The Happy, Joyous, & Free Press

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1 Hudson Mohawk Berkshire Area 48 May EDITION Edition The Happy, Joyous, & Free Press The Area 48 Newsletter, published since 1974, is to foster unity and provide communications among AA members, groups, districts & the GSO. Tradition Five Checklist: 1. Do I ever cop out by saying, I m not a group, so this or that Tradition doesn t apply to me? 2. Am I willing to explain firmly to a newcomer the limitations of AA help, even if he gets mad at me for not giving him a loan? 3. Have I today imposed on any AA member for a special favor or consideration simply because I am a fellow alcoholic? 4. Am I willing to twelfth-step the next newcomer without regard to who or what is in it for me? 5. Do I help my group in every way I can to fulfill our primary purpose? 6. Do I remember that AA oldtimers, too, can be alcoholics who still suffer? Do I try both to help them and to learn from them? Concept Five Checklist: Do we encourage the minority opinion, the Right of Appeal, to be heard at our home group, district committee meetings, area assemblies and the Conference? What does our group accept as substantial unanimity? A A Pr i n ci p l es of t he Mon t h Step 5: - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Tradition 5 (long form): Each group has but one primary purpose to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Concept 5 (long form): Throughout our world service structure, a traditional Right of Appeal ought to prevail, thus assuring us that minority opinion will be heard and that petitions for the redress of personal grievances will be carefully considered. "About this slip business -- I would not be too discouraged. I think you are suffering a great deal from a needless guilt. For some reason or other, the Lord has laid out tougher paths for some of us, and I guess you are treading one of them. God is not asking us to be successful. He is only asking us to try to be. That, you surely are doing, and have been doing. So I would not stay away from A.A. through any feeling of discouragement or shame. It's just the place you should be. Why don't you try just as a member? You don't have to carry the whole A.A. on your back, you know! "It is not always the quantity of good things that you do, it is also the quality that counts. "Above all, take it one day at a time." Bill W. (Letter, 1958) Has our group experienced the tyranny of the majority or the tyranny of the minority? Does our group understand the importance of all points of view being heard before a vote is taken? - Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc. Page 1 In This Issue: Calendar of Events...p. 2 Grapevine Photo Contest.. p. 2 Archives Report...p. 3 Guideline Proposals...p. 3-6 Inv. Day Minutes...p A Letter From Bill...p. 15 A Letter From Don...p. 16 May Area Assembly...p. 16 NERF Flyer...p. 17 HMB Convention Flyer...p Meeting Schedule...p. 19 Order Form

2 Calendar of Events DATE EVENT HOST Sunday May HMB Area Assembly Central Cluster-District 14 (4, 8) June 2-4 NERF Mars, PA June 10 Joy of Service Day H. V. Cluster-District 16 (3, 7, 11, 15, 17) August 4-6 NYS Informational Workshop Rochester, NY September 9 HMB Election Assembly Eastern Cluster-District 2 (1, 18) October HMB Area Assembly Oneonta, NY November 3-5 HMB Convention Fishkill, NY November 11 Fellowship Day Western Cluster- District 12 (9) To view all upcoming HMB Area 48 Event FLYERS and District event flyers, as well as directions and maps, please view the Area website: Enter the Grapevine Annual Photo Contest Each year, Grapevine holds a competition for photographers to be featured in our Wall Calendar. We'd love to see your most striking photographs that reflect the joy of living, serenity, and other sobriety themes. Contributors of selected photos will receive a complimentary copy of the new Wall Calendar in which their photo appears and a Grapevine Pocket Planner. Go to and click on Photo Contest. Share YOUR story with Grapevine. Go to and click on Share. AA in the Military (Stories due May 5, 2017) Did you ever serve in the military sober? Were you ever stationed overseas or on a ship while trying to stay sober? What were AA meetings like in the military? What were some of the challenges? Is that where you found AA? Share some experiences about being in AA while serving your country. Service for the Holidays (Stories due July 5, 2017) December is a great time of year to reach out to alcoholics and do some service. What are some things you do to stay sober? What are the ways you stay grateful during December and New Years?) Share your experience! Page 2 See you soon! Cathy P. HMB Area 48 Grapevine Chairperson

3 Primary Purpose Statement: 8.0 Newsletter Guidelines The HMB Newsletter is published to foster unity and provide communications among AA members, groups, districts and the GSO. Subject Matter: Contents should be written within the guidelines presented in the AA Service Manual, Edition, page S41. It is the Area conscience that no personal s or phone numbers be published in the newsletter. The Newsletter may include: -- Committee reports from Committee chairpersons pertinent to AA activity. -- Flyers for Area Functions: i.e., Assemblies, Elections, Days of Sharing, Inventory, and Fellowship Days, State and Regional Forums, State Workshops, NERAASA, State and Area Conventions, including the International Convention. -- District activities will be listed in a calendar of upcoming events. Information required for inclusion is name of event, date, time, location, address, and contact person. Ideally, an anonymous will also be included. District event flyers will not be included in the Area newsletter. -- Event submissions from the Capital District Central Office (CDCO) can be included in the calendar with district events. Information required for inclusion is name of event, date, time, location, address, and contact person. Ideally, an anonymous will also be included. -- The Capital District Central Office can submit articles to the newsletter, following these same guidelines. -- The Area Newsletter is published 11 times a year. -- Monthly, February through November -- December/January, in which a single Winter Issue will be published. -- The Area Newsletter will be delivered primarily via posting on the Area Website and through distributions, with postal delivery to those with no address in Fellowship New Visions and available upon request. distribution will be those s listed for the GSRs or group contacts in FNV, all committee chairs and any other member upon request. Page 3

4 -- Proposals to be brought for consideration and vote at an Area Assembly must be published in the Area Newsletter and/or the Website three months consecutively prior to the date of the Assembly. Member Participation: -- All members are encouraged to submit articles for consideration for inclusion in the newsletter. Authority: Newsletter Editor and the Newsletter Committee will resolve all questions and comments and will approve all drafts before printing. 9.0 Technology Committee Guidelines Technology Committee The Technology Committee shall have direct oversight of the Area s technological communication tools, including but not limited to Area Website/s, District Websites, s, and electronic meeting information. The committee shall be a Standing Committee of HMB Area 48, with a Chair and Alternate appointed by the Area Chair. The Technology Committee will assist the Area chair by identifying the qualifications necessary for the committee positions. Website The HMB Area maintains a website at The Hudson-Mohawk-Berkshire (HMB) Area 48 AA Website is built as another mechanism to inform people about Alcoholics Anonymous in the HMB Area. The web site provides: Information about Alcoholics Anonymous in HMB Area 48, such as general structure and an events calendar. Page 4

5 Intra-Area communications between Area 48 representatives and the fellowship. Service information in the form of a service calendar and web pages for each of the service committees. General information about Alcoholics Anonymous and links to the GSO web page. Time and location of AA meetings within HMB Area. The website, its name, content and all related computer hardware and software, with the exception of the Web hosting service and the Internet service provider, shall be owned and supported by Hudson-Mohawk-Berkshire Area 48 of Alcoholics Anonymous. Content In keeping with anonymity, no personal telephone numbers or s will be published on the Web site. We do use anonymous addresses such as: Webmaster@aahmbny.org No paid advertisements will be posted to the website. Use of support services such as maps for directions to meetings can be used. Some events may have registration or information websites that will link from the calendar. When leaving the HMB Area Website some indication will be given to the user that they are leaving the HMB Area Website. A disclaimer statement should be included on the Website and should read This website is neither endorsed nor approved by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., or any given Internet provider. No copyrighted material shall be purposefully posted herein without the express permission of those individuals or Institutions possessing ownership of said copyrights. Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, and The Big Book are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. The Grapevine, and the AA Grapevine are registered trademarks of The AA Grapevine, Inc. The website shall conform to The 12 Traditions and The 12 Concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous and to the Structure and Guidelines of the HMB Area 48. In keeping with AA Traditions, the internet website shall cooperate with AA entities by providing references only, including a non-affiliation disclaimer. There shall be no reference or link to any non-aa material except specific internet software necessary to view the internet web site. Any use of copyrighted material from conference-approved literature will be attributed to AA World Services, Inc. or The Grapevine, Inc. as appropriate. Page 5

6 Meeting Lookup The Technology Committee maintains a meeting look-up webpage. This interactive application offers the ability to enter one or several search criteria (city, day of the week, county, etc.) to find meetings. The committee works closely with the Registrar to maintain up-to-date data. District Websites The area makes subdomain websites available to district free of charge for example: district12.aahmbny.org. The Technology Committee is available to support the district, but each district should have a webmaster responsible for maintaining their website. s The area makes anonymous s available to all area officers, committee chairs and alternate chairs, and district officers and committee chairs free of charge. The Technology Committee maintains the hosting of these s and is available to assist members in setting up and using the s. A sponsor and a prospective sponsee meet to talk for the first time. After describing his many bouts with the bottle, the would be sponsee finally asks, So, what do you think? I think you re going to go far in this Fellowship, the sponsor asserts. Wow? His young charge replies. Why do you think that? Because you have such a long way to go, the sponsor answered. Copyright AA Grapevine International Page 6

7 HMB AREA 48 Inventory Day January 14, 2017, Rensselaer, NY Minutes - Meeting called to order at 10:08 am by Don S., the Chair. Welcome to new DCMs and Alt DCMs: D02 Mike D18 Deb D04 Jack D05 Andy D13 Doris (Alt DCM) D05 Jeremy (Alt DCM) D18 Mike (Alt DCM) Tom (2016 Convention Treasurer) reported a surplus of $ (includes the $2000 seed money) returned to the Area, of which half will be sent to GSO. Don has visited the following Districts: 18, 2, 5, 4, 12 & 8 Next Month he will visit 3, 7, & 17 In March he will visit 1 & 11, May visiting District 10. Don announced that we need an Alternate Registrar. (Filled by William A. later in the Day.) Area Inventory - facilitated by Vicky S. Panel 65 Area 47 Delegate. Explained how the inventory would be conducted, and dispersed groups into their roundtables to discuss the inventory topics. Before the Inventory report backs, the Chair asked the DCM from D17 to give a report on the March Fellowship Day. Don G. reported that on March 4 th D17 will host the Fellowship Day in conjunction with the Hudson Valley Cluster D3, D7, D11, D15, D16, & D17. Flyer here: Report on meeting books: Thea There was a little delay due to last minute changes, but will be finished to send to the printer by the end of the weekend. Ready for distribution by the end of the month. Page 7

8 4 th Tuesday of each month at 7PM is the DCM conference call. To be on the call see Don. Note: The questions below were put together from last year s event. Answers and discussion points that came out of the questions are indicated after each question, with the number for the responding roundtable group. There were the following committees grouped for the round tables: a) PI, CPC, Grapevine and Archives b) BTG and Corrections c) Treatment and Accessibility d) DCMs Questions for the Inventory How did you first hear about AA? a) Friends, Family, Treatment Facilities, Lawyers, friends, family. c) Though Al-Anon, Treatment, Doctors, Family Members. d) From another Alcoholic. If the answer to the question above is that someone told you about AA, how did they first hear about AA? a) Meeting lists, law enforcement, counsellors in recovery, and other Members. b) Intervention. Probation. Alcoholic Parents. Church bulletin. c) More since last year due to CPC and PI work. Family, friends, interventions, judges, coworkers, doctors, literature, internet. Where do you think you would be today if the only thing that AA did was hold AA meetings? b) Not growing. At a meeting. c) Dead. In an institution. Nowhere. On drugs. d) Triple D s Drinking, Dead, or Divorced. What is the purpose(s) of HMB? a) It brings Districts together. Getting our opinions to GSO. Sense of Unity and Connection. b) Ideas to attract people to carry the message. Attraction rather than promotion. The purpose is to be a conduit from the District. Page 8

9 c) To share and exchange information through fellowship, the experience of others. To share between Districts down to the individual members. d) To facilitate information for the groups to the Districts, to the Area, and back. What would you like to see done differently at the Area meetings? a) Many leave early, and miss the reports. It would be good to have some kind of report on the committees before lunch. When there are breakout tables in the same room, people can t hear each other. b) Having workshops. c) Have a place for people who are not on committees to be welcomed in. d) Include the record keepers with the DCM groups. Have a training workshop for records keeping. Do we always allow the minority opinion to be heard? a) Yes b) Yes c) Yes d) Yes Do we set realistic short and long term goals? a) Yes, within the committees, but it s not understood what the Area s goals are. b) Some said yes, and others said no. d) Didn t know. Perhaps they should be in our Newsletter. Is there a frequent need for quick decisions? a) No, nothing happens very quickly in A.A. b) No. c) Yes, but we handle the group conscience when needed. d) Doesn t often happen. When does HMB exercise its Right of Decision? a) Yes. The Delegate s questionnaire should be with a broader sense of the issues, and not so detailed. d) Yes. Are mundane matters often sent to the groups? b) Some said all the time, and others said no. c) No. Concept 3 is used. Are members given the opportunity to speak freely at meetings? Page 9

10 a) Yes. b) Yes. c) Yes. Bring back the Ask-It Basket. If we were just creating an Area structure, what would we do differently? b) Rearrange the geographic area. c) Feel it s working. d) An ad hoc committee to look at restructuring. Do we have too many meetings within the Service structure or is it just right? b) Just right. c) Not enough. More workshops on service committees. d) No. Are members of the Area Committee chosen with care and consideration, placing principles before personalities? Is the spirit of rotation followed in this process? a) Some people feel that there are popularity contests in selecting people. b) Yes, with the new voting guidelines. c) Yes. d) It s good. What changes would you make to aahmbny.org? a) Two views: bad, and is good. Meetings website more user friendly. Some people can t search by District because they don t know what their District is. c) Hard to see on the phone. d) Online fill-in forms for changes. Approximately 40 of the groups in Area 48 contribute to GSO. What % of groups contribute to the Area? c)? Less than last year. d) No idea. What % of groups have GSRs? a) Don t really know. Think 70 to 75%. Some think less. b) Don t know. c) Not enough. Possibly 1/3? Page 10

11 d) No one knew. What % of groups participate in area and district activities? How can these numbers be improved? a) Can be improved by DCMs visiting the Groups and talking about the importance of the GSR. Chairs going out and making connections to the groups to ask how they can serve them. When there is no GSO, have the Chair as the contact to share the information from the District with the members. b) Information from educational workshops. Announcements at meetings. DCMs going to dark groups to encourage them to get a GSR. c) Spreading the word. Sponsorship. Bring a sponsee to an Area event. Do all groups know about the Area and the service we provide? a) No. b) No. c) Not enough. Have some groups provided negative feedback about the Area? If yes, what have we done to remedy this? a) Yes, we do get negative feedback about Area Service, and we try to educate them. A strong approach does not work. People feel a sense of non-relevance to the Area. Did you know info in the Newsletter. b) Yes. Explaining the necessity of the Area and GSO is the remedy. c) Yes. Suggest that people come to find out for themselves. Do we keep in touch with groups who don't send representatives to district and area events? a) Individually we feel we do. b) No, we don t know about them. c) DCMs and Alt DCMs go out to the groups to do outreach to dark meetings. Find contacts. What is our "service" message? How do we express the need for the service structure? b) To carry the message to the next Alcoholic. c) Not sure outside of immediate circle of service sponsor and sponsees. How well do we communicate with the Districts? b) Well through the DCMs. c) Always trying to get the word out about the Area events by announcements at the District. Are district activities fully reported to HMB? b) Yes, if the DCMs are at the Area meetings. c) Don t know. Page 11

12 Have all the physicians who practice within the boundaries of Area 48 been given a copy of the pamphlet "AA as a Resource for the Healthcare Professional? a) This has been a goal. We have been doing this. Some District are very good at this. b) No, we need to work on this. c) Don t know. Ask our Area PI Chair. Has each member of the clergy within Area 48 s boundaries been given a copy of the pamphlet "Members of the clergy ask about Alcoholics Anonymous"? b) No, we need to work on this. c) Not as much. Do these committees (area and district) establish annual goals? a) Yes. b) Yes. Do they take their own inventory? a) Not so much. b) No. c) Hope so, but not sure. Know we could do better. Are all of our Districts "fully functioning? b) Mostly. c) No. Looking at the 7 th Tradition they take care of themselves, but not beyond. if not, what needs to be done differently? b) Communication. Participation. A GSR for all Groups. c) DCMs need to get to the meetings and offer them what they need. Do we have the correct number of districts? b) Yes. Should we consider redistricting? b) No. Should we use clusters or sections? b) Yes. c) We use Clusters. Working fine the way they are. Do many GSRs attend district meetings but not area assemblies? Page 12

13 a) Yes. Some don t know they have the right to be here. c) Yes. Are we making service participation attractive? a) On individual level we try to. b) Yes, but we can improve. c) Yes. How do we utilize the experience of our Past Delegates? a) They go to groups. They make themselves available to us. b) Get them to speak at meetings, workshops and conventions. c) Ask them questions. Many come to Area events and make themselves available to us. Are there any other issues or concerns? a) Talked about the need for enthusiasm in the way we conduct ourselves and Service work, so more people become interested in it. Some service people feel isolated, but overall most feel they are doing a great job. Encourage newcomers. Bring them to Area events. Have a way to gage performance over the year. b) No. c) When is lunch? :-D The moderator talked about her experience in Area 47. She acknowledged the Past Delegates in the room. There were three at the event. Next Item on the Inventory Agenda (Open mic) Specific items to bring back to the Districts and ideas to do in the Area DCMs received a packet with contribution information. It s important that everyone uses a service . This is important for rotation, and anonymity. All Area folks are available to come to your District meetings upon request. Become familiar with the pamphlet The A.A. Group. How do we get members energized to get involved? Page 13

14 Conduct a Group Inventory. Folks who are not participating may not know how to get up and help. We should go directly up to people and ask them to help. We have a resource called Fellowship New Vision, which contains the Group information, and points of contact. It should be used by service people to make contacts. Pass around the announcements and flyers. Use the Traditions Checklist. Fill your car with members when attending events. GSR get packet. The Alt DCMs should get the DCM packet. Area Chair should meet and orient new Alt DCMs and DCMs. We should ask others why they do not show up and do not participate. Ask the Districts how we can better serve them. Look at modern ways of doing Committee work. When a District is dark, the info does not come back. It should be the job of all of us to visit dark groups and give them information about the Area. Group contacts need to hear us asking for help. DCM and Alt DCM should work together and share the duties. We are not here to dictate, but to serve. We need to be more transparent in letting people know what the contributions to the Area are used for. Every DCM should have a copy of the directory, and be distributing it to their District Service people, as well as to use it to make contacts with Area Service people. Everyone who has an address in our database from GSO gets an with links to events, and the minutes. If you do not get an from the Area, you need to Register with GSO with our Record Keeper. Keep an open source of communication, and accept that not everyone will want to get involved. Area Delegate and Chair will come to show how to do an election. Be proactive in getting volunteers. We need to pass around other newsletters. Educate the Groups that do not attend District and Area meetings. Use Clusters for events. The idea of DCM and GSR School. Educating folks with the NYSIW and NERAASA Vicky ended discussion at 2:24PM Area Business Area Chair Action Items were noted for March 4 th Tuesday Conference Call for DCMs and Alt DCMs Access Code BTG is the next topic. The real purpose of the Area Chair is to ask how he can help us. Treasurer report We are a 501C3 Not for Profit status. If Committee Chairs and Area people need to purchase literature, and need a tax-exempt number, see Tammie. November 2016 Fellowship Day minutes: approved Motion made and seconded to adjourn. Carried unanimously. Meeting closed with the Responsibility Pledge. Page 14

15 A Letter From Bill As I am writing this I am also getting ready for Conference. The 67th Annual Meeting of the General Service Conference will be held in Rye, NY, from April 23-29, with the Delegates all meeting for the first time the night before, on Saturday, the 22nd. Once we begin at 9:00am Sunday morning, we will be on 14+ hour days. Each day formally begins at 9 (7:30 if you want to have a meeting first) although some Committees, including Public Information which I am Alternate Chair of begin earlier, and ends sometime after 10 that night. Yes, it is exhausting. However, it is also exhilarating. Each day is one spent working on AA business with other people who are just a deeply in love with our Program and you yourself are. It is an incomparable experience, and one I am deeply grateful to all of you for giving me. I am very sorry that our Annual Delegate s Day of Sharing had to be cancelled. I was looking forward to it and had spent a lot of time preparing for it. With 91 different items to consider at Conference I was very excited to have your input on 10 of the most important and potentially controversial questions. Of course, the weather in the Northeast in the springtime is very unpredictable and the fact that snow and ice came along is not very strange. Certainly, the fact that the storm was continuing into the very day of the Area event meant that we could not in good conscience ask people to drive into the Adirondacks and risk potentially serious accidents. Many of you have risen to the occasion and sent me the completed questionnaires so I am not flying blind here I do have a great deal of your experience, your thinking, and your discussions, with me. When I come back, I will have my presentation on the Conference ready to give to you at our May Area Assembly in Florida. I hope you can be there. I will try to have a full report back that will run for an hour or so and cover the topics we discussed and the votes we took. (A note to DCMS: If there is significant interest in your District, I can also come to one of your meetings and give this.) The report will include enough background on how Conference works that it should be clear even to fairly new GSRs and others only recently in service. The May Assembly is also a voting Assembly this means that in addition to Area Committee members, DCMs (or their Alternates), all GSRs (or their Alternated) have a vote. So, if you can make only a couple of Area events in a year, this is one that you should attend. Then in June, we will gather in Stone Ridge for our Joy of Service Day. Just mentioning this Area meeting gives me the opportunity to talk about AA service. This September we will holding our Area Elections in Defreestville. What service position are you interested in? Are you thinking of standing for your Group s GSR? Perhaps being a District Committee Chair or Alternate DCM or would you like to stand for an Area position? It is not too early to be thinking about this. Your first step is to talk with your Service Sponsor. If you do not have one, get one. Find someone in Service who seems to be doing a fairly good job and is happy doing it. That s all you have to do. Speak with that person and get some idea of what the difference jobs entail. Believe me, with a few exceptions they do not take all that much time. They are also and I am speaking from experience here good for one s sobriety! Please start thinking about this soon. And finally please put our Area Convention on your calendar! November 3-5 at the Ramada Conference Center in Fishkill. I look forward to seeing you there and having a chance to spend more with you. Page 15 In Fellowship and In Service, Bill W. Delegate Panel 66, Area 48, HMB

16 A Letter From Don We had a good conference call March 28, callers as well as the host. We continued a discussion about trying to get Groups to accept responsibility for one business or one facility into which they would carry the message. In an unfortunate turn of events the Grillin & Chillin could not be held as the driving conditions throughout most of our Area were dangerous. I hope everyone could send Bill their informed opinions on the topics raise in the Delegates questionnaire. Rapidly approaching is our Spring Assembly remember this is an Area voting event. GSRs are encouraged to attend and vote on proposals. We will also hear from our Delegate who will share with us the highlights of the General Service Conference. MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYING FOR BILL Ws AND HIS WIFES CONTINUED GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING!!!!!!!!! In Service, Don S. Area 48 HMB Chair May Area Assembly Sunday, May 21, am 3pm Florida Town Hall 167 Fort Hunter Road Amsterdam, NY Page 16

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20 HMB Area Association (8/2016) Ship and Copy 118 Polar Plaza, #114 Amsterdam, NY 12010