't waste your time in AA.' That's when Clancy found out that his problem was he was an alcoholic. He became willing to do the stupid stuff Bob told him to do, like 'Get a job'. After six months he got fired from a dishwasher's job and decided to kill himself. He decided to call his sponsor first, and Bob made him so mad chiding him for not doing his Fourth Step inventory, that he forgot to kill himself and did his Step. When he shared it with his sponsor, that was when he also did his Third Step because he'd made the decision to turn his will over to a power greater than himself. God's grace falls on all like the rain that fell on that toothless drunk in LA.
    Saturday evening the rain held off so the ice cream social could be held outside with plenty of good fellowship. Sunday morning brought the final speaker, Sister Maurice from the Bronx. There are only two places in the world that are preceded by the word 'the', the Bronx and the Vatican and she is associated with both of them. She thanked the audience for coming to hear her on the most important day of her life, the only time we have, today. Somewhere in her life, the emphasis switched from God to alcohol. She doesn't think alcoholism is self inflicted, she believes it is a disease. The solution is God, and she doesn't think that a person can get sober. She believes something greater is required, and that is a free unearned gift from God. She does believe that she is responsible for keeping this gift by daily asking God for it. After 33 years of sobriety, she believes that each year gets more perilous to our sobriety because we get smugness. Complacency is a killer. The little sheep that strays from the flock, is the one found in the ditch or hanging from the barbed wire. Every time she eats a banana she does a meditation; the banana that leaves the bunch is the one that gets skinned. When God was giving out ears, she thought He said beers, and she asked for two large ones. That has made her a very good listener to the experiences of others in the Program. She has found that prayer will not keep anyone sober, unless they also are willing to row the boat and have gratitude for this gift.
    Of course, the above is only a very brief excerpt from each of the wonderfully spiritual talks. Next year's quality speakers have already been lined up and it promises the same enthusiastic weekend of recovery stimulation.   

19^th Annual HAI Picnic

The HAI 19^th Annual Picnic at New Cumberland Borough Park was held this year Saturday August 14^th. There were @ 180 tickets sold for barbeque chicken and an afternoon of fun and recovery. There were games for the kids, and for the adults. The doings began at noon and clean up at 6:00PM. There were deserts and salad to go with the bird and beef. There was an open discussion meeting at 4:00PM starting with a sobriety countdown - what a gift, to see how well this program works for so many. Thanks to all those who helped make this another successful picnic, especially Cathy P who thought of everything and made it seem so simple.

The Joy of Living Group is up and meeting at the Fellowship House every Wednesday night at 6pm. We need support and we are looking for volunteers for secretary. Anyone wishing to secretary this meeting may contact Janice at the Wednesday night meeting.                            

It has been noted that the Spirituality Group which used to meet at 18^th and State Sts has not been meeting, and has been removed from the schedule.

19th Street is starting it's monthly dances again. They will be on the first Saturday of the month unless there may be something else going on at the Fellowship House. Adult admissions cost $5.00. It should be a great time for all. Any questions or directions to the Fellowship House at 1251 So. 19th St. Harrisburg, call Bill P. at 215-8377.

The Mid-City Group, which is the oldest continuous meeting group in the City, is in need of support. The location is on Vine Street, which is the last left off Front Street before Paxton St and the 83 ramp. They meet:
Tues 7:30PM – Mid City Group – St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, River & Vine Sts – "CD,NS"
Thurs 7:30PM – Mid City Group – St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, River & Vine Sts – "CD,NS"
Sat 7:30PM – Mid City Group – St. Paul’s United Meth. Church, River & Vine Sts – "OD,NS"

The Millersburg meeting has revived and has been returned to the meeting schedule. The Millersburg Area Group will meet Mondays at 7:30PM, at the New Life Center on Center Street in Millersburg. Welcome back.