Greetings to all my Fellow Al-Anon Members: Chairperson s Corner:

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Charlotte Washington
6 years ago
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1 Maritime Assembly Area 91 Newsletter September 2012 Statement of Purpose News & Views is published in February, April, July, September & November. Subscriptions are $10/yr. The newsletter presents service related news and information to Al-Anon Family Groups in Area 91. Chairperson s Corner: Hello everyone, I trust you all had a wonderful summer and were able to take in some of the lovely weather we were given. Well it s down to business with AWSCM just around the corner. Anyone wishing to have any items on the agenda should contact me before Sept 15th as I will be making up the agenda then to get it out to all concerned shortly after. In the next few weeks I m sure all officers and coordinators as well as District Reps will be busy getting their items up to date as this will be our last meeting before we transfer our materials to our incoming people. Assembly evaluations will be tallied by then with a report and hand out given at that time. Looking forward to seeing you all in Sydney, in October. Don t forget the Al-Anon day as well so fill up your vehicles. As always if there are any concerns or questions, feel free to contact me. Safe trip, see you soon. DELEGATE S REPORT: Greetings to all my Fellow Al-Anon Members: Wow! September already! With such a great summer it seemed to me that it should never end. But, alas, the evenings and early mornings are getting a bit cooler. The inevitable is happening. I hope you all were able to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather and perhaps enjoy reunions with family and friends. For me, the summer was relatively peaceful with very few illness related episodes. However, many trips to Halifax for medical appointments were on my agenda. I did make sure I had some R & R thrown in as well. Life is good! Many of you have sent me messages since Assembly, and all is fine at the moment. But it is One Day at a Time Thank you for your concern and prayers. I have very little information to pass on since Assembly in June. The little I do have I have chosen to save for my report to you at the Area World Service Committee Meeting in Sydney in October. However, I will pass on the condensed versions of communications I have recently received from WSO and our Executive Director. Please pass this information to other members who may not as yet be receiving the News & Views. We wish to reach as many members as possible, especially regarding the MEMO from our Executive Director. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the Area World Service Committee Meeting in a few weeks time. Love in Al-Anon Service, Delegate Panel 50, Area 91 Maritime Provinces, Our Spiritual Journey - we get as we give Our Delegates memo on communication from WSO is at the back of the newsletter, page 6 Group Records Coordinator Hi all what a great summer. District Reps. I am looking for some info from you. I was wondering, if any of you are going on the online e-community site. If you are, did you had any trouble accessing this site. If you have not? Why not? Has anyone accessed their group information on the WSO online group website? Just let me know what you think about these sites. See you at the AWSC meeting. I just can t wait. From the Public Outreach Corner.. Public Outreach Area 91, Maritime Provinces I would like to bring your attention to two of the latest Public Outreach resources available to us online from WSO. The revised version of The Best of Public Outreach (P-90) is not available in print but you can download any part of it, free, from WSO. The latest World Service Conference Summary (P-46) is also available online from WSO. To review these

2 and other Al-Anon Public Outreach tools and resources simply go to (your password to access the Members site is the name of you Al-Anon or Alateen home group followed by AFG ). I would like to bring your attention to a few articles from the 2012 Conference Summary that contain helpful and useful information for those active in Public Outreach (or those thinking of serving Al-Anon through Public Outreach): (see pgs.50-53) a) PO Committee report How to use the Best of Public Outreach b) Public Service Announcements report (TV PSAs update) c) Leadership/Communication Session reports: How to Deal With Difficult Situations ; How to Engage Audiences Using Multiple Strategies and Techniques; How to Overcome Fear and Build Self-Confidence Empowering Oneself to be a Success as a Leader/Trusted Servant d) (pgs Chosen Agenda Item #2) How does WSO see social networks, such as Facebook and YouTube, as a way to attract and retain new members to our fellowship? e) (pgs.59-61) How to Reach Out to Minority Groups f) (pgs.68-70) Utilization of the Service Manual Update on Area Public Outreach (PO) Workshop/Committee Meeting to be held Friday, October 12 th at 7PM (the evening before AWSC). We are ready because there is a meeting room available to us at the church where the AWSC meeting will be held on Saturday, October 13 th ; the interest has been expressed by members in our Area, and I have a tentative agenda. I hope that this first AWSC/Area PO workshop will be a time for us to discuss and share, as time permits: 1) Do we want to have a Public Outreach Workshop in our Area at least once a year to exchange our experience (our ideas and activities), strength (resources each other and the Al-Anon literature and tools), and hope (our successes, our struggles, Al-Anon s future with public outreach)? What is the most efficient and effective way to make this happen? Let It Begin With Me!! 2) We will review and discuss how to use the Best of Public Outreach as a PO tool in your District. 3) Review of articles in the 2012 Conference Summary that relate to Public Outreach (see above). How can we use the Best of Public Outreach to benefit our AFG, our Districts, and our Area? 4) What can we do to make the best use of TV and Radio PSA information available from WSO? 5) How are we using Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism as a public outreach magazine in our groups, district, Area? Ideas from the floor? 6) Other Public Outreach concerns, question, comments from those present at the meeting/workshop, OR if you cannot be there, send your PO concern, question or comment in to me before October 1, 2012 and I will see that it is put on the agenda for discussion. Our beautiful summer is coming to a close, but there will be nothing more beautiful than an autumn drive in Cape Breton for an Al-Anon AWSC meeting. I am looking forward to talking & listening Public Outreach at the AWSC. Please come to the Friday evening PO meeting prepared to share and learn maybe tell us a special summer time Al-Anon outreach experience. Our Area newsletter, the News & Views, is an excellent tool for sharing your PO experience with Al-Anon worldwide. It would so exciting to see a PO report from every District in our future News & Views. Let it Begin With Me! I would like to thank the many Area 91 Al-Anon members, and the Alateen sponsors and members who do so much for Al-Anon Public Outreach. Please help us keep the links of communication open by sharing all your PO ideas and activities in the News & Views to help us reach out to Al-Anon members worldwide. Your grateful Al-Anon trusted servant, Area 91, Maritime Provinces, PO Coordinator Technology Coordinator Our wonderful summer is turning into fall, and we'll be at AWSC very soon. 2

3 Some of you may have noticed the website has experienced a few changes over the summer months. Besides adding and updating documents found on the site from Assembly, Webmouse has reworked the colours on the site so they would also be compatible with smartphone/mobile use. Content on the site did not change. Our old colours, sadly, were very unfriendly, and nearly impossible to see text in a mobile setting. Our new colours work very well in the mobile setting, so for those of you viewing your sites on your mobile phones, or who had previously tried and given up because you couldn't read them, you should have no problems now. The only hitch is that the passworded area can only be viewed as a traditional site, and does not have a mobile view component. For those non-technical members out there who are reading this and thinking "big deal". It really is because younger folks live with their phones and are very used to being connected and getting instant information from them. That means we need to keep up with the times and be able to provide information in a workable format when they want it. Those same young people may be our newcomers someday. Thanks Webmouse for the great new look on our site. As always, I am available to assist with technical questions, and don't forget you can ask them and have the answer posted on the website for all to see as well. Keep sending your meeting updates and calendar events in. They are added as soon as we can do them. Thanks again and see you at AWSC. Hugs, Technology Coordinator News and Views We all took a break after the newsletter was sent out in July after we fixed a couple of minor glitches that were corrected quickly. Before I forget; the next News and Views Coordinator will bea member of District 7. She has indicated that all communication communication will be done through the news and views address, that way she ll not miss any subscriptions if sent to her personal address. You may also contact her by telephone directly, leave a message if need be. We were asked to reprint the items for renewals that News and Views needs to know from the membership, so here they are: 1. You are replacing someone who is getting the N&V s currently, 2. Your address has changed, 3. Your subscription is not to you by snail mail on or before the 20 th of the month, or 4. Not to you by the 15 th for . To date we have managed to get the newsletter out on the first full week of the publishing month, if a holiday falls on that week, we will have it for the next Monday. Our lick and stick partners meet on Monday s to do their magic. One more item that has cropped up this year and that is requests from members to the News and Views address to accept an invitation to Facebook. Our committee does well to respond to the s that deal with N&V s issues, we will not be accepting any invitation to Facebook. If we are on there by error would you kindly remove us as we keep getting reminders and we keep deleting. Thanks for your understanding. News and Views Coordinator, News.ViewsA91@gmail.com District Reports District 4 Glendale Concerned AFG celebrated our 33 rd Anniversary on April 1 st, 2012 in the H.O.W. Club rooms on maple brook Road ; as usual our Higher Power provided us with a beautiful afternoon. Monastery Serenity group hosted our meeting with both an Al-Anon and an AA speaker. It was a great meeting. Lunch and fellowship followed. District 4 I would like to express a heartfelt thank you to all who took part in the entertainment at assembly in Antigonish. Snow White, Tarzan, Sarah & Annie and Greg for his songs. It was a great evening. Thank you all. District 7 & 11 A big breath of fresh air as we step into September, after enjoying a wonderful summer. Our districts have been active over the past several months with attendance at a number of round-ups in our district and in neighboring districts. A number of AA Days with Al-Anon participation have also been attended and meetings put on by our members. The Saturday night open speaker meeting held in St Margaret s Bay has been successful; we are half way through the second season of these summer open speaker meetings. Two months left, come join us. See the web calendar for details. The fall will has us planning for our annual AIS Fellowship fundraiser October 20 th and planning is already underway for the Mid-winter Round-up in February, if in town, come join in. Our AIS office has just recently added our name, Al-Anon, to the 811 health system, province wide. We have been on the HRM health system for several years and have given our telephone number, contact and the area 91 web site for meetings. It is another way to have the Al-Anon name out to the public for those in need of our program. AIS Office Coordinator District 8 Hi, hope everyone is having a great summer so far. OUR district is pretty quiet this summer. September 22, 2012, our DISTRICT is having an Al-Anon workshop on "Conflict Resolution". Registration is 8:30am and we hope to close at 3:00 pm. There will be a draw also. There will be wallet cards available on this topic. The meeting will take place 3

4 at 4528 Prospect Rd, exit 13 on highway 101, turn south at the North Alton Hall. There will be a pot luck dinner, hot or cold welcome. We hope to see everyone out to enjoy the day. We always have fun on these days, so come and join in. Love in Al-Anon, District Rep, District 8 District 9 AREA WORLD SERVICE COMMITTEE (AWSC) 2012 MEETINGS SATURDAY,OCTOBER13, 2012 BETHEL PRESBYTERIAN HALL 9 BROOKLAND ST, SYDNEY, NS There will be an Al-Anon day at the same location with meetings throughout the day. Please attend and share with one another your experience, strength and hope. Registration will begin at 8:15 AM. Meetings begin at 9:00 AM and end at 4:00 PM. All Breaks and Lunch will be provided by the Host Committee. See info page at end of the newsletter Page 5 For more information Contact District 9 District Rep. District 15 News from Saint John / Sussex / Saint George, N.B. We are hosting a District 15, Anniversary celebration on Wed. Sept.19 at 8 p.m. at the Woolostook Group, Saint Mark's Church, 50 Dexter Dr., Saint John West. The grapevine will put on a Tradition's play as a warm up for an Al-Anon and A.A. Speaker. A lunch followed by an auction will round out the evening. AND... Al-Anon is cooperating with A.A. to put on a Grapeathon on Sat. Sept. 29 beginning at 4 p.m. with plays. This will be followed by a Chinese dinner, Old Timer's meeting and dance with live band (Side Kick). All of this for the bargain price of $20 per person. What a deal! All welcome!! District 15, signing out with love in service! AREA WORLD SERVICE COMMITTEE (AWSC) 2012 MEETINGS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2012 BETHEL PRESBYTERIAN HALL 9 BROOKLAND ST, SYDNEY, NS Accommodations: This list was sent back in June. It is the final day of the Celtic Colors so book your rooms as soon as you know for sure you are attending. {The list and map have been excluded from this version of N&V} Directions (from Hwy 105 or Hwy 104) Heading northeast on Kings Rd it becomes the Esplanade Keep right lane after Wentworth Park then turn right to Townsend St At the second set of traffic lights turn right to George St Travel short distance turn left to Brookland St. then turn left into the rear parking lot of Bethel Church For more information Contact District 9 DR by phone or Re: Al-Anon Family Groups 2013 International Convention Vancouver, BC July 5 7, 2013 MEMO FROM WSO Please consider making an announcement regarding Al-Anon s 2013 International Convention at your meetings and Al-Anon events. The Convention is an opportunity to: Strengthen our shared recovery as a worldwide fellowship See recovery, service, and unity in action Make new friends and see old friends Feel the excitement of being a part of a major International event Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate! Registration opens mid-september! Go to: which includes information regarding: Registration Housing/hotel Events taking place Entry requirements for non-canadian members 4

5 MEMO FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The WSO is preparing for the 2012 Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Membership Survey. The questionnaire will be opened for participation from September 10 to October 21, 2012, and posted on the Members Web site, The findings will be used to improve and increase awareness of Al-Anon Family Groups among professionals, the media, and the general public. The survey questions include, e.g., relationships to drinkers, age, ethnicity, and marital status. Members are also asked information about their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being, as a result of attending Al-Anon. Important background information about the survey is as follows: This study is the tenth Al-Anon Family Groups World Service Conference Approved Membership Survey conducted by the WSO. The survey has been conducted every three years since Any Al-Anon member in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, or Bermuda can participate. A computer with access to Internet is necessary to complete the questionnaire. The on-line questionnaire will be available in English, Spanish, and French. Members anonymity, the confidentiality of their addresses, and identity are protected. The survey results will be available in December 2012/January 2013 and posted on the WSO s Public Outreach and Members Web sites. General announcements with further information will follow in WSO newsletters, The Forum, and e-communities. Thank you for your involvement in the 2012 Al-Anon Family Groups Membership Survey. Your encouragement of the fellowship to participate in this important project is appreciated. Yours in fellowship, Executive Director 5

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Lifelines. Rhode Island. I NSIDE T HIS I SSUE 1 Area Assembly, OSYPC. 2 Groups without GRs New Blog http://www.riafg.org/ Lifelines Your Monthly Newsletter, June 2013 Edition Rhode Island Where: West Greenwich Community Center, 280 Victory Hwy (rte. 102), West Greenwich, RI Time: 8:30 (registration)