Friday, May 28, 2010

June

Tradition Six: An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

If you need to get in touch with the East Tennessee Intergroup Central office our phone number is : 865-974-9888 or you can send us an email at etiaa@msn.com.

If you think you have a problem with alcohol you can call our Hotline at 865-522-9667

A meeting schedule and further information about A.A. in East Tennessee can be found at: http://www.discoveret.org/etaa/

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

A Recovery Thought

12 STEPS TO DELIVERING AN EFFECTIVE A.A. TALK

When it comes to carrying the A.A. message, Dr. Silkworth states in "The Doctor's Opinion" in the Big Book, "The message which can interest and hold these alcoholic people must have depth and weight. In nearly all cases their ideals must be grounded in a power greater than themselves, if they are to re-create their lives." This "message" is most effective when delivered is such a manner that a still suffering alcoholic of whatever description (whether a prospect, newcomer, or veteran member) may have an opportunity to make an accurate identification of their problem depth) and have made known to them a solution for that problem (weight). In fact, any sober A.A. can effectively "carry the message" when asked to speak at an A.A. meeting provided they have "taken the steps" of Alcoholics Anonymous and follow a few simple suggestions:

1) Dress appropriately, respectfully; be on time, introduce yourself an as alcoholic (only), avoid the use of multiple identification; extend thanks, gratitude.

2) Greet the newcomers and invite them into the fellowship of A.A., citing something of a positive nature directed towards them from the Big Book which extends a warm welcome to all.

3) Share a brief overview of your family background (in a very general way) prior to drinking.

4) Describe your first drinking experience whereby you realized the effect produced by alcohol.

5) Relate pertinent elements of "The Doctor's Opinion" as you share your drinking history/experience.

6) Share your drinking history as it exemplifies the progressive nature of the illness of alcoholism as outlined in the basic text of A.A. (To avoid confusing and/or alienating newcomers, respect A.A.'s "singleness of purpose." Minimize historical accounting of problems other than alcohol; i.e., drug addiction, use, compulsive overeating, the child within, being a victim, etc., as we want them to primarily identify with the progression of alcoholism.)

7) Side-step the use of vulgar and obscene language while sharing as we are a program of attraction and that is surely a distraction and it presents a negative community image of our A.A. way of life to those "outside" who may be visiting with us to learn about alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous.

8) Describe the events surrounding your hitting bottom and what led you to A.A., to your Home Group and to your Sponsor.

9) Share your experience in a general way of "taking the Steps."

10) Mention your experience with service work and working with others and the benefits you realized as a result thereof.

11) Share your personal experience resulting from developing a personal relationship with God, as you understand God.

12) Summarize your pitch; invite newcomers to join us on the "Road of Happy Destiny"; thank those who invited you and close-on time.

These 12 suggestions were derived from listening to, identifying and outlining the similarities of structure, content and order (of delivery) of the talks of our beloved carriers of the A.A. message, and can be reconciled with The Doctor's Opinion and the first 164 pages of the Big Book. Also, it's always a good idea to be genuine and enthusiastic.The above are thoughts and opinions of others. They do not speak for or represent the A.A. Fellowship.An indignant dowager comes upon a very tired and very drunk on the street. She says to him, "If I were in your condition I would shoot myself!" He hiccups back, "If you were in my condition, lady, you'd miss!"

ASAP
Always Say A Prayer

Intergroup Minutes

Meeting was held on Sunday may 2 at rockford fellowship hall.

Meeting was called to order at 1:15 by Peter and ended at 2 pm.

Old bussiness: New 12 step list were published and given to Michael at office and co-ordinator Kathy to be distributed to the hot line volunteers. It was noted that certain areas had no contacts because either the area did not respond to request and/or people listed as contacts were no longer available when contacted.

Hot line is full but we can always use back ups.

New business: Next two Intergroup meetings will be conducted via e- mail.

We are in the process of setting up a Facebook page for East Tn Intergroup . So as to pass on current information.

Next meeting will be August 1st.

Birthday information and group events need to be in by the 15 th of each month

Submitted by Peter O.

District 50/51

District 50/51 Representative Meeting
May 3, 2010 6:30 PM

Darlene opened the meeting with the Serenity Prayer. The Secretary was absent, so Ruth took minutes. Gordon read the 12 Traditions. The previous month’s minutes were read by all and accepted as written.

District Financial Report: John W. (treasurer) couldn’t be here, so he sent a copy of the report. Beginning balance: $1,380.46. $254.59 in Deposits. $250 in Expenses (for the corrections workshop in Gallatin). The Assembly Planning Committee’s beginning balance was $25.32, plus $750 seed money from the Area, for a total of $775.32. The Combined Ending Balance was $2,160.87.

A signup sheet was passed around so we could contact each other between district meetings.

Intergroup Report: Mike gave the report. He said donations are up this year, so Intergroup is doing pretty well so far. He used some money from savings to buy literature. Ask your groups to subscribe to the newsletter – we need 200+ subscriptions to continue to get our discounted mailing rate at the post office. Newsletter subscriptions are $5/year. All the hotline shifts are currently full. They just finished updating the 12th step contact list and are making copies to distribute.

Assembly Info: The 3rd Quarter Area 64 Assembly will be in Oak Ridge July 23-25, 2010 at the Doubletree hotel. Rooms are $96/night plus tax. All this information is available on the Area 64 website www.area64assembly.org

January 2011 Assembly in Knoxville: We’ve been kicking around ideas for fundraisers – the first fundraiser for the Area 64 Assembly will be the Best Ball Golf Tournament June 27th at 1:30 at Whittle Springs Golf Course. There is a $45 fee. Contact John A. at 363-8030 if you’re interested in playing. Cutoff date for participants will be June 23. See the announcement in the newsletter for more info.

The biggest expenses for hosting the assembly are food and coffee. Everyone is encouraged to see if their home groups want to help by providing a meal Friday evening or Saturday night – it’s a great way to get involved. Any group contributions the host committee are welcomed – be sure to write “1st Quarter Assembly” in the memo line on checks for group contributions.

Assembly committee meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Flatiron.

Need volunteers to help form committees for registration, coffee, flyers, banner, hospitality, speaker, fundraisers, seed money from Area 64, Reports for Assembly and Convention committee and Area 64 business meeting, treasurer, theme, hotel liaison, disc jockey if there’s a dance, agenda, taper for business meetings, secretary, raffle baskets if we do a raffle, chairperson/liaison.

Everyone is encouraged to attend and help plan the assembly. Any AA member is eligible and encouraged to serve.

Archives: No report. If you are interested in serving as the archives chair, come to the May District meeting.

CPC/PI: Gordon gave the report. Gordon has responded to another request for information about AA from a doctor’s group. He’s putting together teams of AA members who are preparing to give talks to professionals who request info about AA. The committee meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month starting on May 8 at 10:00 a.m. at St. John’s.

Corrections: Ken and George thanked the district for sending them to the corrections workshop in Gallatin. They got to swap ideas with other AA’s from all over the state who are involved in corrections. There was a “workshop on the workshop,” where they discussed how to best serve the needs of Area 64 Corrections. One issue that came up was the lack of communication, so the area is making a list of the different facilities and who’s going in where. One suggestion from the workshop was that district corrections chairs go to groups in their districts and drum up interest, not just in district meetings. The Corrections committee meets the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the Flatiron.

Grapevine/Events: Dennis gave the report. Five people attended the committee meeting, and they went over the Grapevine Handbook. Get ready, because Grapevine Reps are going to visit groups in the district to help people get involved. Dennis brought flyers for the 3-month long grapevine subscription drive starting in June to raise awareness and subscriptions. The Grapevine committee took some more old Grapevines with AA meeting schedules inside them to professional buildings to put in the waiting rooms. Come find out what the grapevine is, what it does, and how you can help on the last Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the Flat Iron. To get involved with the Grapevine or Events committees, email dennisoxner@yahoo.com.

The Events committee is hosting a district event: East TN Past Delegates Panel Discussion on June 20 from 11:00-1:30 at the Metro Group. Past Delegates John A., John W. (one of our oldest delegates), and hopefully Becky and Ralph will share their experience with service and eat dinner with us.

Treatment: Dennis did a fantastic job speaking to the alcoholics in treatment at Cornerstone! Thank you Dennis! To volunteer to help carry the AA message to alcoholics who are in treatment by telling your story at Cornerstone on the last Wednesday of the month at 7:30, call Ruth 310-7889.

Old Business: None.

New Business: None.

Group news and Announcements: Jerry announced that The Serenity Group in Fountain City has a new meeting on Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. (closed discussion). There is also a new Big Book Study on Wednesday mornings from 10:00 a.m. till noon at Christ United Methodist Church on Maynardville Hwy.

The meeting closed with the Lord’s Prayer.

Next Group Rep meeting: Monday, June 7th at 6:30 PM at the Flatiron.

Submitted by Ruth P.

Chairman's Message

As always I have to look around and remember how grateful I should be for the gift of sobrierty that has been given me.

I am currently (may 11 ) in nashville and have been since May 3 rd working on the disaster relief as a result of the floods. Where would I be today if not for what the great fellowship of AA has given me? I would not even venture to guess. Where would you be without this fellowship? Are you giving back to this fellowship or are you just taking from it and letting others do the work? Service work to our fellowship is what keeps it alive for us. Are you doing your part?

Peter O.

June Birthdays and Group Annoucements

June Birthdays

NORTHSTATION
MIKE C 18 YRS

SEYMOUR SHARING
JIM H 5 YRS


Rockford Group AA Birthdays

Jane O. 5/8/60 in loving memory
Mark M. 5/2/91
Larry R. 5/19/05
Happy Herb 5/29/08
Joyce K. 5/10/05

Monroe County
David L. - 6 yrs
Tim S. - 6 yrs

Annoucements

R I P - Bob Murphy Blount county Group alt Dcm Dist 4 May 11 12 yrs sobrierty.

Best Ball Golf Tournament. June 27 1:30 at Whittle Springs Golf Course. Fund raiser for Area 64 Assembly--contact John Antol 865-363-8030 for more info . Cut off date June 23.


The Athens - Sweetwater Group is starting a men’s AAWOL Program (Alcoholics Anonymous Way Of Life). It is designed to enhance your knowledge and workings of the 12 steps of AA. Whether you have 30 days or 30 years you are welcome to sign up. It will be a 26 week program, so a commitment to attend is needed.

The AAWOL Program is simply to look at the steps, keeping it simple, to understanding them and how to apply them in your life. There are 15 - 20 seats available, if interested call:

Jim 239/450-2268
T.J. 865/209-1081
Gary 423/507-7975

Starting date is Wednesday, May 19, 2010 and the time is 6:00 - 7:30. (every Wednesday)

Blount County Group Picnic

The Blount County Group is having a picnic Saturday, June 12th, at Louisville Point Park in Louisville, TN. Thing will get going at Noon and run until about 8 PM. Bring a covered dish to pass.

Monroe County Group Picnic

The Monroe County Group is holding it's 8th annual picnic Saturday, July 10th, at Fort Loudon State Park in Vonore. Things get going around 8 AM and will run until about 2 PM. Food will be provided. We will have a speaker and lots of good fellowship!