District 17 Newsletter

                            June 19, 2006

Peace and Serenity to all. I am late with this letter and apologize! I am in my working summer mode and am having a hard time sitting still long enough to take care of business. As if that is a surprise! I am very pleased with all that is happening in our district that I can’t say enough about it! If you have any other desires or items you want discussed, please bring it up at the meeting or call or email me. I need your input. Our 6th District (GSR) meeting of 2006 was held on May 30th in Florence. Ten people present for the meeting. Cliff, Steve, Jennifer, Barry, Dennis, Gordy, Marion, Laura, and Jill. Please invite group members to also attend the District meeting. The only way to really get a feel for what goes on is to be there. Please, try to bring one (1) other person from your meetings with you!      Finance Report

   The following items were discussed.

     0900 was again discussed. I have talked to the administrator at the Sheriff’s department and have worked out a tentative scheldule to update our phone system to include contact numbers. We will be able to put 10 phone numbers on the machine. We need a list of ten people that are willing to have their names on the list. So far I have 3 numbers for the list. Please contact me to be put on the list. Names will not be put on the answering machine, only numbers.
     Meeting cards are going to print this week as soon as a few last minute changes have been made. The meeting cards should be printed by the time you receive this letter.
Gordy P. was voted in as alternate DCM. Marion was voted in as secretary of the District. Congratulations to both of you and thanks for stepping up to the plate.
     We talked about Service Sponsorship. It is important to start talking about sponsorship at meetings even more than what we do now. Have a sponsor, be a sponsor. Continually talk about the benefits of service work. The payoff is good sobriety!
     Laura K. brought up traditions. We spent quite a bit of time discussing this issue. Historically, November is tradition month. Does your group study the traditions? Do you read them at your meeting? If you read them before the meeting, do people actually hear what is being read? Do they understand what they are about? Traditions are the backbone of AA, they keep us focused on our primary purpose, which is to carry the message to alcoholics who still suffer. A lot of suffering when on during the formation of the traditions and the answers they provide have kept AA focused. Maybe our groups could start studying one tradition a month. Thanks for bringing that up Laura!
     We also discussed the length of meetings and the length of the readings. The question is: Are meeting not long enough or are the readings too long? I personally feel that the readings are an important part of the meeting. Each meeting of course is allowed to choose how many and what readings we use. For a lot of AA’s, these reading may be the only time they hear them each week. So…it probably is important. As for the length of meetings, that is also dictated by each meeting. I believe that a meeting is one hour because that is the time we choose. Everyone seems to get a little (or lot) anxious when things go on longer. A meeting after the meeting is a great compromise to this issue. A group conscience can address these questions. Whatever we do, carrying the message is the main thing!
     The re-entry house has been closed and the VA is undergoing construction again. Those meeting are still being re-arranged. Hopefully these problems will be resolved.
     There also has been some real activity for the Jail meeting in Iron Mountain. Dennis is hard at work getting coffee and other needed support. He has also been in contact with our Area 74 corrections officer and trying to put something together in the form of a workshop in the UP. Good luck Dennis and thank you for all the work you have been doing. Dennis will give a short report on activities at our next meeting. I apologize for not allowing time at the last meeting for details on corrections. I will try to do better.
   Thanks to the Florence Tuesday night meeting for hosting our District meeting. The meeting following the meeting was excellent as usual.

In Love and Service,

Steve S., District 17 DCM, Area 74

P.O. Box 415, Iron Mountain, MI 49801