Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Monthly Newsletter of the Pinellas County Intergroup Volume 5 issue 4 April 2017
The 2017 Picnic are you ready?
Opinions expressed in Plain & Straight are
not those of Alcoholics Anonymous, nor
does the publication of any article imply
endorsement or affiliation by Pinellas
Intergroup or Alcoholics Anonymous.
A.A. and the A.A Symbol are registered
trademarks of Alcoholic Anonymous
World Services, Inc.
Pinellas County Intergroup
8340 Ulmerton Rd Suite 220
Largo, FL 33771
(T) 727-530-0415
(F) 727-530-0416
Editor: Sonya B.
Inside this issue:
Cover News Cover
Bulletin 2
Service 3
Groups, Meetings and this Month in AA 4
Things to Do 5
Unity 6
Anniversaries 7
Intergroup & Group Contributions 8
We are excited about the 2017 Annual Pinellas Intergroup Picnic. The picnic will be held on Sun-day, 4/23/17 at Fort De Soto meetings, raffles and breakfast will be at pavilion 4.
The logo for this picnic encompasses everything we stand for as a group of recovering alcoholics. Engaging in Service, Recovery, and Unity, you will find the love and serenity you’ve always searched for. We decided on the life saver because, when you stand with all the principles high-lighted in this logo, you are guiding someone to a new life, free of alcohol.
Service work is what keeps AA going! We have a lot of service work opportunities for this picnic:
Raffle Tickets. If you are outgoing, we could use your talents selling the raffle tickets.
Kids Activities.
Soda/Ice Sales. We need people to sell water and soft drinks.
Breakfast. We need help with serving, setting up, and taking it down. Photo Booth. We need people to take pictures. Basically, they will have you take the picture
with a cell phone.
Trash Clean Up. We need people to monitor the amount of trash and dispose of it. Also, we need help at the event.
T-Shirt Sales. You have two options for getting involved: 1. You can email us at [email protected].
2. Or, if you wish to scan this QR code, it will take you to form
2
1939 – “Alcoholics Anonymous”, AA’s Big Book was published.
1940 – Larry J. of Houston, wrote The Tex-as Preamble used to open AA meetings in Texas.
1966 – Sister Ignatia died at the age of 77. She worked with Dr. Bob in treating many early AA members at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron.
1938 – Alcoholic Foundation held its first meeting.
1939 – Marty M. attended her first meeting a the home of Bill and Lois W. in Brooklyn.
1940 – The “Texas Preamble” used to open meetings in Texas, was written by Larry J. of Houston.
1960 – Bill W. refused to be on the cover of Time Magazine.
1
(New Meetings)
LET'S GET BETTER TOGETHER - LGBTQ - WCA
The Warehouse Club Of Dunedin
2024 Main St
Building is off King Arthur Ct., FL
Effective 3-25-17 ODG
KOALA , added a traditions meeting to OBB.
ROOT AND BRANCH - WCA
Woodlawn Presbyterian Church
2612 12th St North
St Petersburg, FL 33704
813-480-4858 Closed Discussion Lead Literature
(Changed Meetings)
NEW BEGINNINGS WOMEN'S MEETING - WCA
Mission City Church (formerly) Pathways Community
801 Seminole Blvd
Largo, FL 33770 Moved to Indian Rocks effective 3-1-17
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH
Church of the Isles
200 24th Ave
Indian Rocks Beach, FL 3378
Group Number: 00012-03-54
HIGH NOON DAILY - WCA
Rebos Club
4001 74th Street N
St. Petersburg, FL 33709, Sunday 1:30 OD , for Elders. 1st Sunday
Group Number: 00069-68-57 Rebos Club
JAYWALKERS – Changed Location 4001 74th Street N
St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Group Number: 00071-80-42
WALSINGHAM GROUP - WCA
Sabala Plaza
14100 Walsingham Rd.
Largo, FL 33774Suite 32 Beginners Meeting 7pm .
Group Number: 00010-37-10
HOME GROUP
Allendale Methodist Church
3803 Haines Road N.
St. Petersburg, FL 33703-5643
(in back) CBBD, Last Thursday Celebrant / Speaker
(Deleted Meetings)
Group Number: 00067-77-81 NOT SO LATE NITE - SM - WCA 5700 Shore Blvd. S. Gulfport, FL 33707
3
Archives 3rd Saturday 130pm
Alano Club - Dolphin Village
4615 Gulf Blvd. #112 St. Pete Beach
Corrections 2nd Monday 630pm
Central Office 8340 Ulmerton Rd #220 Largo
Grapevine 3rd Saturday 11am
Central Office 8340 Ulmerton Rd
#220 Largo
Intergroup 3rd Monday 7pm
Holy Cross Church
7851 54th Avenue N., St. Pete
Literature Committee
1st Wednesday 630pm
Panera Bread | Bardmoor Village
10801 Starkey Rd
Largo
PI/CPC Last Monday 6pm
Central Office 8340 Ulmerton Rd #220 Largo
Special Needs Last Thursday 6pm
REBO’s 4001 74th Street N. St. Petersburg, 33709
Treatment Last Saturday 10am
**NEEDS VOLUNTEERS TO TAKE MEETINGS TO VARIOUS FACILITIES! **
The 1250 Room
1250 Seminole Blvd. Unit #3 Largo
Website 3rd Saturday 10am
Central Office
8340 Ulmerton Rd. #220
Largo
Corrections would like to Thank:
Norman Keating RIP, Oldsmar Group, Abe’s Place, Seminole Group & GOYA Serenity Club
For donating Literature in March.
You can donate new or gently used literature at the
Intergroup Meeting each month
Ft. De Soto Picnic Volunteers
April 23rd | Pavilion 4 F| Ft. De Soto Park
Contact Picnic Chair Tom [email protected]
Helpline Hospitality Suite SERCYPAA
June 2nd 9 to 11pm | Volunteers & Food Needed | Call Central Office or Helpline Chair
Dave R 727-543-3343
Gratitude Dinner
May 7th 5pm | Central Office
District 1 Meetings
DCM & Officer Meeting | May 13th 10am | GSR Workshop 9am
Delegates Report / Pot Luck | May 20th Noon
Location: Church of the Good Shepard 10891 102nd Ave N. Largo
Corrections Committee
We need male sponsors at West Care in St. Petersburg. |
The 12 Step Pinellas County
Helpline Needs more Volunteers: Scan the QR code to go right to the sign up page!
Service Opportunities Pinellas County
4
(PCI publishes material and articles in this newsletter that are created by 3rd parties. PCI does not endorse or assume responsibility for any 3rd party material or articles.)
Groups, Meetings and this Month in AA
Meetings
Meetings are the mainstay of Alcoholics Anonymous. There are over
600 meetings weekly in Pinellas County. A chairperson, who is usual-
ly a member of the group, will open the meeting and follow the for-
mat for the type of meeting it is --beginner, speaker, discussion, etc.
If the chairperson asks if there are any newcomers, feel free to raise
your hand and give your first name. This way, people will know
you're new and will be able to help you even more.
Pinellas County Group Highlight of the Month
Bring your own coffee (BYOC) 7 am Meeting The BYOC meeting meets at 7am Mon – Fri in the large back room of the Serenity Club. You enter through the door at the end of the ramp as the club isn’t open at that time. Each day of the week the group has a different focus:
The group started on June 2nd
, 2012 and is now in its 6th year.
Group size ranges from 20 – 40 members and the group sits in a square so everyone can see each other. Sharing is in an around the room format either clockwise or counter clockwise and generally everyone has an opportunity to share something. (Generally, 2 – 4 minutes per person.)Over the years, the meeting has evolved into a wide range of attendees. New so-briety to 40 + years. With Clearwater Beach, just down the road we get many out of town visitors, who return regularly each year. The group began as an idea due to location (downtown clearwater), to support the Serenity Club expanding an already solid slate of daily meetings. Additionally, it had been discussed over 2 different full periods and a challenge by a sponsee lead to its final ultimate development. Several im-portant early decisions:
Name – Bring Your Own Coffee (BYOC) We did not plan to have coffee. After one day a member brought a coffee pot in and we’ve had coffee ever since. No name change has oc-curred. (The club sells coffee but isn’t open until 9 am, so we were allowed to brew.)
The core group of members who committed to come to the meeting at the beginning and who continue to attend today have helped solidify BYOC as a great solution based meeting for Clearwater and Pinellas county. We all are forever grateful for their commitment.
Come and join us when you are in the area. We always have room for 1 more.
The Steps, Traditions & Concepts— April
Step Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves Tradition Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole. Concept Throughout our Conference structure, we ought to maintain at all responsible levels a traditional “Right of Participation”, taking care that each classification or group of our world servants shall be allowed a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
Tradition 4—From a Local Member
When I look at all the groups in this area, I begin to realize that there are many different approaches to the delivery of our mes-sage. There are also many interpretations of how the Traditions should be followed. Some groups may look at the Traditions as an unwavering set of principles to live by, and others may see them as a set of spiritual principles that ebb and flow. Tradition four gives each group the right to run their group as they see fit. The only qualification is that the group does not affect A.A. as a whole. Even this qualification can be a matter of opinion—what affects A.A. as a whole.
The Twelve and Twelve talks about the ‘right to be wrong’ (p. 149). While I understand this concept, I believe it is more about the right to be different. Admitting our faults can be extremely difficult. When I tell other drinkers that they need to quit because their drinking is ‘wrong’, I set up a battle rather than a solution.
Most of us have found out the hard way that even though other people had told us we were wrong, we still went down the ‘wrong’ path. While this may be a truth in one sense, the real truth is the ‘wrong’ path is the path that led us to Alcoholics Anonymous (our ‘right’ path).
Just like the groups in Alcoholics Anonymous, we as individ-uals make mistakes. Yet, isn’t it through our mistakes that we learn our greatest lessons? And haven’t some of the greatest discoveries of mankind been brought forth due to a mistake? In this way, our mistakes are not failures, they are stepping stones. When I allow a group, even my group, to make mistakes, I am allowing growth to occur. Sometimes I am the one that grows because I begin to recognize that the mistake wasn’t the group’s mistake, but my own.
Just a little side-note, I have been asked to shorten these articles about the Traditions. So, here you have it. Use the things I left out to allow the autonomy of your own thinking to push through.
The Gift of Recovery because of Love and Service
Without the many recovering alcoholics who engage in service every day, the newcomer would be flying solo. Through sponsoring others, many of us have found what a rewarding experience it is to walk someone through the 12 steps. When we first come into the program, many of us feel that We do not have anything to offer with regards to service work. That is far from the truth. Simply making coffee, or introducing yourself to other alcoholics; you are performing service work.
Recovery is a gift many of us never thought possible. It is like the calm waters that our beaches here in Pinellas County offer. The peace and tranquility of recovery can be felt like the sunset that wipes away our anxiety.
5
Travel AA Things to Do Get Out and Get Active
Don’t see your event or special date? Please submit event info to P n S Editor at [email protected]
April
Pinellas County Intergroup Picnic
April 23rd Ft. De Soto Picnic Tierra Verde, FL
Country Roundup
April 28th—30th | [email protected] | Chipley, FL
May
Dick D. Memorial Coed Softball Tournament
May 6th Gasden Park Register by May 1st | Teams of 12 $100| Call Tim Central Office Tampa 813-933-9123
Holiday Isles 60th Anniversary
May 6th 6pm to 8pm | Dinner, History Meeting, Raffles & Band “Rule 64”
Sunshine Convention
May 19th—21st | Defuniak Springs, FL
Our Common Problem Anniversary
May 26th 6pm | Dinner & Tradition’s Play | Prince of Peach Church Fellowship Hall
Group Announcements
Rebos open 7 days a week.
Every Sunday at 1:30 Jaywalkers Meeting
3rd Saturday of every month, the 5:30 Into Action group will have dinner at 5 followed by a speaker meeting
3rd Saturday of every month the Saturday Night Bonfire meeting has an eating meeting out under the stars.
Any event which is run by A.A’s, about A.A., and for A.A’s is an event. Some are under the auspices of regions, areas, or districts; others of central offices or Intergroups or
even groups; and still others of a committee of A.A. members. Al-anons are included in some events. Many of the events are service-connected, others are purely for A.A.
sharing and fun. (News and notes from the general service office of A.A, aa.org website G.S.O’s Frequently Asked Questions
6
March Unity Meeting Groups, Speakers & Highlights
March 4,2017/Open Door Group Largo@8pMon,Tue,Fri Joe-"Come early Friday's Spkr Mtgs & Anniv@last Friday monthly!" Alex-"You can't catch alcoholism in AA mtgs. Keep coming back & catch sobriety." Melissa-"I had little to do with my sobriety, my HP put these people around me." Danny-"Open Door is incredible! Meet them & you will love the meetings!" Kelly-"In that alcohol clouded mind, there were no other choices & in my mind (the shame of coming back) & nobody shamed me!" March 11, 2017/Keep It Simple Group Sunday Speaker@9:45a@Mease Hospital Dunedin Matt-"SD12/29/14. Once I finally believed in the steps & moved on, my life has gotten better!" Steve-"SD3/6/04. At 3.5 years sobriety, I got rear ended, had back surgery & fixed it, then severed a nerve in my hip...I finally ac-cepted I am disabled & will have pain & won't be able to get out of bed some days & I'm playing checkers, like my sponsor says 'checkers can occupy your mind if you have chronic pain." March 18, 2017/AttitudeAdjustment@1812HighlandCwtr(6days/wk@7a) Jack"SD2/13/15. This program taught me to grow up;I had to heal from the inside out." Andy-"SD1/17/10. It's not what you drink, how you drink, where you drink, when you drink; it's what happens when you drink." March 25, 2017/4th Dimension Dunedin Michelle"SD11/17/10. Being happy comes from the inside. If I get a negative thought I turn it into a positive." Doug"SD7/18/14. I got relationship w/ my kids back & met my beautiful wife & it's all due to AA." Catherine"SD6/14/90. I found out the reason why I needed to take the steps, after I took the steps."
Who is Coming Up? Meet people from other groups for fun, fellowship & Unity!
4/22/17 Back to the Book
04/29/17 What's Your Motive
05/06/17 St Pete Group
05/13/17 Attitude Adjustment
05/20/17 2250 Group
05/27/17 Design For Living Group
06/03/17 Today in Sobriety
06/10/17 Attitude Adjustment
06/17/17 Blind Pass
06/24/17 Find Yourself
7
NOVEMBER 2016
Birthday Contributions: Kathleen F. $17, Derrell $11 2250 Group
Please only send anniversaries for the month. Please don’t send next month’s anniversaries. Also please send only one email with all your
celebrants. Submission deadline 3rd of Each month. GO TO AAPINELLAS.ORG
8
Stay “In the Know” of current meeting changes, events “In the Know” of current
meeting changes, events and other AA related topics by getting them delivered
right to your inbox!
Visit: www.aapinellas.org and click the link on the main page
Correction’s from last months newsletter:
Intergroup Page
Corrections in this Issue:
St Pete Group Anniversaries
Susan L. 1 yr
Elise P. 1 yr
Brenda P. 2yr
James T. 3yr
Ike R. 5yr
Elyssa A 5yr
Susan T. 9yr
Nancy J. 15yr
TOTAL
4th Dimension Group 40.00
A Power GreaterThan Ourselves Group 28.90
A Work In Progress Group 50.00
Abe's Place 250.00
After Work Bunch 225.00
Find Yourself 30.00
Free Spirits 55.00
Holiday Isles Group 206.00
Intergroup Meeting 90.00
Monday Night Speakers 300.00
Personal Donation 100.00
Primary Purpose 55.80
Real Happy Hour Group 50.00
Serenity Seekers Group 89.77
Simple Solution 70.95
St Pete Group 10.00
Steering Committee Meeting 10.00
Step Into the Spirit 50.00
Step Up To The Plate 20.00
Sunrise Sunset Group 581.00
Sunset Beach Group 141.00
THE GOD STUFF 56.00
TOTAL 2,509.42
The New Website
is live!!
Check it out at
