Volume 33, Issue 6 JUNE 2017

ScaanSOUTH COUNTY

AA NEWSLETTER

The Hand of AA

24 Hours a Day

561-276-4581

South Palm Beach CountyIntergroup Association, Inc.Serving A.A. Groups inBoca Raton, Boynton Beach,Delray Beach and Lantana33 Years of Service ~ 1984-2017

Did you know that the name AlcoholicsAnonymous cannot be used on any club house? Aclub house can be called a “Twelve Step House”,“Big Book Club”, “House of Hope” etc. It cannotbe called the Alcoholics Anonymous Club. Why?Because if that happens it would be considered anendorsement … we do not lend the A.A. name outever.

This came about circa 1940’s when the “JackAlexander Article” hit home. AlcoholicsAnonymous went from just barely one hundredmembers to over two thousand in about a month’stime. So now the first members set out to changethe world. To show and explain to everyone whatalcoholism was. To have laws changed, hospitalswould hire drunks to teach the Doctors about alco-holism. Imagine bumper stickers … A.A. is myWay … I am just kidding … I made that up. But therest of this story is true. Alcoholics Anonymous wasgoing to begin to advertise. The members weregoing to get the medical and religious fields toendorse us. It was time for Alcoholics Anonymousto rewrite human history.

And so, they had a meeting to discuss how toaccomplish this. And, of course, problems arose.

Problem One: Who would represent A.A.?

Problem Two: If we received endorsements,

TRADITION SIX“An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enter-

prise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.”

what would the people with the money want inreturn.

Problem Three: What is AlcoholicsAnonymous?

Alcoholics Anonymous is not a movement- weare not for or against anything. We are not religion -everyone has their own concept of God … no twomembers believe the same. It cannot be consideredmedical because alcoholics do not even know whatis wrong with them.

It was at that moment they realized, we muststand on our own. That too many outside things candivert us from our spiritual aim. Our primary pur-pose is to stay sober and to help other alcoholics toget sober. That is what A.A. really is. A beacon …a lighthouse … a way home for all the broken andbarren lonely souls. If not for AlcoholicsAnonymous, who would listen for our cries …understand our desperation … Who would love usback to health?

And that is why with great pride I call myself amember of Alcoholics Anonymous. This great soci-ety that saves my life daily. We do not need money,property, or prestige. All we need is a coffee potand each other. And Tradition Six reminds us of thatand, makes sure that it will always be.

Love and service … Tommy B.

THE STEPS & THE TRADITIONS

STEP 6 - “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”

TRADITION 6 - “An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or oursideenterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.”

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Chicago Times –December 3, 1940Keep themselves sober by aiding other alcoholics

Alcoholics Anonymous is an amazing – and seeminglysuccessful – organization which devotes itself to makingex-drunkards out of drunkards. There are nearly 150members – men and women, wealthy persons and WPAworkers, even a saloonkeeper and an ex-policeman – ofthe group in Chicago. All of them declare they havebeen saved from alcoholism. Herewith is the secondarticle of a series on the organization, presentedEXCLUSIVELY in The Times.

There are two strict entrance requirements for theFellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. First, the candi-dates must be a thorough, experienced booze fighter.Second, he or she must have an honest desire to quit.

The members of A.A. will welcome such a recruit intotheir ranks. They will approach him in his home, on thestreet or in his favorite saloon. But only if he needs –and sincerely wants – their help. They have no hope ofsaving a person who doesn’t want to save himself. Itcan’t be done, they aver.

The Fellowship of A.A. does not crusade for new mem-bers. It is not composed of blue-noses or professionalpsalm singers offering cut rate salvation to everybodywith a hangover. The members see nothing wrong withthe use of liquor by a person who can handle it, whichthey admit they can’t do. Tolerance is their motif.

A.A. Has No Funds

However, if a member of the group hears of a qualifiedprospect who wants to quit drinking he will get out ofbed in the middle of the night, if need be, and go to thatperson. He will explain the principles of AlcoholicsAnonymous to the liquor-beset one; buy him drinks ifsuch treatment is urgently needed to drive away thehorrors.

Sometimes the prospect will need medical aid, or evensanitarium care, and he seldom will have any money.That presents a problem, for A.A. has no sinking fundsfor such cases, and the members mostly are salariedpeople who cannot afford to commit themselves forexpenses.

The best possible will be done. Efforts will be made toobtain credit. In some way they will get him straight-ened out, if possible.

This missionary work is an important part of the A.A.

creed. A member of more than a year’s aridity explainedit this way at one of the weekly dinner meetings:

“There are three members I brought into this group. Itold them about A.A. and got them started on it. Theyare thankful to me. And wouldn’t I be a fine example tothem if I fell off the wagon?”

Antidote for Temptation

Working on a prospect, they say, is a fine antidote fortemptation. When that old, familiar urge to the bottlecomes, they’ll go out in a blizzard to show to somedrink-harassed man or woman. Such recruiting destroysthe urge, they declare.

The methods they use to enlist a new member are diffi-cult to explain. They have a saying that “the only personwho understands a drunk is another drunk.” Non-alco-holics invariably fail to understand the technique – or tounderstand A.A. completely, for that matter.

They use a smattering of cajolery on the prospect, and aminimum of preaching about where he’ll end if he does-n’t quit. Mostly they try to talk common sense and toconvince him that Alcoholics Anonymous has the solu-tion for him.

Explain 12 Steps

If the subject is interested and really wants to quit – andif he’s sober enough to understand – he is told of the“12 Steps” which make up the movementsnon-drunkards.

These steps include recognizing a God, asking His help,living honestly, righting old wrongs and seeking to helpothers through A.A. The new member learns all aboutthese at weekly discussion meetings held by the group.

Just being a member of A.A. doesn’t make a reformeddrunk safe from alcoholism, they emphasize. Theyadhere religiously, therefore, to the 12 Steps which con-stitute their bible for sobriety.

1,400 members in America

The Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous is five yearsold and there are 1,400 members in America, accordingto spokesmen. It started in New York and a year and ahalf ago a group formed in Chicago. It is a non-profitorganization and one of the many persons interested,from a sociological point of view, is John D.Rockefeller Jr.

SPBCI Archives Committee

Archives Committee Chair – Mike B.

Page 3

South Palm Beach County Intergroup Profit & Loss - April 2017

OOffffiiccee VVoolluunntteeeerrssDennis, George, Hunter, Joe H.,John B., Marianne, Stan, Becca,

Chris, Andrew H., Matthew,Samantha, Mandy, Robie

and Amy

Intergroup Activity Log April 1712th Step Calls 2First Call to AA 1Meeting Inquiries 132Business Inquiries 186Walk-Ins 284QB Sales Receipts 246

New Intergroup Reps.Boynton Beach Beginners Group ~ Gina G.

Drunk Squad ~ Charles M.Tuesday Men’s Solution ~ Ron C.

Principles In Practice ~ Zoe G.Young at Heart BB Study ~ Phil T.

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AA HOTLINE – RELAY PHONEThe Hand of AA is Available 24 Hours a Day!

June - From Steerage to Captain’s Table

July - Carry The Message

August - Wine Into Water

FFAAIITTHHFFUULL FFIIVVEERRSSWWiitthh GGrraattiittuuddee ffoorr tthheeiirr ssuuppppoorrtt::

Michael G. and Linda P.

BIRTHDAY CLUBSOUTH PALM BEACH COUNTY INTERGROUP

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY!Your donation goes to help the valuable services provided by Intergroup includingthe AA hotline, meeting schedules, 12 step work, literature inventory, SCAANnewsletter and hospital/institution meetings.

Name Anniversary Date

Home Group Contribution* $*Recommended contribution is $1 for every year of sobriety.

If you would like a reminder notice next year, please fill out the address portionbelow or provide an email address.

Address City

State/Zip Email Page 5

Intergroup Business Meeting Minutes – April 26, 2017

Chair: Cheryl S: The meeting opened with a moment of silence followedby the Serenity Prayer. Chair called for approval of last month’s minutes;Laura K. made a motion to approve March 29, 2017 minutes. The motionwas seconded and passed unanimously. Chair welcomed new group reps. Vice Chair: Billy R: Election will be held for Men’s H&I position.Treasurer: Gary K: We are passing the baskets in accordance with ourseventh tradition, which states that we are fully self-supporting by our owncontributions. Thank you to Jeannie for running the financials inQuickBooks and sending them to me. For March 2017 we had a negativenet revenue of $2,156, versus a net loss of $723 for the same month lastyear. Year to date net revenue is $487, a little behind last year. Group con-tribution income for the month of March was ahead of March for last year.Big Book sales and total sales for March were down compared to March oflast year. Year to date Big Book sales and total sales are now behind lastyear. Thank you to the groups that contributed to Intergroup in February.All contributions received through the end of last month are included in thisreport. We remain transparent in our financial reporting. The P&L state-ments and group contributions will continue to be included in the SCAAN,are available online. Members may also stop into the Intergroup office any-time to review the reports.Secretary: Jay W: Please remember to sign in on the Intergroup Rep ros-ters and double check that all of your contact information is correct, thankyou!Office Manager: Jeannie G: Welcome to the April 2017 Business Meetingfor SPBCI. My name is Jeannie and I am an Alcoholic. THANK YOU to allwho do service for Alcoholics Anonymous! The 2017 SPBCI Picnic isscheduled for May 21st from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at John Prince Park.Thank you to the anonymous donor for the two raffle prizes – an HDTV &$250 gift card. Jerry, our 2017 Picnic Chair, will provide additional detailsfor the event. I, personally, as Office Manager of SPBCI office, remaingrateful for all the “volunteers” who work the ten M-F weekly shifts and the“every other Saturday” SPBCI office volunteers and the telephone relayvolunteers. The individual service commitment of each “fellow A.A.”reflects their commitment to Alcoholics Anonymous’ “ResponsibilityDeclaration”: The Responsibility Declaration – Copyright A.A. WorldServices, Inc.New Group Reps: Gina G. from Boynton Beach Beginners Group, Ron C.from Men’s Tuesday Night Solutions, Zoe G. from Principles Into Practice,Charles M. from Drunk Squad, and Phil T. from Young at Heart!Committee Reports:Archivist: Michael G: No report.Archives: Mike B: We have been working to transfer archives onto the

AA EVENTS

June 10GSO District 8Founder’s Day CelebrationHoly Spirit Catholic Church - Lantana6:30 - 9:30 - Tickets $5.00 www.area15aa.org

July 21-23GSO Area 15 AssemblyBoca Raton Marriott www.area15aa.org

November 10-124th Southern States Alcoholics AnonymousService Assembly (SSAASA)Sheraton Atlanta Airportwww.area15aa.org

OTHER EVENTSThe Other Events listed below are presented solelyas a service to SCAAN readers, not as an endorsementby SPBCI.

July 27-3061st Florida State ConventionHyatt Regency - Jacksonville Riverfronthttps://floridastateconvention.com/

August 25-27The Women In Recovery ConferenceDelray Beach Marriottwww.thewomeninrecovery.com

South Palm Beach CountyIntergroup Association, Inc.

2905 South Federal Highway • Building C, Suite 15-16Delray Beach, FL 33483

24-hours: 561.276.4581Email: southcountyaa@comcast.netWebsite: www.aainpalmbeach.org

Office HoursMonday-Friday: 9am - 5pm

Saturday: 10am - 1pm

STEERING COMMITTEEChair - Cheryl S. Vice Chair - Billy R.Treasurer - Gary K. Secretary - Jay W.

Office Manager - Jeannie G.

COMMITTEESArchives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike B.

Archivist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael G.

Bridge the Gap - Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom K.

Bridge the Gap - Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bari W.

General Services Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arlene P.

Group Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason W.

Hospitals & Institutions (W) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Natasha V.

Hospitals & Institutions (M) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H&I Tolbert

Liaison to North County Intergroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kendall C.

Public Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheldon

SCAAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John T.

Telephone Relay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony C.

Twelve Step Committee - Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve J.

Twelve Step Committee - Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie K.

Where & When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheryl M.

Intergroup website. Michael the Archivist and I have also been working tocomplete our collection of the Grapevine through the years.Bridge the Gap: Bari W (women): No report. Tom K (men): Excusedabsence. Nothing new to report. No phone calls received from Intergroup. Icontinue to let others know about Bridge the Gap services. General Service Liaison: Arlene P: Excused absence. The GSR meetingdidn’t take place this past Sunday due to various holidays. The notes willbe out next week. Group Information: Jason W: Not to much new going on...happy to reportthat the Group Information Committee now currently has several peoplewho have volunteered to visit meetings in their respective areas that don’tcurrently have Intergroup rep’s to let them know that they too have a voiceat Intergroup! And though I don’t currently have any verified stat’s, I doknow that we are now well under the 105+ number of meetings that Ireported last month as needing to be visited. So we will continue to keepup the good work. Thanks for letting us be of service.Public Information: Sheldon: Absent. No report.Hospitals and Institutions: Open (men): Natasha V (women): We stillhave 21 meetings in 11 facilities. I have been getting help from Tolbertfrom NPBCI. I am going to try to start an H&I committee, if you are inter-ested please get with me or call the Intergroup office to be connected withme.SCAAN: John T: Excused absence. Articles are always welcome and canbe emailed to the Intergroup office. Please submit by the 15th of themonth.Telephone Relay: Tony C: The relay phone is covered through the end ofthe year. Incoming and outgoing group’s contacted and planning for aclean handoff. Where & When: Sheryl M: The new and improved Where & When’s arenow available at Intergroup for purchase. If your group informationchanges, please continue to forward that information to Jeannie at theIntergroup office. The next printing will be in October.12th Step Committee: Katie K (women): 4 new women added to the 12thstep call list making the total number of volunteers 28. We are still lookingfor volunteers. Stephen J (men): Excused absence. No report.Liaison to North County Intergroup: Kendall C: During their annual review,their office manager offered to transition to a part time employee.Discussions of this proposal are ongoing and will be handled by the newadvisory committee. Their part time manager Leslie, Ed and Terry theIntergroup Representative from the Just For Today Group have begunwork on transitioning our accounting from a hybrid of Excel/QuickBooks tojust QuickBooks. They started March with $8,495.67 in the checkingaccount; had revenues of $11,220.92; and expenses of $10,523.36 leavinga surplus again this month of $697.56. The closing balance for Februarywas $9,193.23. Office activity for March was 55 more than last year and161 more than last month. Due to elections still being held the committeereports didn’t happen this month. Speaking of congratulations to the new

June Service MeetingsJune 11

District 8 General Service Business Meeting - Triangle Club4:00 PM: GSR/DCM SHARING

4:40 PM DISTRICT 8 BUSINESS MEETINGJune 21

SPBC Intergroup Steering Committee MeetingWednesday, 5:30 PM - SPBCI Office

June 28SPBC Intergroup Monthly Business MeetingWednesday, 7:00 PM - Delray Central House

Today Editor, Intergroup Website, Birthday Club/Today Subscriptions,General Service/Intergroup Liaison, and SBPCL! Thank you for allowingme to be of service!Picnic Chair: Jerry R: Our planning stage is going well. We have quite abit of volunteers and still have open positions to fill. Please bring this backto your group and if you would like to volunteer, please contact theIntergroup office. There will be games and live music. Food will be prettymuch the same as last year: hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. Kids are welcome!There will be games and activities for children as well. Old Business: Committee Elections: Election was held for H&I’s men position. Tolbert D.was elected!Intergroup By-Laws: A vote was held on the motion Michael G. theArchivist made last month to retroactively change the Archives Chair posi-tion from a 1 year to a 2 year service position. The motion was passed bymajority.New Business: None!Next Business Meeting: May 31, 2017

Closed meeting with the Lord’s Prayer.

Respectfully, Jay W.