Sobriety News
 August 2005

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.

August Calendar of Events*

Aug 4         Thursday 6:45PM    Harrisburg Area Intergroup Meeting     
Aug  5         Friday 8:30PM         19th St. Speaker Kathy P
Aug  6         Saturday Noon        HAI 20th Annual Picnic at New Cumberland Borough Park
Aug  6         Saturday 8:00PM     Hershey Speaker Bill C from Winding it up Group
Aug  7         Sunday 8:00PM       Bridge St. Speaker - Ty from Up the Creek Group
Aug 12        Friday 8:30PM         19th St. Speaker Shawn H
Aug 14        Sunday 8:00PM       Bridge St. Speaker - Steve S from Up the Creek Group
Aug 18        Thursday 7:00PM    Middletown Speaker TBD
Aug 19        Friday 8:30PM         19th St. Speaker MaryBeth
Aug 19       Weekend                   8th Annual Sunlight of the Spirit Conference**
thru Aug 21                                 http://www.sosyorkpa.org/  
Aug 21        Sunday 8:00PM       Bridge St. Speaker - Jeff L from Up the Creek Group 
Aug 25        Thursday 7:00PM    Middletown Speaker TBD
Aug 26        Friday 8:30PM         19th St. Anniversary
Aug 26        Weekend                  Pennscypaa XVII 
thru Aug 28                                http://www.pennscypaaxvii.com
Aug 28        Sunday 8:00PM       Bridge St. Speaker - Ron H from Up the Creek Group

Looking Ahead

Sep  3       Saturday 8:00PM        Hershey Speaker Dean H from There's More to Life
Sep  5       Monday 2:00PM         Fellowship House Barbeque (and meetings)**
Sep 16      Friday and                 Primary Purpose Weekend
Sep 17      Saturday                    http://www.bbsgpa.org 
Sep 24      Saturday 11:00AM  Hershey Picnic @ Campbelltown Fire Hall
                                                  Speaker 11-12 TBD - picnic 12-5
Oct 27-30   Weekend                   Native American Indian Alcoholics Anonymous Convention** 
Nov 4-6      Weekend                   AA State Convention
Nov 12       Saturday Noon-5:00 Harrisburg Area Acts of Recovery at Middletown
Jul 2008     TBD                         Al-Anon International Convention in Pittsburgh, PA
Jul 2010     TBD                         AA International Convention in San Antonio, Texas

**See Flyer or website on links page 

To links and current events

The Links Page

The AA blue button above will take you to the links and current events page. Did you know that the links page also has links to Flyers of events, other AA websites and meeting schedules (for Lancaster, Lebanon, and York), and to back issues of Sobriety News? 
You can make flyers of your group's activities available to others for printing off the internet by e-mailing a copy to jfee@comcast.net  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.
    
 Greater Harrisburg Meeting Schedules

There is a link to the Meeting Schedule here, (or if you have Microsoft Word, click the coin at right, so you can print out the schedule . 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 us at aa@aaharrisburg.org , 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 or by clicking on the chip at the right.

There are links to meeting schedules on the links page for Lebanon Area, York and Lancaster schedules also.

Carrying The Message

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.

Volunteers Needed for New Correctional Meeting

The Harrisburg Intergroup Corrections Committee recently met with representatives from the Dauphin County Adult Probation and Parole Department about establishing ongoing meetings at the Gibson Blvd. work release facility.

There are approximately 300 people housed at the facility split into 2 separate groups.  The facility is requesting four meetings a week divided by two evening meetings and two afternoon meetings.  The proposed days and times are:

Tuesday:      2-3pm and 7-8pm

Thursday      2-3pm and 7-8pm

One year of continuous sobriety is recommended.  If interested in volunteering please contact either:

Harry P        766-8420
Ed O            (H) 948-0804 or (c) 805-6076
Moses B       238-3924

or signup on the Harrisburg Volunteer data Sheet through your Homegroup  

Note:        This is for men only

“I am responsible when anyone anywhere reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA to always be there and for that I am responsible”.

Help for the Hearing Impaired

If anyone in our AA community knows sign language and is willing to be of service, there is a need in the Harrisburg Area for your help.  If you are willing to help a hearing impaired person, please notify intergroup through your intergroup rep.

F.I.N.E.
Frustrated, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional
  

INTERNET SOURCE FOR RECORDED AA TALKS

There is a new source for some good AA recordings of talks from the Harbor City Speakers, Acts of Recovery,   South College Speaker Group, Steps in Action, Unity in Action, White Rose, and various others. These are free for you to download in MP3 format on your computer. The web address is http://greatfact.org You can hear speakers from the Greater Harrisburg Acts of Recovery that you may have missed.

F.E.A.R.
Face Everything and Recover

  
20th Annual HAI Picnic

Mark your calendar for Saturday August 6th so you remember the HAI 20th Annual Picnic at New Cumberland Borough Park. Get your tickets from your Intergroup Rep before July 7th so that a barbeque chicken will be waiting for you. There will be games for the kids, and for the adults. The doings begin at noon and clean up at 6:00PM. Bring dessert or salad if you'd like. Tickets will be available from your Intergroup Rep for $5.00 (Children are free). Barbeque chicken, hot dogs and hamburgers will be proffered. Bring a desert, salad, or covered dish to share if you wish. Have fun and stay for the AA open discussion meeting at about 4:00PM. Bring a comfortable chair if you don't enjoy picnic benches. This is always a fun affair. 

Primary Purpose Weekend

The 2nd annual Primary Purpose Weekend will be held on September 16th and 17th at the Camp Hill Presbyterian Church (101 N.23rd St Camp Hill).  Speakers are Valerie D from Richmond, Va. and Gerry W from Cleveland, OH.  There is a $ 10 Registration fee which includes Coffee, Tea & Desserts, a Continental Breakfast 8am - 9am Sat, and Lunch 12pm - 1:30pm. FRI. Sept 16  7:30pm - 10pm & SAT. Sept 17  9am - 4pm. More information including directions is available at  www.bbsgpa.org 

N.U.T.S.
Not Using the Steps

Anecdotage

A man and his son owned one horse.  One day the son left the coral gate open and the horse ran away.  The neighbors told the man, "Bad Luck" The man shrugged and said. "bad luck, good luck"  Who knows?

The runaway horse went into the hills, found five other horses and returned to the corral.  Now the man and his son had six horses.  The neighbors told the man "Good Luck"  The man shrugged and said "good luck, bad luck"  Who knows?

The son was taming one of the wild horses, fell off, and broke his leg.  The neighbors said "Bad Luck" The man shrugged and said "bad luck, good luck"  Who knows?

Just then the Prince in the area declared war against a neighboring prince.  He recruited all able bodied, young men for his army.  Since the son had a broken leg, he was not drafted.  The neighbors said "Good Luck"  The man shrugged and said "good luck, bad luck"  Who knows?

The two princes decided on peace.  All the men who were called up to serve received large sums of money and a bequest of land.  The neighbors said "Bad Luck" The man shrugged and said "good luck, bad luck" Who knows?

(submitted by Donna Jean from the Way Out Group)   

New Meetings and Changes

Please note that the Wednesday meeting of the 40th Street Group is listed as a women's meeting, and they prefer that women have the freedom to share their experience, strength and hope with other women only.

The Way Out Group, which meets at the Bethany A. M. E. Church (formerly the Epworth United Methodist Church) has changed its meeting day to Monday evening at 7:00PM, because of a conflict with planned Sunday evening Services in the new congregation's church. All other details about the meeting are unchanged. See the flyer.

There is a new open beginners meeting called the Hershey Step One Meeting, which will meet at the Derry Presbyterian Church on the corner of Derry and Mansion Roads on all but the first Saturday of the month at 7:00PM. The meeting chair will read an excerpt from AA literature and open the meeting for discussion.  The meeting will be only 45 minutes because of the Hershey Group meeting which will be following in the same room.

The meeting scheduled at Fairview Twp. Firehouse on Sunday mornings is moving! The last meeting is Sunday July 3, 2005. Beginning Sunday July 10, 2005 the new meeting location is 122 Geary Ave. In New Cumberland. A new Firehouse is slated to be finished construction in March of 2006. The meeting may or may not return to that location. Stay tuned.
You may contact Richard W. 717-329-8320 Or Andrew B. 717-697-6319 with any questions. You may also email aa@aaharrisburg.org. Link to full information.

There is a new meeting in Loysville, Perry County on Saturdays at 7:00PM at the Centre Presbyterian Church on Route 850 in Loysville. See the Flyer for more details and directions. Welcome to the District #36 family "Empty Jug" Meeting of Loysville!

The Double Trouble Meetings on Wednesday and Friday at 7:30PM are at a new location at Gaudenzia New View, 1728 North Second Street (rear), Harrisburg, and starting on May 8,  an additional meeting has begun at 6:00PM on Sundays. All three are closed discussion, non-smoking.

The Wednesday night 7:15 Progress Group meeting at Ridgeway Community Church @  Elmerton and Progress Ave. reports that the church locks the doors @ 7:15.  The group cannot always hear if someone knocks on the door after that so it is best to be there for the meeting before the meeting.

Mid-City Group reports their last meeting at the current location on Vine Street will occur in September.  The church has been sold and the group is looking for a new home.  The group meets on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday @ 7:30PM.
 UPDATE:  Mid-City will have a new location starting after September 30th.  The meeting will be held at the 2nd United Church of Christ 215 Verbeke St. Harrisburg.  Meeting times are 7:30-8:30 on the following nights 
Tuesday Big Book Study-closed non-smoking
Thursday Closed Discussion, non-smoking
 Saturday Closed Discussion, non-smoking    

The Elizabethtown Women's Group  Sane, Sober and Serene which meets on Wednesday Evening @ 7:30PM is moving their meeting to 6:30 on the same evening.  This change takes effect on 8/3/05


E.G.O.
Edging God Out   


This-n-That

Don't forget the Harrisburg Area Intergroup (HAI) meeting Thursday August 4th, at 6:45pm, and the District 36 General Service Rep meeting on Monday August 8th, at 6:30; both meetings need your support. The Intergroup Bookstore is still open for business following the HAI meeting and on Saturday mornings from 10:00 till 11:15 for Groups to restock their literature cabinets with books and pamphlets.

July Intergroup Meeting
At the July 7th meeting of Intergroup, Chairperson RC opened the meeting with the serenity prayer. Several issues were discussed.

The secretary's report was read by Ami Jo and accepted.  Kevin read the treasurer's report which was also accepted.

The State Hospital - Because of impending changes in the Harrisburg State Hospital Operations, there will no longer be a Tuesday or Thursday Meeting. There will be a Sunday 2:00PM meeting for the foreseeable future.  Middletown handled the July commitment, and will continue for August. The Way Out Group will visit the hospital meetings in September.  BBSG covered the cell phone commitment in July, Mid-City will cover in August, Hershey in September, Middletown in October and More to Life Group will cover in November.   Gaudenzia Juvenile Facility has requested that the meeting be moved to Thursday as they wish to take their clients to an AA meeting outside on Wednesday.  Volunteers for the various county and state prison and Gaudenzia Juvenile facilities continue to carry the message to those who hope to change their lives through a more spiritual way of living; if you'd like to benefit from this 12th Step opportunity, see your Intergroup Rep, or leave a message with the hot line at 234-5390.

The price on all literature items, except for the Big Book increased in July.  

Groups represented at the July meeting were: HAI Officers, Women's Serenity, 40th Street, Big Book Study, Chapter 9 Family Group, Dauphin County prison meetings, District 36 Gen Service, Harrisburg Men's Group, Hershey,  Pine Street, Progress Step & Traditions, Survivors, TMTL, Trudgers, The Way Out, West Shore Area, Mid City and Winding It Up. Was your group represented?

D.E.N.I.A.L.
Don't Even Notice I Am Lying

Traditions Checklist

TRADITION EIGHT: Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

1.    Is my own behavior accurately described by the Traditions? If not, what needs changing?

2.    When I chafe about any particular Tradition, do I realize how it affects others?

3.    Do I sometimes try to get some reward - even if not money - for my personal AA efforts?

4.    Do I try to sound in AA like an expert on alcoholism? On Recovery? On Medicine? On Sociology? On AA itself? On Psychology? On Spiritual Matters? Or, Heaven help me, even on Humility?

5.    Is a group treasurer's report unimportant 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.


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.
Printed by permission. THE AA GRAPEVINE INC., PO BOX 1980, GRAND CENTRAL STATION, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10163-1980


H.O.W
Honesty Open-mindedness Willingness

Pearl of the Month ©  AA Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p 75

 

 "We saw we needn't always be bludgeoned and beaten into humility.  It could come quite as much from our voluntary reaching for it as it could from unremitting suffering.  A great turning point in our lives came when we sought for humility as something we really wanted, rather than as something we must have.  It marker the time when we could commence to see the full implication of Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings"

With permissions, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 

Food For Thought

Contributions are made to Food For Thought by recovering alcoholics who have this outlet to share feelings and opinions about living in recovery. The material included does not necessarily express the views of Harrisburg Area Intergroup, or Alcoholics Anonymous. It is simply an opportunity for recovering alcoholics to express thoughts they would like to share. Why not share something of yourself with our readers?

AA International Convention

AA is 70 years old this year and I looked forward to celebrating that by going to Toronto over the July 4th holiday to attend my first AA International Convention.  I wasn't disappointed.  We went up early to be there Thursday evening when the event officially began and that night was a taste of what was to come. Thousands of people speaking many languages, joined together for an evening of entertainment, fellowship and fun.  The following two days were filled with hundreds of workshops - some filled to capacity, on everything from Easy Does It - But Do It, Unity, H.A.L.T, Pockets of Enthusiasm, and Gratitude.  There were also continuous AA meetings throughout the convention and occasional meetings in French, Spanish and other languages.

But it was during the large events, when all of those attending came together in one place, that the power of the gathering was strongest. At each of these events, the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto was filled with over 45,000 people, primarily recovering alcoholics (as well as members of Al-Anon).  At each large event there were speakers from near and far.  Each session ended with hands joined in the recitation of the Serenity Prayer and the Lord's Prayer.  The stadium was filled with a sense of unity, common purpose and gratitude.

Friday night was flag night with 90 countries represented.  It was a moving sight to see the breadth of AA reflected in faces from faraway places like China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Cuba, Israel, Norway, South Africa, and on and on.

Saturday night was old timer's night.  It began with a sobriety countdown and then twelve old timers were randomly chosen to speak, each name picked by someone young in sobriety.  Each of the speakers had over 40years of continuous sobriety.  One attendee had 63 years.  The youngest participant to choose a name was one day sober.  The evening closed with a beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace"

The theme of this year's convention was "I am Responsible"  By Sunday morning's closing ceremony, I was filled with a new sense of connection and commitment that I am sure was shared by many others. If you want an awesome experience, start planning now for the next International Convention, which will be held in 2010 in San Antonio, Texas.

(article submitted by Elaine S from Bridge St. Group)

This Month in AA History  

1879    Robert Holbrook Smith was born in St. Johnsbury, VT.

1917    Bill W (age 22) took his first drink.  It was a Bronx Cocktail (gin, dry and sweet vermouth, and OJ).  He got thoroughly drunk, passed out, threw up and was miserably sick the next day.

1935    Bill returned from Akron to NYC.  His home at 182 Clinton St. became a halfway house of sorts for drunks.  Meetings were also held every Tuesday nights. 

1938    The Alcoholic Foundation was established as a charitable trust with a board of 5 trustees including 3 non-alcoholic members.  Dr. Bob and Bill W were the alcoholic members.  This began a long (and later troublesome) tradition of making non-alcoholics a majority. 

1945    The Grapevine carried Bill W's first article (titled Modesty One Plank for Good Public Relations) setting the groundwork for his campaign for the Traditions.

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

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 Sobriety News is e-mailed monthly to free subscribers who have indicated a desire to receive it.  You may indicate a wish to be added to the mailing list by clicking on  Subscribe  and then clicking on send. There is no charge for this service. It is normally mailed the Tuesday before the first Thursday of the month by BCC (blind copy) to protect the anonymity of recipients. You need to notify us if you change e-mail addresses, and you may not receive it, if your computer or internet service provider screens out mail that does not have your name in the To: box.

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