Serenity Sentinel. AWSC Meetings and Assembly Location Directions NOTE THIS DATE CHANGE: VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE

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1 Serenity Sentinel Volume: Panel 55 Spring 2016 Issue: #5 DONATION ADDRESS ALL Seventh Tradition donations, meaning all contributions from individual members, groups, districts, and AIS offices should now be sent to: MICHIGAN AFG INC. P O BOX LANSING, MI or NEW PayPal Option at MIAFG.org Please share this information with your group treasurer and your district and groups. The Serenity Sentinel, a quarterly publication, is the voice of the Michigan Area Assembly. A complimentary subscription is issued to all AFG groups registered with the Michigan Assembly, District Representatives, Assembly Officers, and Coordinators. Please direct any comments or questions regarding the Serenity Sentinel to the Editor. Please send all group information changes to our MIAFG Area Group Records Coordinator. Is this issue your personal copy? Be sure your group is receiving their free copy of the Serenity Sentinel. AWSC Meetings and Assembly Location Directions *St. Louis is nicknamed the Middle of the Mitten St Louis Church of Christ 1075 West Monroe Road St. Louis, MI * From US 127 take the M-46 exit (Saginaw/Edmore) Turn east onto M-46 (aka West Monroe Road) This large church is less than a mile from the exit, on the south side of the road 9AM-Registration Opens * 9:40AM-New Rep Orientation 10AM Assembly Begins AWSC Meetings-park in BACK lot ASSEMBLY-park in FRONT lot NOTE THIS DATE CHANGE: VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE DATE CHANGE FOR SPRING ASSEMBLY MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND ARRANGE YOUR CARPOOLS FOR JUNE 25TH Have you tried the group or individual PayPal donation button on MIAFG.org yet? Give it a try!! You ll be amazed at the ease of supporting MIAFG, and helping carry the recovery message. Serenity Sentinel Subscriptions Individual subscriptions are available for just $4.00 per year. If you are interested in receiving this Michigan AFG quarterly publication, please complete the form below. Include it with your check or money order ($4.00 for each subscription) made payable to Michigan AFG, Inc. and send it to NEW ADDRESS listed below: Serenity Sentinel c/o Michigan AFG Inc. PO Box Lansing, MI Name Address Apt # City State Zip Code You are welcome to also order GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS for your sponsor, those people whom you sponsor, or any other program friends! Please list additional subscription information on a separate sheet of paper.

2 Serenity Sentinel Sharing Sheet Deadline Schedule for submissions: March 15 June 15 September 15 December 15 Send your shares to the Serenity Sentinel Editor: Maggie S miafg-newsletter@hotmail.com Use additional pages if necessary Name: Phone: _ City/State: _ Please indicate your permission on your share as follows: If published, you have my permission to use this article on the Internet and share it with the Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Please use my first name & last initial, city-state-provincecountry for credit. Please sign me Anonymous. April 11-15, 16 April 16, 2016 May 13-15, 16 June 25, 2016 August 13, 2016 Oct 8, 16 Nov 12, 16 May 19-21, 17 July 6-8, 2018 July 2020 Calendar of Events WSO Conference, Virginia Beach, VA AFG 65 th Anniversary Celebration, Virginia Beach, VA World Service Office MI AFG 44 th Annual Convention Bay City Double Tree Riverfront, Bay City, MI Host: District 20 (Sandy C & Janet O) Spring Assembly NOTE DATE CHANGE AWSC St. Louis, use back parking lot Fall Assembly AWSC meeting, use back parking lot 45 th MI AFG Convention-Kalamazoo Radisson, Host District 2, Sharon G, Kim M Al-Anon International Convention Baltimore, MD AA International Convention with Al-Anon participation Detroit, Michigan Gratitudes & Greetings Feel free to send your gratitudes to the Serenity Sentinel. Please put AFG or Serenity Sentinel in the subject line & send to: I am an Al-Anon member I am an Alateen member miafg-newsletter@hotmail.com All sharings become the property of MI AFG and/or Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. and may be used in whole or in part to develop Al-Anon / Alateen material. (Electronic submission constitutes your agreement.) CAL CORNER from Many Voices, One Journey, p a member story (edited due to space constraints) using the Knowledge-Based Decision-Making approach to resolving issues in personal life. There were disadvantages.it took longer to talk things out I had to listen more.. Progress takes time in Al-Anon, and in personal recovery It also requires using a very slow process of letting go, plus awareness, acceptance and action. Have you read this valuable CAL book lately? Share with us, how it s enhanced your Al-Anon recovery Newsletter Editor Report-Maggie S. Apologies for the calendar date mistakes, especially August 13 th (correct date) for AWSC. Trusted Servants pages had a few errors and have been corrected. Look for the current newsletter on the MI AFG website. ARCHIVES REPORT Hugh W I took the Archives to the AA Spring Roundup, March 4-6 in Dearborn MI. It was well received by all who viewed them. My displays are getting better each time. A lot of people still don t believe Al-Anon has Archives. Group Histories are slowly coming in and they should be in books for display at our May Al-Anon Convention. I also hope to have more old stuff to display. In Service.Hugh Editor note: Winter Sentinel included the Al-Anon Longtime Member Questionaire page. If you missed it, see Hugh, or the Newsletter s Winter Edition that was posted on AFG, Inc. website.

3 DoubleTree ~ One Wenonah Park Place, Bay City, Michigan (Hotel reservation on separate form. Driving instructions on the back of this flyer.) SPEAKERS Friday: Mary Jane K., IL and Chuck K., WI Saturday: Tina H., MO Sunday: Helga H., MO Alateen Speaker: Corey M., MI AA Speaker: Bill H,, MO Make checks payable to: Michigan AFG Inc. Mail convention registration form to: Michigan AFG Convention P.O. Box Grand Rapids, MI For more registration information contact: Kathy B. SPECIAL DIETARY NEED: SPECIFY No refunds after April 12, 2016

4 GUESTROOM PREFERENCE (Subject to Availability) If more than one room is requested, please enclose a list of names and addresses, indicating which guests share rooms If you would like a confirmation sent to you via , please provide your address below. # of Rooms Standard Room 2 Beds Standard Room King Bed (There are a limited number of king bedded rooms in the hotel, we will do our best to accommodate these requests) Number of People in Your Guestroom Special Requests (Please check) Handicap Accessible Hearing Impaired GUEST INFORMATION NAME: ADDRESS: CITY STATE ZIP PHONE: FAX: ADDRESS: ARRIVAL DAY/DATE: DEPARTURE DAY/DATE: CREDIT CARD NUMBER: EXP DATE: NAME OF CARD HOLDER: OR CHECK OR MONEY ORDER ENCLOSED IN THE AMOUNT OF: Signature: Mailing Information: Doubletree Hotel Bay City Riverfront Attn: Reservations Department One Wenonah Park Place, Bay City, Michigan, Phone: Fax: LOCATION DoubleTree ~ One Wenonah Park Place, Bay City, Michigan DIRECTIONS GPS USERS: For the most accurate directions from your GPS to the hotel, please use the following address: 600 Saginaw Street, Bay City, MI FROM NORTH OR SOUTH INTERSTATE I-75: Exit 162A East (M25) for 2 miles. Hotel is just over the bridge on the left along the Saginaw River. After crossing the bridge, turn left at the first light which is Saginaw Street. Drive two blocks, turn left on 6th Street. Entry is straight ahead. In the heart of downtown Bay City between 6th and 7th Streets on the East bank of the Saginaw River. Reservation Request Form AFG Convention May 13-15, 2016 Group Room Rate: $ plus 11% tax per room, per night Cut Off Date: April 12, 2016 Check-In Time is 3:00PM Check-Out Time is Noon Please Note: Reservation request must be received in our office by midnight on the above cutoff date in order to guarantee the group rate. Request received after the above date will be subject to availability and the group rate is not guaranteed. All reservation requests must be accompanied by a first night room deposit, or guaranteed by a major credit card. Rooms will not be reserved unless secured by one of the above methods.

5 WSC Delegate Report to the AWSC As I travel this journey of recovery, I keep finding more and more to be grateful for, and an overwhelming sense of humility. Why me? And my sponsor says Why not you? The Conference theme this year is Realizing Our Spiritual Potential. It fits for me. Thank you all for being here today. Panel 55 is now a year old and we are all veteran rookies now. By the end of our Panel we will have it figured out just in time to pass it on to the next Panel. As a member of the Executive Committee, I participated in a conference call where we went over the Panel s Vision Statement, Mission Statement and Goal. The Committee determined that we are on track for these items, but that we still have work to do. As your Delegate, and in keeping with the We of the program, I also talked to each of your Coordinators to find out their insight on how far we have come, where we are going and is it the right direction. Also, what can the Panel do to help them fulfill their duties and responsibilities as Coordinators. The Coordinators, in general, agreed with the Executive Committee. Later today we will be asking the District Reps. the same things through the Area Inventory that was sent to all of you. I received from Renee, your Records Coordinator, the latest list of DRs updates. They have all been sent into WSO, so all DRs should have access to AFG Connect. If not, contact me. Now available from WSO are the January COB (Chairman of the Board of Trustees ) quarterly letter and the Annual report. These are both available on the WSO members website. A couple of things that stood out to me are that this is Paula s last COB letter. Connie H. (our Trustee at large) and Paula will no longer be Trustees after this year s Conference. They will be on your WSO Executive Committee. The Annual Report talks about everything that has been happening at WSO. It is 42 pages long with reports from your Executive Director Rick, finance, Public Outreach, Literature, IAGSM, administration, policy and many other topics. Several of the employment positions that were available last year have been filled. They too review the Mission and Vision Statements and Goal of the WSO. I find it interesting that WSO has a vender logo/statement on the website with a disclaimer next to it. Google AdWords ads has helped us double our CTR WSO website visits. Betty Ford Foundation, Hazelden and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism continue to refer to Al-Anon as a resource for family treatment. That is not to say we are endorsing them, but that they continue to use Al-Anon as a resource. I have been preparing for the upcoming World Service Conference being held at the Wyndham Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel 5700 Atlantic Ave. Virginia Beach, VA from April th, followed by the 65 th Anniversary Celebration of AFG. If you wish to send cards of encouragement, which will mean a lot to me, please send them so they arrive no earlier than April 9 th. At your November AWSC, I asked for your help on the Chosen Agenda Item for this year s Conference. Again with your help, the CAI from Michigan is in consideration for the Conference. How can Al-Anon attract younger, more diverse members beyond the current Al-Anon member being a 62-year-old heterosexual white woman; to maintain and increase Al-Anon s current membership? The Task Force that I have been part of for the past year, Acceptance of Communities, Cultures and Beliefs, is gearing up to make our presentation at Conference. Everything has been approved, and we need to figure out who will be presenting what. I have been contacted by Paula, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, to chair a new Task Force starting at this Year s Conference. It is on Spirituality in Discussion of Money at the Area. Again, I have to believe in those around me that see something in me that I don t see in myself. Of course, I said yes. I don t have to do it all. I only have to chair the Task Force, direct and delegate. Love gifts are still up in the air. I need your help. Please give it some thought and let me know what you come up with. The big thing on AFG Connect today is How do you plan on Celebrating Al-Anon s 65 th Anniversary? What will we do? Convention, Spring Assembly, Fall Assembly; what do we want to do? Next weekend is the US NCRDM where your Past Delegates help your current Delegates (or Alternate Delegates Ann) prepare for Conference, with a mock conference. As in years past I have been asked to participate in this year s Delegates Meeting. In the past it s been reading the Concepts. God has a plan. This year I have been asked to be the Saturday Night Main Speaker. Again I have to trust that they see in me what I don t see in myself. I am honored and humbled. The 2016 TEAM Event will be held in Lafayette, Arkansas Meet the Board will be announced at Conference. M.O.R.E will be happening right here in your home town. Membership Outreach on the Road Events has been going on for a couple of panels now and continues to serve the Members, Groups, District and AISs of MI AFG. I would like to let all of you know that your Officers and Coordinators are here to help you and your Groups succeed. All of us are willing and eager to come to your events when we are invited, to help in any means possible; service positions/structure, Traditions, Concepts, anonymity, autonomy, affiliations, etc. We as members need to reach out to those groups who are not connected with a GR or DR and ask what we can do to help them be part of the whole. Thank you for this opportunity to grow through service. Growing Through Service Mike D

6 Michigan AFG Treasurer s Report -Jodi B Thanks to the generous donations from groups and individuals, the 2015 year ended in line with our balanced budget, producing a net income of $47. Group donations for the year totaled $20,167 and we recognized $127 in PayPal donations. Cash balances as of 2/.29/16 totaled $12,174 in general checking, $6,580 in the Prudent Reserve, and $2,500 in the Convention fund. Group donations for January and February were $2,360, which helped to generate net income to date, of $2,167. If you would like copies of the detailed financial statements, please me at miafgtreasurer@gmail.com. EDITOR REMINDER all mailed donations to: MIAFG, Inc, PO Box 13165, Lansing MI NEW PayPal Option on MIAFG.org Michigan AFG AAPP Report On March 10, 2016, ninety-one AMIAS update of information packets were mailed. I ve requested that the forms be returned by April 1, All sponsors who send back their forms will be cleared through the ICHAT Michigan Criminal Offender s registry for the current year. *All AMIAS were notified via of clearance status.* Michigan AFG now has 24 Alateen meetings in the following communities: Ann Arbor (2), Battle Creek, Cadillac, Davison, Dearborn, Farmington, Ferndale, Fenton, Goodrich, Grand Blanc, Grand Rapids, Holland, Lansing, Monroe, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Southfield, Southgate, Sterling Heights, Traverse City, Warren (2) and Waterford. Thank you for your service to Alateen and for your cooperation in helping complete the paperwork! Yours In Service, Marti W Report of the Area Alateen Coordinator Michigan Alateens have been busy having fun, and attending their meetings. On February 20th, about 32 Alateens and Sponsors spent the day, and the night, at the Howell Nature Center. The Center s primary function is to provide a place where injured wild animals (the fourlegged, and the winged kind) are carefully nursed back to health, with the goal of releasing them into the wild. Those animals that cannot be returned to the wild because they would not survive (perhaps they lost a wing, or they are too disabled to fend for themselves for some other reason) are maintained at the Nature Center, and earn their keep by providing useful and informative education to the people who visit there. Many of the teens also enjoyed a turn on the zip line ride at the Nature Center. By all accounts, the outing was a complete success. The Spring Lock-in at Dawn Farms has been scheduled for May 21, 2016, the Saturday and Sunday following the Al- Anon State Convention. Dawn Farms is located in rural Ypsilanti. The Alateens and sponsors attending this semiannual event, get to see how a working farm functions, interact with the farm animals, and stay up just as late as they like. The usual activities include games, eating, (a large variety of healthy snacks, sloppy joes, and a party sub were on the last bill of fare) Unconditional Love, a candle-light Alateen meeting, and making crafts to raise funds for KOMIAC, (the annual KENTUCKY, OHIO, MICHIGAN, INDIANA ALATEEN CONVENTION, which is always held the last weekend in July). This year, KOMIAC will take place from July 29, 2016 through July 31, 2016, at Wright State University, in Dayton, Ohio. Please support your Alateens, so they will be able to attend this annual event, to which all who have gone before, look forward, with great anticipation. At this year s March Round-Up in Dearborn, which is an AA conference with Al-Anon participation, the Alateens made up a panel of speakers, who spoke about what Alateen had done for them. As always, their stories were from the heart, and moved those in attendance to greater appreciation of the Alateen program. Corey and Julie, the Alateen State Rep, and the Alternate Alateen State rep, respectively, split the task of the Alateen main speaker. It is a privilege to listen to these fine young women share their experience, strength, and hope with the audience of several hundred attendees. We can be grateful to have these young women represent Alateen in the beautiful State of Michigan. A word to Alateen Sponsors and prospective Alateen Sponsors and AMIAS (Al-Anon members Involved in Service to Alateen) The annual Michigan State Clearance update packets have been sent to all active Alateen Sponsors, and need to be returned, fully filled out, by April 1, If you have not received your Alateen Sponsor Update Sheet, please let Marti W. know. Her contact information is elsewhere in this publication. Web Coordinator Report from Jamie H The web site was last updated on January 19 th at which time I also added the link to the WSO meeting search page for a complete list of meetings. At AWSC, I requested a motion that would allow discussion and a vote to eliminate the double effort of meeting updates, by removing our meeting location page. I

7 suggest, we have a meeting tab that would take members right to the WSO meeting search page. By doing this it eliminates the need to keep the meetings in Michigan updated on our site as well as provides a better search engine to find meetings the members may be looking for. There has also been some discussion as to new pages that may be of benefit to add to the Michigan site on the Members only page: 1. A global calendar that would list group and district events that would provide a link that that information with a condition stating, that they are leaving our site to go to an event location. This will include a disclaimer/message stating: you are leaving miafg.org site, and we are not responsible for the content of the site to which you are transferring. 2. An Alateen Happenings page which the Alateen Coordinator can provide updates that would benefit the teens. The Alateen Sponsors can get their local events to the Alateen Coordinator and he can provide them to me to post on the website page, as well as a link if one is available. For this, we would still have to make sure that all the information is secure without names or locations, to protect the teens. In doing this, it also sticks to our traditions. 3. Would like to add a pdf version of the Michigan Policy Handbook to be available online for members to reference. I am thinking that this would not be its own page but a link on the Members page. 4. Between now and Spring assembly, I will be working on getting our site updated to a more device friendly site. What I mean by this is adding some code that will adjust the site automatically to the device that s being used to view it. Public Outreach Report-Beth B. Public Outreach has been kind of slow, up to and through the holidays. I have passed on information regarding Al- Anon contacts to the shared Upper Peninsula area. Also, I ve passed on Public Outreach information to a few groups. I m working on the display table for Convention and working with Jamie on a Spring Assembly presentation on Social Media in Al-Anon. After recently speaking with Mike, I felt a lot better about my position and role in Al- Anon Service. Lit/Forum Coordinator Report-Ross F. We now have a total of five e-books available from electronic media providers; Alateen-Hope for Children of Alcoholics, Courage to Change, How Al-Anon Works, and Having Had a Spiritual Awakening.. The last being only available as an e-book. There are also three audio books available; One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, Courage to Change and How Al-Anon Works. A few words of caution regarding the audio books. They are presented in a form not compatible as a tool, more along the lines of a novel. Listen to the samples available before you purchase and disregard the ratings (i.e.; 4.7 of 5 stars) as they are for the written books not the audio books. A reminder The complimentary group copies of The Forum are no longer being sent. If your group would like to continue receiving them, you must purchase a subscription. The subscription is still only $11.00 annually. Electronic versions are available. at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo they are $1.49 each, Apple itunes $1.99 each. An annual subscription is available from Barnes & Noble for $ Alternate Delegate s Report-Ann M It is good to be back in touch with you. Part of my own recovery is to be surrounded by winners. You are a winner, merely by your presence here while working the Al-Anon program to the best of our abilities. During the winter, I was given many opportunities to mind my own business, to lean on my higher power, complete the Recovery for Personal Progress with my sponsor, and to maintain perfect attendance in a workplace where sickouts have become increasingly popular. I ve been working on the sites for the 2018 Al-Anon and Alateen State Convention. I will report on the three locations in August, so please be there for your vote and voice. I wish to recognize the new District Representatives who have been in service for a year or less. I pray that you are growing in service and in your own recovery programs. Please take special care of your newest Group Representatives. You can make sure they are here for the Spring Assembly in June., where the highlighted Action Committees will be Alateen and Public Outreach. Please let your Group Representatives know, they will be enthused and inspired to bring new ideas to their home groups to embrace, and report back to us at the Fall Assembly. As a matter of fact, we d like to hear what the home groups are doing from the Action Committees when you, the District Representatives, come back in August!! If you cannot wait until August, shares are always welcome for the Serenity Sentinel. Coordinators, we will be having an April conference call, to see how the plans for Spring Assembly are coming along. I will be breaking my perfect attendance this Friday, March 18, 2016 when a group of us head to the north side of Chicago for the NCRDM (North Central Regional Delegates Meeting). Thank you for being you!

8 MICHIGAN AFG INC. P O BOX 83 HOWELL, MI Nonprofit Organization U. S. POSTAGE PAID Howell, MI PERMIT NO. 139 The above address is ONLY for OUTGOING mail. Please see inside for the current PO Box you should use. Important mail for the mailbox of: Your subscription? or is this the complimentary copy for your group? See page 1 for subscription information. PLEASE SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH YOUR GROUP If you don t see your fellowship communications at your meetings, find out who gets them! Check out the CALENDAR (page 2) to discover all the opportunities to meet with other members!