District 17 Newsletter

                      April 12, 2006

The last month has been a whirlwind of AA activity. First we had our 4th district meeting, second I attended the Spring Assembly in Three Lakes and last but not least was the Intergroup in Escanaba and then in the Iron Mountain/Kingsford area. These will all be discussed in detail below. All I can say is that Service Work is a great means to experience what carrying the message is all about. If you truly want to grow in AA get involved in Service Work. Set the example by attending workshops, District meetings, make the coffee, clean the tables, commit a few minutes of your life in repayment for your sobriety for which without we would perish in a sea of Alcoholism. Carry the message to thousands who still suffer  That is our primary purpose
     Our 4th District  (GSR) meeting of 2006 was held on March 27th in Crystal Falls at the United Lutheran Church at 5:45.  We opened with the Serenity Prayer.  Steve S., DCM, and Cliff W., Treasurer, district 17, attended the meeting along with 18 GSR’s and group contacts.  The meeting was actually huge  I apologize for not naming individuals and not doing minutes. We really need a secretary for our district   For now I will again touch on the highlights.

     The following items were discussed and have had some action taken.        Finance Report

  1. Barry R. gave an update on the 0900 number. He is working with DCH on the possibility of having our hotline set up at the hospital. So far it is only in the talking stages. We have been asked for a sign with the 0900 number and literature to post in the ER room for those needing/wanting help with alcoholism.
Cliff W. is going to check with our current telephone carrier and see if there are options for the answering service to be hosted by them.

  2. We now have a correction’s committee in our District. It is co-chaired by Keith K. and Laura K. of Iron County and Dennis S. in Dickinson County. It is refreshing to see such a commitment to service. They have been doing the jobs for many years, but now it is somewhat official. Please support them in any way possible. Marion also gave an update on women’s corrections, it seems to be alive and well.  I would like to thank all of you for carrying the message into our jails.

  3. We also have a P.I. committee. It is chaired by the same people as corrections.  We are trying to get our public information together. It would be great if an individual would put on a small PI workshop or put together a short report for our next district meeting. Barry R. will continue to follow up at the Hospital and  in P.I.

  4. Meeting cards were discussed. Please have all corrections turned in by the next District meeting so we can go to print immediately. An approximate  cost of $125.00 was reported for 1000 meeting cards.

  5. I am repeating what was printed in the last newsletter about finances. Please read this. Do we need to have a finance committee to audit the funds of the area, such as Intergroup, the District, all funds spent? Intergroup has always been a separate entity in our area, do we want it to stay this way?  What about the annual AA picnic? Do we want to form a central office that administrates all AA functions like most areas of the country? This is a long term thought, not one for next week   Again Cliff has done a great job as district treasurer and we need to thank him for the super work he is doing. We need to save money where possible and make sure all funds spent are presented to the district and verified with receipts of all district purchases. Emailing minutes, newsletters, treasurer reports, etc. will save substantial funds over a year. By building our credibility as a district committee we may find ourselves with more contributions, especially if we start explaining the 60, 30, 10 split of group funds. All GSR’s should be approaching their groups with this in mind and explaining that the district is trying to change to better serve the groups. Please read the service manual; fund raising is addressed. We need a volunteer to head an audit or finance committee. Consider asking your group members to contribute more than one dollar to the basket if they can afford it. Do it yourself if you can. Examples are how we promote attraction over personalities.
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