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The Pigeonwww.area36.org Newsletter of the Southern Minnesota Area 36 Assembly September 2009
The Pigeon is a confidential A.A. publication meant only for A.A. members. It contains members’ full names and addresses, just as A.A. directories do. This usage does not in any way violate our tradition of anonymity to the public communications media. Names, phones #s, addresses, & email addresses may not be used for any solicitation purposes.
Delegate’s Report
Area Chair’s Report
www.area36.org Newsletter of the Southern Minnesota Area 36 Assembly September 2009
I can’t believe how fast time goes by. I just got done updating my cal-endar for the year 2010 and it will be a busy one for this delegate. Be-sides the regular Area events I have a Board Weekend (5 days) in the end of January in New York City, the Regional Service Conference at the beginning of March in Dubuque Iowa, the General Service Con-ference in Rye New York in April, the International Convention in San Antonio in July and a Special Forum in Rapid City in late Octo-ber or early November. As I like to say “A.A. is getting their money’s worth out of me. The real shock when putting the dates on my calendar was the fact that we just set the agenda for the October Assembly and I already have the date on my calendar for the 2010 Election Assembly and I’ll be stepping down from having an active job with the area. It’s a good time to read up on Concept IX and start thinking about our future area officers. Let’s look at our Trusted Servant Guidelines and the job descriptions in the Service Manual as we still have a year before we have to elect a new Area Committee via new Area Officers, DCM’s elected by their districts and appointed Area Committee Chairs.I walked away from this past weekends Area Committee Meeting with a sense of unity within the Area. The agenda is set for the Octo-ber Assembly and most of it pertains to how we carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic. I’ve seen e-mails from members asking to help in some of the area events and the committees’ are all very busy. I think this is the way it’s supposed to work.The Final Conference Reports will be shipped at the end of August and I’ll have them available at the October Assembly. At the 2009 General Service Conference our AAWS Board announced the agree-
ment between A.A. and Amazon.com/Kindle Reader as it was re-quested that the fourth edition of our Big Book be available and for sale in that format. This news didn’t sit well with many of us at the Conference and became a floor action to cancel our agreement. It didn’t pass. It was decided at the July Board Meeting to cancel our agreement with them and cancel the project.AAWS sold 1,495,764 books year to date this year as compared to 1,089,218 compared to the same timeframe in 2008. This is books and not literature! It was attributed to the price increase on July 1st and people stocking up prior to that date. In the month of August the new version of the “Hope” video will be available for ordering. We viewed it at the July Assembly and it should be a great tool for carry-ing our message to those that are unfamiliar with our fellowship. Also available will be the “Young Peoples Video Project” and we will have a presentation coupled with these new videos at the October Assem-bly. The DVD will sell for $10.00.If you are planning on attending the International Convention in 2010, please keep an eye on www.aa.org as on-line registration will begin in September. Also in September is the Regional Forum in St. Cloud. I can’t think of a better way to introduce someone to service in Alcoholics Anonymous than by taking them to a forum. This is where members of our Board of Trustees, staff members from our General Service Office and AA members get together for a weekend of re-ports, presentation and general sharing. I hope to see you there.
Thank you for allowing me to serve this fellowship.Scott A.
I hope everyone is having a safe, sober summer. There has been a lot of activity in Area 36 over the past few months since my last ar-ticle.
• With regard to Area trusted servants, Meg H., who had contin-ued into this rotation as chair of the Remote Communities and Special Needs Committee, has since rotated out. In addition, Tina M. has had to step down as chair for Group Records, although Tina continues to do the Area updates for the time being. If you have an interest in serv-ing in General Service in Area 36 in these roles, please contact me. Lastly, James N. has succeeded Annette W. as the Corrections Facili-ties Contact Program Coordinator. Thanks to Meg, Tina and Annette for their service, and to James for volunteering to be of service.
• We have had quite a bit of ongoing discussion with regard to the Area’s financial health, particularly at our July Assembly. As a result of that and follow-up questions and issues, and after discus-sion with the Area officers and some past trusted servants, I sent a re-sponse to the Area Committee. That response is too lengthy to include here, and may not be of general interest, but I can provide it to any-one who would like a copy; just let me know. Please see the reports elsewhere in this newsletter from our Area Finance Chair, Buzz, and our Area Treasurer, Doug, for more information and detail regarding the Area’s current financial condition. You should also be receiving Buzz’s quarterly Finance Letter shortly.
• As for upcoming events, we will once again be having our Area 35/36 Joint Service Workshop on August 29. The flyer is out on the Area’s web site, www.area36.org. Everyone is welcome to attend and participate. As in earlier years, a good part of the afternoon will be spent with corresponding committees from Area 35 and Area 36 meeting in break-out sessions to identify and discuss mutual oppor-tunities to carry the message, and to share what has been effective in their respective Areas for their respective committees.
• September 11-13 the West Central Regional Forum will be held in St. Cloud. Again more information is available on the Area 36 web site. At Regional Forums, which are only held in our region every other year, we have the opportunity to meet with and discuss items of interest and concern to the Fellowship with various board members and our trusted servants from the General Service Office. There is no registration fee to attend the forum, and every A.A. is in-vited to attend and participate.
• In October we will be holding our final Area Assembly of the year in Austin. We have a few sessions on the agenda for presentation and discussion regarding ways we carry the message. The agenda is included in this newsletter, and is also posted on the Area web site. In
addition, we will be voting on a couple of motions out of the Litera-ture Committee.
• One other piece of business we will address is the proposed 2010 Area Budget. Again, a copy of the full, proposed budget is avail-able in this newsletter and on the Area web site.
This is the opportunity for groups to directly express themselves through their General Service Representatives (G.S.R.s) regarding the Area budget. I look forward to the questions and discussion we will have regarding the issue of financially supporting the Area’s service activities.
A couple of items to note for the proposed Area budget are the conference/event registration requests for next year from the Ar-chives, Cooperation with the Professional Community, Public In-formation and Treatment Facilities committees. Also, payments to address the Meeting Locator repayment of $5,000 that was approved at last year’s October Assembly (but after the 2009 Area Budget was approved) are included in the proposed 2010 Area Budget. Based on our contract with the developer, the Area would retire that financial obligation in December of 2011.
• My full contact information, along with that of all the other Area 36 Committee members, is included elsewhere in the newsletter. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding your Area. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.
In Love and Service,
Steve K.
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- June 2009 Page 2
ArchivistJerry O.
Corrections Facilities Contact
Program Coordinator
Annette [email protected]
ArchivesKen R.
Cooperation with the Professional
CommunityDave B.
CorrectionsBen H.
FinanceAlternate Chairperson
GrapevineTom M.
[email protected] Records
Tina [email protected]
LiteratureSteve W.
District 16Denise B.
District 17Jeanne H.
District 18Shelly E.
District 19Kathy L.
District 20Colleen S.
District 21 Alan N.
District 22 Lisa B.
District 23 Rod W.
District 24Annette W.
District 25Sean O.
District 26Mark D.
District 27Oscar A.
Note: All districts have e-mail addresses on the Area 36 website and are listed below the current District Committee Member’s name.
Other A. A. Acronyms
GSO = General Service Office - A.A.s business office in New York City
GSR = General Ser-vice Representative - A groups contact into the A.A. service structure.
AAWS = A. A. World Service - This is the A. A.
publishing entity.
Area DelegateScott A.
Alternate DelegateAngie E
Pink Can Coordinator
Mark [email protected]
WebmasterAllie R.
Other Trusted Servants(Non–voting members)
Area Standing Committee Chairs
District Committee Members (D.C.M.s)
Area Officers Area Chairperson
Steve [email protected]
Alternate ChairpersonBuzz G.
altchairperson@area 36.org
Area SecretaryPhyllis S.
Area TreasurerDoug C.
District 1Joan M
District 2Mark E.
District 3Bridget H.
District 4No Contact available at this time, please
contact Area Chair if you want to help
District 5Mark S.
District 6No contact avialable at this time, please
contact Area Chair if you want to help
District 7Terry L.
District 8Steve C.g
District 9Doug A.
Districts 10 & 11
No Contact available at this time, please con-tact Area Chair if you
want to help
District 12Dan J.
District 13Mary Kay F.
District 14Deb S.
District 15Larry M.
Table of Contents-- Delegate & Area Chair Reports .......... Page 1--Contact Information of Area Officers, Committee Chairs, & DCMs............... Page 2--Past Delegates, District meeting locations, &--Event Listings................................ Pages 4 - 5--Listing of Spanish speaking meetings ..Page 5--Officers Reports..............................Pages 5 - 6--Area Standing Comm. Reports..... Pages 6 - 9--2009 Financial Reports/2010 Proposed Bud-get and Supporting Work Sheets....Pages 10 - 14--October Area Assembly Agenda ........Page 15--2009/2010 Area 36 Calendar...............Page 15--District Reports ..........................Pages 16 - 18--Mpls Intergroup Report.......................Page 18--Unapproved Minutes: August Committee Meetings & July Area Assembly.. Pages 19 - 23
NewsletterMike C.
Public InformationLisa G.
Remote Communities and
Special Needs Meg H.
StructureAlternate [email protected]
Treatment FacilitiesRobert S.
Web SiteLisa B.
To email all DCMs:[email protected]
To email all Area 36 Chairs:[email protected]
To email all Area 36 Officers: [email protected]
To email all Area 36 Past Delegates:[email protected] Note: not every Past Delegate has an ac-count.
To email all other Area 36 trusted ser-vantsd servants::[email protected]
To email all of the above use:[email protected]
www.area36.org The Pigeon ----
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- June 2009 Page 3District Meeting Location Information
Submissions to The PigeonWhat Is The Pigeon?The Pigeon is a General Service Newsletter published four times a year by the Southern Minnesota Area Assembly of Alcoholics Anonymous.--There is no subscription fee; contributions from A.A. mem-bers, groups and districts are welcome.--Bulk rate postage paid at St. Paul, Minnesota.--The Pigeon presents the experience and opinions of A.A. members and others interested in the A.A. program.--Opinions expressed herein are not to be attributed to Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole, nor does publication of any article imply endorsement by either A.A. or the Southern Minnesota Area Assembly.--Articles and letters are invited, although no payment can be made, nor can contributed material be returned.--All submissions should be sent to The Pigeon, in care of the Southern Minnesota Area Assembly address of record:Southern Minnesota Area AssemblyP.O. Box 2812 Minneapolis MN 55402
General submissions to The Pigeon are due the Saturday of Area Committee Meetings. --Area Officers’ and Area Standing Committee Chairs’ submissions are due the Wednesday following Area Committee Meetings, to allow them to incorporate items of relevance into their reports from the Area Committee Meeting.--Submissions are preferred electronically using a Word document to the Area’s newsletter e–mail address: [email protected] Submissions should not be heavily formatted: indi-cating sentence and paragraph structure is all that is required. Please do not submit as a “read only” document being I possibly will need to edit it.--Letters to the Editor/Opinion should have a title and the city where the author is from in-cluded in the sumission.--PC and Mac users can also type their submissions directly into an e-mail message. PC users can also use Notepad, Wordpad or various versions of Word to create an attachment. Mac users, please save your file as type “.doc” or “.txt” before sending as an attachment if you do not type your submission directly into an e-mail message.--Typewritten submissions are due 3 days earlier than general submissions; handwritten (printed please) submissions are due 7 days earlier than general submissions.--If you have any questions regarding submitting an item for The Pigeon, from preparation, to formatting, to deadlines, please do not hesitate to contact us, Thank youMike C., the Pigeon Editor and Area 36 Newsletter Chair
District 13rd Wednesday, 6:30 P.M.
Various locationsContact D.C.M.
District 23rd Thursday, 7:00 P.M.First Lutheran Church
Rushford, MN.
District 33rd Saturday, 9:00 A.M.Ellendale Community
CenterEllendale, MN.
District 42nd Tuesday 7:00 P.M.
The VaultKandiyohi, MN.
District 5Contact D.C.M.
District 6Contact Area Chair
District 72nd Monday 6:30 P.M.
Cross View Lutheran Church
6645 McCauley TrlEdina, MN.
District 83rd Wednesday 7:30 P.M.Fairview Community Ctr.
Roseville, MN.
District 92nd Tuesday 7:00 P.M.
1430 - 5th AveTaylor Hall
Mankato, MN.
Districts 10 & 11Contact Area Chair
District 123rd Monday, 8:00 P.M.
Community HallSherburn, MN.
District 131st Wednesday 7:30 P.M.Coon Rapids Civic Center11155 Robinson Dr NW
Coon Rapids, MN.
District 141st Monday 7:30 P.M.
United Methodist Church609 9th ST NW
Buffalo, MN.
District 154th Monday 7:00 P.M.
Christ Lutheran Church11194 36th St
Lake Elmo, MN.
District 163rd Thursday 7:30 P.M.
Village Drug Store700 Division StNorthfield, MN.
District 172nd Tuesday 7:30 P.M.
St John’s Lutheran,Plato, MN.
Past Delegates of the Southern MN Area 36 to the General Service Conference of A.A.(Trustee: 1959 – 1963)
Pat C.deceased
Panel 3: 1953 – 1954Robert T.deceased
Panel 5: 1955Ferris W.deceased
Panel 5: 1956Murray L.deceased
Panel 7: 1957 – 1958Alf S.
deceased
Panel 9: 1959 – 1960Harold S.deceased
Panel 11: 1961 – 1962Vince S.deceased
Panel 13: 1963 – 1964G.J. (Joe) W.
deceased
District 182nd Wednesday 6:30 P.M.
First Christian Church2201 1st Ave S
Minneapolis, MN.
District 192nd Wednesday 7:00 P.M.Rosemount Community
Center, 13885 Robert TrailRosemount, MN.
District 204th Tuesday, 7:00 P.M.
Twin Lakes Alano Society4938 Brooklyn Blvd
Brooklyn Center, MN.
District 214th Tuesday 7:30 P.M.
Pilgrim Methodist Church4325 Zachary LnPlymouth, MN.
District 222nd Wednesday 7:30 P.M.St Paul’s Lutheran Church
13207 Lake St ExtMinnetonka, MN.
District 231st Wednesday 7:00 P.M.
Contact D.C.M.for location
District 241st Monday 7:00 P.M.
St John’s Lutheran Church119 8th Ave W
Shakopee, MN.
District 252nd Wednesday 7:30 P.M.Nativity of Mary Catholic
Church9900 Lyndale Ave SBloomington. MN.
District 262nd Friday 6:00 pm
Eastside Alano1099 Payne Ave,
St. Paul. MN.
District 27Contact DCM
Panel 15: 1965 – 1966Robert D.deceased
Panel 17: 1967 – 1968Jim F.
deceased
Panel 19: 1969Marvin J.deceased
Panel 19: 1970George Z.deceased
Panel 21: 1971 – 1972Warren M.
Panel 23: 1973 – 1974Earl L.
deceased
Panel 25: 1975 – 1976Marvin S.deceased
Panel 27: 1977 – 1978Donald E. H.
deceased
Panel 29: 1979 – 1980Bob B.
Panel 31: 1981 – 1982Stan M.
Panel 33: 1983 -- 1984WCR Trustee: 1989-1992
Don B.rdeeased
Panel 35: 1985 – 1986Richard K.deceased
Panel 37: 1987 – 1988Jack C.
deceased
Panel 39: 1989 – 1990Chuck R.
Panel 41: 1991 – 1992Dennis B.
Panel 43: 1993 – 1994Esther H.
Panel 45: 1995 – 1996Doug M.
Panel 47: 1997 – 1998Karin M.
Panel 49: 1999 – 2000Bonnie M.
Panel 51: 2001 – 2002Christine C.
Panel 53: 2003-2004Brenda L.
Panel 55: 2005-2006Mark M.
Panel 57: 2007-8/07/07Samira A.
www.area36.org The Pigeon ----
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- September 2009 Page 4
Submit event information to the Pigeon editor for inclusion.Please check the Area web site at: www.area36.org for a more complete, current list of workshops, roundups, anniversary events, etc., of interest to the AA Fellowship. To ensure opportunity for attendance and participa-tion at your event, please consider avoiding schedule conflicts with already scheduled and posted events.We publish AA non service events in the spirit of cooperation with others.
Roundups/Conferences
A.A. Concepts Study “This Simple Concept” The 12 Concepts study AA group, learn about our 12 A.A. Concepts.1st and 3rd Sundays from 7-8pm Bethany Lutheran Church, 2511 E Franklin Ave, Mpls. Take 94 to the 25th/Riverside exit., it is 1 blk S and 1 blk East.For more info contact Carla N.
Replacing Fear with Humility and Gratitude
A Corrections workshop covering how each of us can make a difference by carry-ing the AA message into jails and prisons
Brought to you byDistrict 22 & 21 with
Cooperation from Area 36 Corrections
Saturday November 14, 2009 1 – 4 PM
Location: Valley of Peace Church4735 Bassett Creek Dr.
Golden Valley, MN Speakers will include:
• Corrections Staff Members• AA Members who take meetings into jails
and prisons • AA members who received the AA mes-
sage while incarcerated and are sober today because of our efforts
• Information on our Correctional Facilities Contact Program
Bring your questions and be ready to let go of your fear and jump into this meaningful,
inspiring service opportunity!!!
Would you like to start receiving the Pigeon?All you need to do is to send an email or contact the Group Records Chair at [email protected] and provide your address and informaton and you will begin receiving the Pigeon at the next printing. This is a great way to stay in touch with what is happening around Area 36.
SMAA ArchivesPioneer Building, Suite 100, 8741 Central Ave NE , Blaine, MN. Hours are 11 am to 7 pm every Wednesday. For more info contact Ken R. at [email protected]
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 5
DISTRICT 7 GENERAL SERVICE WORKSHOP
< Food, Fellowship and Fun >AA GENERAL SERVICE
- WHAT AND WHY
Saturday, October 3, 200912:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Cross of Glory600 Shady Oak RoadHopkins, MN 55343
{Southwest corner of Excelsior Blvd (County Road 3) and Shady Oak Road)
12:00 PM to 1:00 PMTaco Bar Luncheon
1:00 PM to 1:20 PM Our guest speaker, Mark M., Past Delegate, Southern Minnesota Area 36 will give a brief overview of the General Service Struc-ture, describing the “what and why of General Service”. He will discuss how the District Committee’s provide opportunities for AA groups and individual AA members to achieve our primary purpose of helping the still the suffering alcoholic to recover from alcoholism.
1:20 to 3:00 PM Committee members will speak describing the important work they are doing that allows District 7 AA groups and individual AA members the opportunities to be of service. Committee pre-sentations will cover the following areas of service: - Public Information – events we cover - Corrections – contact and correspondence programs - Remote Communities – where we can help - Cooperation with Professional Communities – sponsoring pro-fessionals - Treatment Facilities – contact programs and AAI talks - Literature – local placements and Group coverage - Current Group Outreach Project – group participation - Question and Answer session
Questions or offers to help: Nancy M. or Terry L DCM – [email protected]
Area Officer ReportsAlternate Chair’s Report
Since my last report, I had the invitation to go to District 1 and give a brief presentation on Self-Support and answer questions that came up. Great food and a good meeting! Thanks District 1. I have a good time and learned new things too. Contact me if you’d like me to come to your District.
The Recovery, Unity and Service Conference committee is busy getting things put together the upcoming conference. It will be held in Fairmont at the Holiday Inn. The dates are Jan. 22nd, 23rd and 24th 2010. This will be a great weekend of learning and fellowship. The primary purpose of the Recovery, Unity & Service Conference is to attract members to general service, inform new G.S.R.’s, and develop strong future servants. Through presentations and sharing of the selected readings based on the chosen theme, the Recovery, Unity & Service Conference fosters the growth of Area Committee members, and integrates the General Service Conference theme into Area service work.Hope to see you all there.
Yours in Service,Buzz G.
Treasurer’s ReportThank you for giving me the privilege of serving as your Area Trea-surer. In this issue of the Pigeon you will find reports on Area 36 in-come and expenses, financial accounts, and group contributions since the last issue of the Pigeon.Expenses: As expected, expenses are slowing a bit over the summer months. Now that AAMeetingLocator.org has gone live we have paid our developer a $500 “go-live” payment. We are making $150 month-ly payments on the Meeting Locator whenever possible. Expenses are
currently running at 85% of budget.Contributions: Contributions have been very strong over the past month. Thank you to all of the groups that have sent in contributions! As a result, the balance in our Operating Fund has been rising. Group contributions are at 92% of budget. Area 36 Financial Policy: We have an excellent financial policy which is available on our home page, Area36.org. It seems to me that our financial policy is like a 3-legged stool with Income, Expense, and Budget. As long as each leg works as intended our finances run smoothly and we can focus on our primary purpose.Upside Down Triangle: The groups of Area 36 have both the right and the responsibility for guiding Area 36 activities. If I can help your group or district to better understand Area 36 finances please don’t hesitate to contact me. Area 36 financial records are open to any member of A.A. per our Financial Policy. I am providing detailed monthly reports to the Area Committee. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.In Service,Doug C.
Alternate Delegate’s ReportThis has been a very busy summer and we have had quite a few heavy situations to discuss and work through. I have had the opportunity to participate in many hours of discussions with many of you and the Area Officers regarding your concerns. Some of the same concerns keep coming up which I’d like to share from my heart and experience in the hope it is helpful.
I’ve heard a great deal about unity -- how to get it and keep it in the Area. For me, unity begins with me and the attitude that I take into my service work. First off, service is gratitude made visible. It’s dif-ficult, if not impossible to be grateful and angry at the same time. If
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Secretary’s ReportI left the July Area Assembly feeling confused and sensing that at times we did not really have productive, constructive discussions. After the July Assembly Meeting many people verbalized concerns and my disappointing feelings at times lingered. I really did not look forward to the upcoming Area Committee Meeting. I prayed before arriving and when I arrived the eyes of those who had verbalized concerns were bright and they gave me a big hug. It was more like my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous; people were genuinely glad to see me and greeted me warmly. I sensed the Area was still alive and well. As I talked to people I realized they all wanted us to have unity in the Area and work out solutions and compromises in deal-ing with the issues facing us. At the committee meeting we had many great discussions and people spoke reverently and respectively. The atmosphere was different. Thank you for allowing me to serve. I had to leave the committee meeting early because of a wedding and I thank Angie for taking the rest of the minutes.
Respectfully Submitted Phyllis S.
Archives ReportArchives had eight members from seven Districts at the meeting.We addressed a lengthy agenda and will determine the necessity of additional Committee meetings to address the few remaining.We would like to submit to the Area two proposals, that received unanimous approval at our meeting, for review of the Area Commit-tee.
1. That there be an annual (area) inventory on the Area calendar. (2010 Theme of the General Service Conference and the Recovery, Unity, Service Conference is “Practicing these principles in all our service affairs.)”
2. That the Area send a letter to all Roundups, citing our current fi-nancial difficulties, and asking for specific help regarding the costs of Area 36 Committees participation in their event.
We will be participating in District 13’s workshops at Alanos in Ano-ka County .and we will be displaying at the 31st Annual Old Timer’s Reunion on August 29th at the Alano Society of Minneapolis-if you need a flyer, call or email me.
Thank you for this opportunity to serve,
Ken R.
Cooperation with the Professional Community
We had a productive and interesting committee meeting at the ACM in Mankato on Aug. 8th. There were 3 in attendance with Districts 7, 17 and 24 represented. Also, there was a report from Dist. 8.The first things we discussed were the new projects going on in each District:1. Missy, talked about all that is going on in Dist 7. They have done a mass mailing to mental health professionals (about 80) with 10% response, but a lot of seeds were planted. Included in the mail-ing was a self-addressed stamped post card asking if info or contact was desired, pamphlets, newsletters and an invitation to an Open Mtg.; They created a magnificent pamphlet (“Sponsoring Your Professional”) to help the AA member with doing an AAI or just meeting with their professional. It is very well done and should be a must for any member of AA! Next she talked about the ‘Sponsor Your Professional’ Skit that they had created to help groups &/or Districts. I can’t wait to see it! She is looking for more committee members to help with all these activities.2. Bob, from Dist. 24, shared about their ‘adopt a hotel’ pro-
I keep in mind that my job is to be “of maximum service” to God and the people about me, it helps me stay on track with my mission of “love and service.” Secondly, our tradition of placing principles be-fore personalities reminds me of what’s really important. And lastly, service has taught me how to disagree without being disagreeable. I’m not the only one with an opinion and just because someone has a different point of view, doesn’t make them wrong. I also need to keep in mind that we are all trudging the road of happy destiny and we are all on a different part of the road. We are in different places in our recovery. So it’s vital that I practice the same patience and tolerance that was afforded me as a newcomer.
Thank you for the privilege of serving you. You teach me so much about living. If you have any questions, concerns or experience to share, I would be happy to visit with you. We have a lot of exciting things we’re working on in the Structure Committee. Please see the Structure Committee Report for the latest.
Respectfully submitted,Angie E.
Alternate Delegate’s Report(continued)
Area Committee Reports
gram. They are trying to get meeting directories into the hotels, hospi-tals, treatment centers, police stations, etc. throughout Scott & Carver Counties. He has taken on the challenges of the CPC Comm. (by de-fault) & is looking for some help in this endeavor. Way to go, Bob!3. Mary, from Dist.8, sent a report, as she was unable to attend. They have been very busy with a myriad of projects. They staffed a booth at Project Homeless Connect on June 29th at the River Centre, showing the ‘Hope’ Video, distributing Intergroup directo-ries, Big Books and literature. They made 2 great contacts (Listening House and St. Paul Public Housing). They did an AAI Presentation at the University Comm. Health Care Center on 5/27. Mary & Caroline met with the Head of Dept. of Family Medicine & Comm. Health at the U of M and will be setting up AAI schedule for Grand Rounds & all 8 Residency Programs of the U of M. The U of M Dept. of Family Medicine & Comm. Health is linking www.aa.org, www.aaminne-apolis.org and www.aastpaul.org to their clinical teaching site. This is a wide open door for AA. They met with Dorothy Day Center and gave them CD’s, Big Books, rack of pamphlets, meeting directories & Intergroup cards. They have set up AA Meetings in the Dorothy Day Center for the homeless every Sat. at 1 PM. She attended the AAI at the U of M School of Social Work on July 21st put on by Mpls. Intergroup. Saw the excellent CPC Skit done by Missy of Dist. 7 at Dist. 8’s brunch on July 25th. Been in contact with the Somali and the Ethiopian communities. Ordered 1000’s of free lit. from AAWS and has found the Intergroup Bus. Cards helpful.What an active Committee! They make my job easy! We discussed the MN Social Workers Conf. on June 4-5 at the U of M Cont. Ed. Center by the Fairgrounds. We handed out over 500 pcs. of literature to 350 attendees. Many contacts were made and followed up on with AAI’s, etc. in Red Wing at the Hope Coalition Women’s Shel-ter & Resource Center, U of M Social Work School, St. Paul Public Housing, Hennepin Co. Probation Dept., Rural Aids Action Network, and many more.The Video for the Employer/Human Resources Dept. and the new “Hope” Video will be available in Aug./Sept. Also, the AA Fact File will be included (free) in CPC Kits.We talked about the 2010 Conferences and discussed doing presenta-tions at the MSSA & MAFP Conferences in lieu of exhibit fees or just for more exposure. The NASW-MN Conf. should only be attended for one day. What’s happening in your District or group in regard to the profes-sionals? Let me know what’s going on and if I can be of any assis-tance.I have visited 9 Districts so far this year and would love to come visit you at your District Meeting and share about the wonderful world of CPC.The best way to contact me is at [email protected], or 320-296-1693. If your District or group would like any help with CPC or would like me to visit your meeting, I am at your beckon call. Thank you again for this opportunity to serve YOU.
Yours in Love & Service,Dave B.
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 7Area Committee Reports
Corrections ReportSeven districts were represented at the Corrections Committee meeting and also attending were the Coordinators for the Pink Can Plan and the Contact Program, as well as a new member who will be assisting with the Contact Program.
The districts reported on their activities within the jail and prison sys-tems in their districts and in some cases other districts that have greater needs than a district can maintain. All of these correctional facilities would benefit from additional AA members participation in bringing meetings to the offenders. If you are interested in this work, please contact the Corrections Chair in your district or the Area Corrections website.
The Contact Program matches an offender with an AA member of the same sex and zip code. They correspond by letter during the final months of incarceration, and upon release the AA Contact takes them to several AA meetings to introduce them to the AA community in their vicinity. There is a great need for AA members to become Contacts especially in the towns and cities outside of the metropolitan area. In-formation is available at: [email protected] or the corrections website.
Several facilities have held Transitional Fairs for offenders about to be released to acquaint them with community resources available to them during their transition back into their communities. Many of those at-tending are seeking meeting and contact information from the Alcohol-ics Anonymous literature and volunteers.
The Area Committee is undertaking the task of compiling information on the various groups going into corrections facilities throughout Area 36. Often a particular AA member or group has established a rela-tionship with a staff person at a facility and it is important that others who want to bring meetings into the facility work through the existing contact whenever possible. This will also help to identify facilities that currently have no AA meetings and interested AA members can then contact their administrators. Please notify your District Correc-tions Chair if you are currently bringing a meeting into a jail or prison and include the time and day of the week and also the AA and facility contact names if possible.
Districts 21 and 22 are hosting a Corrections Workshop on November 14, 2009 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Valley of Peace Lutheran Church in Golden Valley.The purpose of the Workshop is to explain the process for bringing meetings into both jails and prisons and the safety procedures within the facilities. The Contact Program will also be addressed with infor-mation on anonymity when corresponding with an offender, the first meeting on the ‘outside’ and other aspects of this 12th Step work.
There are extremely dedicated members of Alcoholics Anonymous who are carrying the message behind the walls. There are more of-fenders wanting help than AA members available to offer that help. If you are curious or interested in becoming involved contact your district corrections chair or our website [email protected].
In the spirit of love and service.
Martha L.
Finance ReportWe had 7 members present at our last Finance Committee meeting in August. We started with introductions and heard a report on our Area financial condition from our Treasurer Doug C. The finances have changed a good deal since out last meeting. The groups are sending in contribution at a good rate and our expensed are down so the overall financial picture is getting better.
We discussed our motion from the May Finance committee meeting to set the mileage reimbursement rate for Area travel using the IRS Medical / Moving rate which is currently at $.24. It was the consensus of the committee to postpone or table our original motion and allow the motion passed at the July Assembly to stand and expire at the end of 2010. The issue will be revisited in January 2011.
In new business the committee discussed a chain of events that oc-curred earlier this year. An Area Committee Chair asked the Treasurer
Want to know more about your Area Standing Com-mittees? Please attend the Area Committee Meeting to check them out. The next one is Saturday Dec 5th and starts at 9:30AM Please see page 2 for a complete list-ing of contact names, phones numbers, and email ad-dresses, so you and your A.A. friends can be of help to A.A.
for $140 for a registration to an event in the area. On the day they asked, the Treasurer said he would have to consult the Area Chairper-son to see if the funds were available. A couple of days later the mon-ey was available. In the mean time, an AA group gave the Committee Chair a check for $140 to pay for the registration. The Area officers thought the Committee Chair should be reimbursed for the $140 and he reimburse the AA group $140. The group said they would refuse the money if it were presented to them. The members of the Finance Committee proposed a letter to be written to the group by the Area Chairperson thanking the group for their contribution and reiterating the process of the groups making contributions to the Area instead of to Area Chairpersons. In the meeting after lunch, a member of the group commented that a letter wasn’t necessary and the Area should consider the contribution an In-Kind and not pursue reimbursement.We also discussed forming a sub-committee to look at ways to in-crease group participation and reduce expenses. We felt that the Fi-nance committee was sub-committee enough and talked about getting information from Districts that have done group outreach programs and then going to other Districts to help them with developing their own outreach program.The next Finance letter was discussed and it was decided to focus this letter on trying to get more groups to participate and contribute to the work being done by our Area committees. To tell why we send Com-mittee Chairs to events and conferences should be included in the letter.
We wrapped up the meeting with Area Chairperson, Steve K. giving us an overview of the Proposed 2010 budget and answering questions. We voted to pass it out of our committee and recommended that it be sent to the Area Committee for consideration in the afternoon session.
Yours in ServiceBuzz G.
Grapevine ReportSales are up 13% probably due to sales increase that went into ef-fect 7/1/09, plus two new books “Beginner’s Book” and “Voices of Long Term Sobriety”. The Steps, Traditions and Preamble are now inside the covers. The portion “Alcoholism at Large” is now going to have a bigger disclaimer. The Souvenir 75th Anniversary Edition will be available in San Antonio at the AA International, larger than normal for $4. Wall calendar for $9. and Pocket Planner at $4.75 are now available. While talking about the West Central Regional Forum in St. Cloud, it should be noted that a Board of Director, Ginger B. Rhoades and Executive Editor, Robin B. will be in attendance.
What a pleasure to continue to serve this fellowship - thank you for the opportunity.
Tom McM.
WANTED1989 and older copies of our Pigeon Newsletter for our Area Ar-
chives.We have no copies older than 1987, and yet there are 7 years of the newsletters that we do not have any records of prior to 1987. We are looking for contributions of these or we could make copies of them from your personal collection so that we have a record for our Area Ar-chives. The older issues were likely an 8.5 x 11 format VS from 1987 and newer issues which are the 11x17 newspaper format we now have. Please contact Jerry at [email protected] if you or if perhaps you know someone that can be of help to us. Thank you.
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- September 2009 Page 8
Area Committee ReportsGroup Records Report
Newsletter ReportAt the last Area Committee meetings a proposal was made to the News-Letter Committee. This proposal was taken to the full Area Committee and was seconded because the Committee itself did not have enough members to get a consensus from the Area. This proposal is to be taken back to the Districts and the groups and will be brought up at the next Committee Meetings in December. It may then be forwarded to the Area Assembly. The proposal reads as follows:
“Change the current Area 36 Newsletter Policy to reflect a change in the way the Pigeon handles the insertion or printing of Roundups or Conferences. The current policy states:Under the Distribution Section; Bullet 5:5. Inclusion of flyers of A.A. events is left up to the discretion of the Area Newsletter Chairperson in consultation with the Area Chairper-son. The proposal is to change this to read:5. The Newsletter Chair will not include any flier for Roundups or Con-ferences not sponsored by the A.A. service structure within the pages of the Area Newsletter. All such Roundups or Conferences must sub-mit either enough printed fliers to be stuffed into the newsletter to be mailed or a softcopy version of the flier to be printed by the publisher, stuffed into the newsletter and mailed. All costs for printing the fliers and stuffing them will be incurred by the conference sponsor. 50% of the cost of mailing will also be divided equally among all conference sponsors who choose to utilize this as an option.”
Yours in service,Mike C.
Public Information ReportWe had a lively and well attended PI committee meeting in Mankato on August 8.
The following Districts were represented: 8, 13, 19, 22, 25, and 27. At our meeting we discussed the various work these districts are doing, such as placing bulletins with A.A. contact information prominently on bus shelters, making conference approved literature available to local libraries, hotels and doctor’s offices, and the Spon-sor a Gravevine Subscription Program. We are carrying the message in our area by staffing Public Information booths at county fairs, contacting local radio and T.V. stations regarding the possibility of airing PSAs, and also providing AAIs to high schools. We discussed the successes and the challenges that come with these wonderful opportunities to educate the public about what AA is and what AA is not by sharing experience, strength, and hope, and making our literature available to whomever may need it.
We are also gearing up for the State Fair that is just a few short weeks away. Literature has been inventoried and ordered, and all of the volunteer slots are currently filled. Mary S. (Alternate PI Chair) is working on updating the volunteer guidelines and we are meeting regularly as we prepare for the Great Minnesota Get Together!
Speaking of the State Fair, I was asked by one of the districts to investigate the possibility of moving the PI booth from the Grand-stand Building to the Health and Education Building. It is possible to move the PI booth without being on a waiting list, however, a request to relocate the booth must be made in November, almost a year before the State Fair’s next annual start date. (i.e., a request made in November 2010 means the booth would be in the new loca-tion in 2011). The Health and Education Building is about half the cost of what we currently pay to have the booth in the Grandstand.
Finally, I welcome any opportunities to be of service to your district and/or group. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to serve. In Love and Service,Lisa G.
PI Report on the State FairHi! My name is Mary, and I have the pleasure of serving you as the Alternate Public Information Chair for Area 36. Right now we’re ramping up to staff the booth at the State Fair, which will be held Au-gust 27 - September 7. All days of the fair are filled. I’ve confirmed with most of the districts/day captains, and we’re on track to make this a successful event! Thank you for allowing me to serve! Mary S.Alternate PI Chair and State Fair Coordinator
As fall approaches, I am reminded of school. I have gone back to school for nursing. My core classes begin in about a month. I have stepped down from Group Records Chair, but have agreed to con-tinue to serve to the best of my ability to keep up with the demands of the job until it is filled. Unfortunately with my school and work schedule, it hasn’t left me with the time to do much as Group Records Chair. I am using my space to extend a plea to those that may have an interest in service at the area level to take a look at the duties and pray about taking on this position. In addition to the 5 years of sobriety that is recommended, you should also have:
Previous service experience (GSR, DCM, etc)Access to internet, own computer, and printerKnowledge of databases (window based and other)Knowledge and ability to create labelsTime to attend the area committee meetings and assembliesTime to attend AA Meeting locator adhoc committee meetings
This position makes group changes in both the Fellowship New Vision Program (GSO) and the Filemaker Database (used for Area labels and pigeon mailings), answers all emails sent to the group records email box has a vote at the Area Committee and Asssembly meetings, is a voting member of the AA meeting locator ad hoc com-mittee, is responsible for uploading updated information to the AA meeting locator, is responsible for making all area mailing labels, does a pull and sends the file to the printer for the pigeon, and helps support DCMs and GSRs by providing reports regarding statuses of meetings within the district. I have also gone to two districts to give a report on group records. You must bring and set up displays and change forms at area events.
If you have additional questions, please ask me - or Steve. Please contact Steve directly if you are interested in taking on the position.Thank you for allowing me to be of service thus far.Tina McG.
Structure Committee The meeting was opened with the Serenity Prayer and introductions. 12 attended today. This committee is mainly comprised of Alternate District Committee Members (Alt. DCMs), the Alternate Delegate, chairs this committee. All A.A. members are welcome to attend. The Structure Committee is the “Inventory Committee” of the Area. It functions as a safeguard in the Area to ensure better communication and cooperation in any aspect of our third legacy. (Trusted Servant Guidelines, 2005) 1. Old Business:
A. Update from Structure Subcommittee on Voting and Election policy. - The subcommittee will produce a draft and submit it to the Structure Committee by the December Area Committee Meeting. The committee held a lengthy discussion regarding the policy and de-cided to not extend the interim voting policy at this time. B. Trusted Servant Leadership Training-Everyone agreed it has been a worthwhile event and would like to see it continue. A strong majority of the committee re-affirmed their support of placing the funding for the TSLT in the Area budget and discussed why. The motion was to have been taken back to the districts and groups and discussed today at the afternoon session. MOTION: Since the Trusted Servant Lead-ership Training has become a proven successful annual event and has been requested by Districts to be held again next year, the Structure Committee recommends that the Trusted Servant Leadership Train-ing event be included in the Area Budget. (The main benefit of this proposal is to eliminate the “ear marking” of monetary contributions from Districts for this event.) C. District 23 – Redistricting discussion- Tom R. Alt. DCM, Dist. 23 reported that he met with group members in Dist. 10 and they are aware of and support the re-districting of #10 and #23. Tom provided a map of where the new boundary should be and provided the address of a contact in District 10. Angie will send that contact a letter stating the intentions of Dist. 23 as a formality. This will then come back to the Dec. ACM for approval of the Area Committee, if approved will
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 9Area Committee Reports
Treatment Facilities ReportSince my last article submitted in May, Area 36 was contacted by one of the nurses at New Life Treatment Center in Woodstock Min-nesota. She was looking for a listing of A.A. meetings in Southern Minnesota for their clients when they move back home. I directed her to the new online A.A. meeting locator, described our TCP and sent her the brochure. She also now has the treatment facility committee’s e-mail address and my phone number. I visited District 8 in May and District 19 in July.
The Saturday morning August 08, 2009 standing committee meet-ing…The District TF Chairs present were Tom C. from18, Randy A. from 22, Steve S. from 24, Bruce O. from 16, Jennifer R. from 19 and 7’s alternate Pete R. Also present were Eve P. from the “Came to Be-lieve” group in Bloomington and Angel H., District 24’s Secretary. I asked Tom to share his experience doing TF work in 18. He shared how he formed a committee of 5 men and women. Using the sugges-tions in the TF Workbook, committee members approached facilities to find out who their directors and contacted them. The committee:asked what A.A. was already doing for the facilities;What more A.A. could do to carry our message to their clients; Made sure the facilities have plenty of TCP and AAI brochures; Made sure facilities are aware of the TCP; Made sure facilities knew how to find meetings for clients and how to contact Minneapolis AA. Intergroup. The committee also worked with the Salvation Army’s Adult Reha-bilitation Center and got them started using the TCP for their alco-holic clientsTom also described the usefulness of both the Hope Video and Young People in A.A. video. The committee found out that several facilities wanted literature. So the committee’s budget had to be increased a few times to accommo-date this. Tom suggested finding out who the professionals are that do the rule 25 (public funding for treatment) assessments and make sure they have TCP and AAI brochures; especially for their clients who do not qualify for rule 25 funding. Tom also suggested bringing flyers for roundups and other A.A. events to facilities. Tom’s committee also coordinates A.A. members willing to speak at facilities. The com-mittee is careful to make clear to speakers the importance of sharing their experience as it relates to alcohol, refraining from expressing opinions about outside issues and refraining from using foul lan-guage. Tom also described how the committee has done some work with reaching out to parents of young people in treatment to help address some of their concerns. Tom’s sharing triggered lots of ques-tions from those present Saturday morning and lots of answers.Steve S. mentioned Intergroup’s A.A. Information Desk as a good resource for finding willing A.A. speakers to speak at facilities.
I’m planning to attend the Bridging the Gap Workshop Weekend in September in Kansas City this September. As it’s the same weekend as the Regional Forum I won’t be there, but Tom C. from 18 will be attending as my alternate. I’ll also be coordinating volunteers to be at the Area 36 A.A. booth at the MARRCH Conference on October, 20, 21 and 22 at the River Centre in St. Paul.
Website ReportI have a lot of information for you.
Housekeeping Web Posts:1. Per the GSO Internet Guidelines, available at aa.org, and Area 36 Trusted Servant Guidelines, available at area36.org, personal infor-mation such as last names, phone numbers, and addresses should not be posted on Area’s website since it is public and is not consistent with our tradition of anonymity at the public level. When sending documents for posting, please remove any of this personal informa-tion. Prior to posting, I will review the documents. If personal data is found, I will let you know that it cannot be posted as submitted. Please resubmit to me with the needed changes.2. Please send all posting requests to me. I’ll review the info to make sure it’s consistent with AA’s Traditions. If not, as previously stated, I’ll let you know. All posting is completed by our Webmaster, Allie. She will post documents upon my request.3. If I receive a request to post a document from a District and the person does not identify his/herself as a District member, including position, I’ll contact the DCM via the @area36.org email address to verify that the change should be made. Erring on the side of caution, I don’t want to make any changes to the District’s website without knowing if the request is from the District.4. Posting requests will be sent to the Webmaster weekly. You can expect it to be posted within 2 weeks. Iff you need it posted sooner, please call me. My number is listed in the Pigeon
Email:1. Password resets will be addressed weekly. If you need a reset sooner, please call me. My number is in the Pigeon. You can re-quest the reset from your personal account and I will respond to that account with the new password. If there’s anyone who has not yet received a password, please contact me.2. The email system has spam filters on. The system does not neces-sarily block these emails. The spam email will be sent to the Junk E-Mail folder instead of the Inbox. If you are receiving a large amount of spam in your Inbox, please let me know.
Email and Website issues:These items will be addressed weekly with consultation and assis-tance from the service provider, PCS.
Meeting Locator1. The site went ‘Live’ last month. The address is: www.aameetinglo-cator.org. Link has been posted on the Area website under ‘Meeting’.2. Please use the Contact link from the website to send issues to me for this site. The Contact link for Groups sends an email to both the Area 35 and 36 Records Chairs.3. The Ad Hoc committee has requested time and/or space from GSO for the West Central Regional Service Forum in St. Cloud. The Vi-king Room has been reserved for us during the day, Saturday.4. The Ad Hoc committee will be meeting next at the Area 35 and 36 Joint Workshop on August 29th in Elk River. Anyone is welcome to attend. We will be discussing how to handle requests from other Area’s to add their meetings to this site.Committee Actions -1. The Email Guidelines were drafted during the last ACM on August 8. This document has been forwarded to Structure for review.2. We’ll next start working on Website Guidelines which will include purpose, layout, content, etc.. of the site.
Personal Comments -This position has been more time-consuming than initially expected and so I’ve been working on balancing this work with the rest of my obligations to home, family, work, and A.A. It’s been an interesting experience yet I’m grateful to be given the opportunity to serve Area 36.
In Love and Service,Lisa
be forwarded to the following Assembly for approval, at which time the new maps will be made, Group records notified and GSO notified. D. The agenda item brought forward from a District to consider hav-ing the General Service Conference the first or second week in May to give groups more time to discuss the agenda items was withdrawn by the District who presented it originally, after researching the back-ground material, it was determined that the GSC is bound to a limited window of time, which is given to us each year to decide upon which date we would prefer the GSC be held for the following year, as listed in the Final Agenda Items for the General Service Conference. E. Trusted Servant Guidelines Updating – This was not discussed due to time constraints. – Add to December agenda for Structure Commit-tee. New Business:A. A proposal was submitted from a group to the Structure Commit-tee: “That Area 36 save the most money when purchasing literature, by having every Area Committee purchase a majority of the literature from AAWS (Alcoholics Anonymous World Service).” The Structure Committee will research this and address this proposal at the Decem-ber Area Committee Meeting. The meeting was closed with the Responsibility Statement. Respectfully submitted, Angie E.
DCMs, please contact me about visiting your district meetings to do a short pitch on the TCP program and stir up some excitement about the TCP and working with facilities. I always point out the U.S. Depart-ment of Health website link http://dasis3.samhsa.gov/ , a useful tool for locating facilities in your area. You can reach me at [email protected].
Yours in love and service, Robert
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- September 2009 Page 10Southern Minnesota Area Assembly Financial Statements
12 at 12 Group .................... 25.0012 West AA Group - St. Louis Park 40.0012, 12, 12 Monday Night AA 32.504th Dimension/Owatonna ... 45.007 Hi A.A. ............................. 50.00A New Freedom .................. 20.00A New U ............................. 20.00A Vision For You - Faribault 65.00AA Basics ............................ 18.00Alano Society of Albert Lea 100.00Alano Society of Mpls, Squad 73* 32.00Annandale Lakers ............... 40.00Anoka Today Alano, Squad 10* 10.00Attitudes & Actions ............. 22.00Autonomous Big Book ....... 90.00Back to Basics Mpls Friday 60.00Basic Text AA ..................... 16.22Basic Text Women’s Group 42.58Best of Times ...................... 40.00Boiler Room Squad ............. 25.00Bricelyn A.A. Group ........... 10.00Bricelyn Monday & Wednesday AA 50.00Bridges ................................ 7.38Bryant Lake AA .................. 120.30Cedar Lake Women’s Group 20.00Center Group ....................... 25.00Chapter 3 of Big Book ........ 50.00Chunks and Measures ......... 38.40Club 84 AA Group .............. 50.00Colonial Way AA ................ 11.45Coming of Age Group ......... 25.00Common Solutions .............. 347.66Como Park 12 X 12 ............. 12.65Como Park Big Book Study 40.71Complete Defeat ................. 100.00Coon Rapids Alano, Squad 11* Serenity Sisters .................................. 25.00Cornerstone Group .............. 33.53Cottage Grove AA ............... 80.00Crushed Grapes ................... 69.33Dakota Alano As Bill Sees It 48.00Dakota Alano Society, Friday 6 pm 52.05Dakota Alano Sunday 8 PM Meeting 30.00Dawson AA ......................... 200.00Defogged Mens A.A. Group 60.00Design for Living - Minneapolis 41.15Desire Open Speaker Meeting 7.55Dunn Sober AA ................... 295.86Dynamic Women’s Group ... 36.94Eagan Burnsville Savage B.B. Tues 13.70Edina Open Speaker Meeting 35.14Edina Thursday Men’s Group #1 16.60Fairmont Big Book Group .. 60.00Fellowship of the Spirit ....... 76.00Fireside Women’s Big Book Meeting 25.00For Today AA ...................... 75.00Foreword XIX ..................... 50.00Fourth Dimension AA Group 17.16Foxhall Chapter 7 ................ 394.88France Avenue AA .............. 30.00Fridley Alano - Squad 2 ...... 20.00Fridley Alano Squad - 14 .... 15.00Fridley Alano, Squad 27 - Happy Hr 100.00Fridley Alano, Squad 3 ....... 20.00Fridley Alano, Squad 31 God Squad 10.00Frontenac Women’s Group . 25.00Granite Falls Wednesday Noon AA 30.00Grovers A.A. ....................... 16.00Happy Destiny .................... 70.30Happy Hour 12 & 12 ........... 100.00Happy Hour Big Book Group 50.00Happy Joyous & Free Grp - Shakopee 13.85Happy, Joyous and Free ...... 30.80Hay Una Solución ............... 15.00Hector AA Group ................ 100.00Highland AA Group ............ 40.00Hope AA .............................. 10.00Howard Lake - Waverly AA 25.00
Hugo A.A. ........................... 10.00Into Action Bloomington .... 15.00Island Lake AA Group ........ 12.50Keep Coming Back AA ....... 75.00Keep It Simple AA Group - Wayzata 10.33Kenwood A.A. Group ......... 100.00Ladies’ Night Happy Hr - Sahara Club 18.16Lakeville AA Big Book Meeting 120.00Lakeville Eyeopeners .......... 25.00LCL, Minneapolis ............... 133.10Lewiston Monday Nite ....... 50.00Lions & Lambs AA ............. 36.00Living Sober - Burnsville .... 109.01Lunch Time Big Book ......... 30.00Madison Lake AA ............... 25.00Main Idea AA Groups ......... 280.00Maplewood Group .............. 200.00Medina A.A. Group ............. 20.00Meeting of the Waters AA Group 5.75Mendota 1030 AA Group .... 30.84Midway Club ...................... 40.00Mntnka B. B. Serenity Breakfast 104.86Minnetonka Big Book Study Group 84.24Minnetonka Seniors AA Group 40.00Monday Meeting ................. 75.00Monday Morning Women’s Group 7.00Monday Night Gratitude Group 50.00Monticello Alano Freedom Seekers 72.00New Brighton Alano Society, AA Squad 14 .............................................. 13.00New Brighton Alano Squad 11 9.00New Hope Alano Squad 10 . 25.00New Hope Alano Squad 30 . 20.00No Time Like the Present ... 100.00Normandale Group .............. 30.00Norwood Young America AA 50.00Nowthen AA ........................ 15.00Nu-Life Group - Kasson ..... 25.00Oasis Group ........................ 50.00Open Door AA .................... 25.00Our Friends’ Place, Squad 18 50.00Pax Christi Thursday Night A.A. 47.00Peace Group ........................ 100.00Phoenix Group .................... 25.00Pine Island A.A. .................. 50.00Practical Experience ............ 9.41Primary Purpose Group - Burnsville 30.00Promises Group ................... 75.00Railroad to Sobriety ............ 42.61Red Wing A.A. .................... 100.00Richfield-Bloomington Alano Squad 2D .............................................. 25.00Richfield-Bloomington Alano, Squad 3D .............................................. 10.00Richfield-Bloomington Alano, Squad 4E .............................................. 30.00Richfield-Bloomington Alano, Squad 5C .............................................. 50.00Ridge Runners II ................. 60.00Ridge Runners III ................ 20.00River Rats AA ..................... 35.00Rivertown Big Book ........... 70.00Rosemount A.A. Group ....... 20.00Roseville Wednesday AA .... 20.00Rule 62 Cavalier ................. 28.56Sahara Groups ..................... 230.00Sahara Saturday AM Men’s Meeting 48.00Saturday Breakfast Club AA 5.13Saturday Morning Serenity Group 50.00Sat. A.M. White Bear Women’s Group 12.50Saturday Night Speaker Meeting 28.73Seeing Is Believing ............. 12.00Shoreview Big Book Plus ... 120.00Shoulder to Shoulder Group 35.92Sister in Sobriety ................. 20.00Sobriety Society .................. 65.82Solution Seekers .................. 29.95Southwest Women’s AA ...... 31.00
St. Anthony Park AA Group 25.00St. Croix Alano - Sat. Relapse Prev. 25.00St. Louis Park Sun. Night AA Group 65.91St. Luke’s Sat. Morning Men’s Group 100.00St. Peter’s 9AM AA Group . 26.00St. Therese Thursday Night AA 10.00Step Sisters .......................... 30.00Steps Forward ..................... 30.00Steps to Serenity ................. 71.00Steps to Serenity Group ...... 40.00Steps to Sobriety ................. 5.00Stepsisters of Northfield AA 25.00Stillwater Morning Group ... 100.00Suburban North Alano Society Squad 13 .............................................. 15.00Suburban North Alano Society, Squad 17 .............................................. 25.00Suburban North Alano Squad 7 100.00Summit Women’s AA .......... 57.84Sunday Night Big Book ...... 25.00Sun. Night Step & Speaker Meeting 128.88Sunday Open AA ................. 25.00Sunday Valley View AA Group 10.00T.G.I.F. Macalester .............. 15.00Temple AA - Wednesday 615 PM 25.00The Book Club .................... 28.00The Firing Line ................... 114.98The Grind A.A. ................... 56.00Third Edition AA Group ..... 10.00Third Tradition Group ......... 91.12This Simple Program .......... 15.69Three Legacies - New Ulm . 10.00Three Legacies Meeting ...... 25.00Thunderbird Noon Groups .. 86.95Thursday Night Grace Group 37.00Thursday Night Women’s Group 30.00Thursday Nite Group .......... 50.00Thursday Twelve by Twelve 10.00Tradition Five Group .......... 77.43Tradition Three - Plymouth . 100.00Tradition Three - Rochester 192.01Tradition Three - Waconia .. 125.00Tuesday Afternoon Group ... 5.00Tuesday Morning Step Group 20.00Tuesday Night Grace A.A. .. 37.60Uptown Group .................... 180.00Valley Creek Group - Monday AA 25.00Valley Creek Thursday Night 50.00Waseca Monday Night Group 50.00Waterville AA ...................... 40.00Wednesday 630 AA Step Group 3.60Wednesday AM AA - Hutchinson 15.00Wed. Women’s Serenity@Good Sheperd .............................................. 22.44Weekend Jumpstart II .......... 20.00White Bear Lake Wed. A.M. Group 190.00Winona Big Book ................ 1.00Woodbury Serenity Sisters .. 200.00Woodbury Wed. Noon AA Group 40.00Worthy Women B. B.Study Group 61.80TOTAL ................................ 10,893.36
Southern Minnesota Area AssemblyGroup Contributions
March 21 through August 10, 2009
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 11Southern Minnesota Area Assembly Financial Statements
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- September 2009 Page 12Southern Minnesota Area Assembly Financial Statements
Southern Minnesota Area Assembly Proposed 2010 Budget.............................................. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 09 BUDGET / 08 ACTUALRevenue ................................ Group Contributions ............ 3,760 3,110 4,735 4,610 3,435 4,210 4,660 4,110 4,110 4,110 4,110 4,110 49,070 53,876 / 48,628Special Contributions ........... 685 185 185 185 185 185 185 185 1,085 185 185 335 3,770 4,618 / 3,779Committee Revenue ............. 275 200 275 50 650 0 0 0 650 200 0 125 2,425 2,915 / 4,864Interest & Tranfers ............... 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 11 30 / 6Other Revenue ..................... 4,110 225 200 0 125 75 0 125 0 200 0 0 5,060 4,445 / 4,738TOTAL REVENUE ............. 8,830 3,720 5,398 4,845 4,395 4,473 4,845 4,420 5,848 4,695 4,295 4,573 60,336 65,884 / 62,015.............................................. Expense ................................ Delegate's Expense............... 1,496 231 535 76 663 176 100 38 0 587 0 38 3,942 5,495 / 5,627Officers' Travel & Lodging .. 845 164 1,228 108 108 87 0 108 0 108 0 108 2,862 5,603 / 5,144Committee Expenses ............ 2,455 1,890 3,125 2,450 2,980 2,465 2,195 2,005 4,220 1,505 1,160 2,910 29,360 28,693 / 28,278Committee Travel & Lodging 2,025 388 2,685 243 342 185 0 447 0 307 35 307 6,965 10,896 / 9,679Assembly Fixed Costs.......... 200 200 200 570 160 100 100 1,100 200 100 200 100 3,230 2,632 / 1,973Assembly Operating Costs ... 269 1,469 1,001 337 940 1,070 368 916 322 1,506 347 891 9,436 9,745 / 11,372Other Expenses .................... 2,810 0 0 430 100 100 100 100 100 150 450 200 4,540 2,820 / 8,735TOTAL EXPENSE .............. 10,100 4,341 8,774 4,214 5,294 4,183 2,863 4,715 4,842 4,263 2,192 4,555 60,335 65,884 / 70,807.............................................. .............................................. Net Income ........................... (1,270) (621) (3,376) 631 (899) 290 1,982 (295) 1,006 432 2,103 18 1 0 / (8,792).............................................. Pink Can .............................. Pink Can Contributions ........ 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 34,560 24,500 / 30,196Pink Can Expenses ............... 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 34,560 24,500 / 32,263.............................................. CAPS ON AREA ASSEMBLY FUNDS (Reference: Section Seven from Area Financial Policy) .............................................. 1. The total amount of the Reserve Fund shall not exceed one sixth of the current year's annual budget, excluding Pink Can Plan .............................................. ..... budget items or: $10,056 2. The total amount of the Area's Operating Fund shall not exceed one third of the current year's annual budget, excluding Pink Can Plan .............................................. ..... budget items or: $20,012 3. The maximum available funds (the total of the Reserve and Operating Funds, but excluding the Delegate's fund and the Pink Can Plan .............................................. budget line items) shall never exceed one half of the current year's budget, not including Pink Can Plan budget items or: $30,168 .............................................. 4. The Delegate's Account shall never exceed the amount that it has been set forth to represent: .............................................. .............................................. Delegate's General Service Conference Fund: $1200 ............................................................................................ Delegate's International Fund: $1000
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 13Southern Minnesota Area Assembly Financial Statements
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www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- September 2009 Page 14
• JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 09 BUDGET 08 ACTUAL
• Committee Expenses ......... • Archives 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1,200 1,008 540 • Archives Strg. & Maint. 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 450 5,400 5,400 5,262 • Archives Display 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 965 100 100 100 2,065 1,860 1,518 • Coop. w/t Prof. Comm. 670 60 145 305 160 105 65 35 55 35 50 75 1,760 750 588 • Corrections 50 140 40 150 150 30 45 40 250 30 80 40 1,045 750 446 • Temp. Contact Services 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 960 1,080 1,739 • Finance 0 40 0 0 40 0 0 40 0 0 0 40 160 100 142 • Finance Letter 0 300 0 0 300 0 0 300 0 0 0 300 1,200 700 240 • Grapevine 0 125 125 50 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 125 925 1,195 1,591 • Group Records 90 140 60 30 15 5 20 5 15 10 15 5 410 200 161 • Area Directory 0 0 300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 300 300 0 • Literature 295 95 170 20 170 20 20 20 170 220 20 20 1,240 1,020 2,280 • Newsletter 0 0 1,325 0 0 1,325 0 0 1,325 0 0 1,325 5,300 5,200 4,511 • Public Information 200 25 15 100 35 15 200 75 415 40 50 15 1,185 3,245 684 • State Fair Booth 0 0 0 625 0 0 700 525 0 0 0 0 1,850 1,885 2,659 • Remote Com. & Spec. 20 15 15 20 15 20 15 15 15 20 15 15 200 300 27 • Structure 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 180 200 739 • Area Development 200 0 0 200 0 0 200 0 0 200 0 0 800 400 922 • Treatment Facilities 65 85 65 85 730 80 65 85 245 85 65 85 1,740 1,420 851 • Temp. Contact Services 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 960 1,080 3,668 • Web-Site 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 480 600 250 • Meeting Locator 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 1,800 0 0 • SUBTOTAL 2,455 1,890 3,125 2,450 2,980 2,465 2,195 2,005 4,220 1,505 1,160 2,910 29,360 28,693 2 8,818 • Committee Travel & Lodging • Archives 264 41 352 19 38 22 0 38 0 38 0 38 851 1,538 1,022 • Correctional Facilities 261 38 319 19 36 19 0 36 0 36 0 36 801 1,538 603 • C.P.C. 273 70 345 48 41 46 0 41 0 41 0 41 945 1,538 1,339 • Grapevine 266 48 360 29 41 29 0 41 0 41 0 41 894 1,538 791 • Grapevine Display 0 0 0 50 50 0 0 100 0 0 50 0 250 620 1,225 • Group Records 264 41 352 19 38 22 0 38 0 38 0 38 851 1,538 500 • Literature 261 46 355 26 41 26 0 41 0 41 0 41 878 1,538 81 • Literature Display 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 150 480 572 • Newsletter 259 89 331 22 46 26 0 46 0 46 0 46 909 1,538 400 • Public Information 264 41 352 19 38 22 0 38 0 38 0 38 851 1,538 617 • Rmt Com &Spec Need 264 41 352 19 38 22 0 38 0 38 0 38 851 1,538 157 • Treatment Facilities 266 41 355 19 38 22 0 38 0 38 0 38 856 1,538 1,873 • Web-Site 252 60 362 7 43 10 0 43 0 43 0 43 863 1,538 501 • SUBTOTAL 2,892 554 3,836 347 489 264 0 639 0 439 50 439 9,950 18,018 9,679 • Expected Variance (868) (166) (1,151) (104) (147) (79) 0 (192) 0 (132) (15) (132) (2,985) (7,122)• SUBTOTAL 2,025 388 2,685 243 342 185 0 447 0 307 35 307 6,965 10,896 9,679 • ........................................... • Assembly Fixed Costs ....... • Insurance 0 0 0 370 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 370 357 349 • State Filing Fees 0 0 0 0 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60 75 50 • Accounting Fees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,000 0 0 0 0 1,000 1,000 995 • GSC Cont. (to fund) 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1,200 1,200 1 • Del.'s Int Conv. (to fund)100 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 100 0 100 0 600 0 0 • Reserve Fund 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 578 • SUBTOTAL 200 200 200 570 160 100 100 1,100 200 100 200 100 3,230 2,632 1,973 • Assembly Operating Costs • Coffee/Food Expense 0 225 200 0 125 75 0 125 0 200 0 0 950 1,975 1,552 • Meeting Room Rent 0 575 300 0 375 200 0 375 0 355 0 375 2,555 3,575 4,834 • Telephone 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 480 0 0 • Postage 115 365 165 115 165 165 115 165 115 165 165 165 1,980 1,200 1,322 • Printing/Copying 10 165 180 50 115 510 130 115 50 630 60 215 2,230 800 1,978 • Event Taping 22 41 34 19 38 22 0 38 0 38 0 38 290 245 391 • Supplies 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 300 1,200 530 • Miscellaneous 33 33 33 88 33 33 33 33 68 53 33 33 505 0 0 • Office equipment 24 0 24 0 24 0 25 0 24 0 24 0 145 750 0 • SUBTOTAL 269 1,469 1,001 337 940 1,070 368 916 322 1,506 347 891 9,436 9,745 10,607 • Other Expenses .................. • Delegates Workshop 0 0 0 430 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 430 350 646 • Area RUS Conf. 2,810 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 100 150 450 200 4,110 2,470 8,021 • Past Delegate Travel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 68 • Uncategorized Expenses 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 • SUBTOTAL 2,810 0 0 430 100 100 100 100 100 150 450 200 4,540 2,820 8,735 • TOTAL EXPENSE 10,100 4,341 8,774 4,214 5,294 4,183 2,863 4,715 4,842 4,263 2,192 4,555 60,335 65,884 70,582 • ........................................... • Net Income (1,270) (621) (3,376) 631 (899) 290 1,982 (295) 1,006 432 2,103 18 1 0 (8,567)• ........................................... • Pink Can Cont 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 34,560 24,500 30,196 • Pink Can Expense 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 2,880 34,560 24,500 32,263
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 15
Southern Minnesota Area Assembly (SMAA)of Alcoholics Anonymous
Area Assembly AgendaOctober 10, 2009
Holiday Inn of Austin1701 4th St NW, Austin MN 55912, 507-433-1000
9:00 AM ¬– 4:55 PM9:00 AM ............................... Welcome, Open & Introductions9:25 AM ............................... Approval of July 11, 2009, Area Assembly Minutes9:30 AM ............................... Officers’ Reports – Delegate, Alt; Delegate, Area Chair, Alt. Area Chair, Secretary, Treasurer (5 min.each)10:15 AM ............................. Presentation – How we carry the message…10:35 AM ............................. Discussion – How we carry the message11:00 AM ............................. General Service Representative (G.S.R.) Sharing
11:30 AM ............................. Break for Lunch
1:00 PM ................................ District Reports – Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 (3 minutes each)1:30 PM ................................ Presentation and Discussion – Sponsoring Your Professional1:50 PM ................................ Committee Reports .............................................. C.P.C., Corrections, Finance, P. I., Remote Communities and Special Needs, Treatment Facilities (5 minutes each)2:30 PM ................................ AAI Presentation incorporating the “Young People’s Videos”3:00 PM ................................ District Reports – Districts 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 (3 minutes each)3:30 PM ................................ Break3:40 PM ................................ Old Business – none.............................................. New Business –.............................................. 1. Literature Proposal – .............................................. That the General Service Conference develop a book on the “History of the Early Pioneer Women” in A.A............................................... 2. Literature Proposal – .............................................. Request a change to the pamphlet “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship”............................................... 3. Proposed 2010 Area Budget.............................................. 4. Other4:40 PM ................................ Sample G.S.R. Report4:45 PM ................................ Announcements4:55 PM ................................ Close with The Responsibility Statement: I am responsible… When anyone, anywhere reaches out for help,I want the hand of A.A. always to be there. And for that: I am responsible.
2009 SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AREA CALENDAR OF EVENTSThis is the remainder of events as well as the events listing for the beginning of 2010
September 11 – 13 West Central Regional Forum Holiday Inn St. Cloud, MN 7:00pm 9/11 – Noon 9/13
October 10 Area Assembly Holiday Inn Austin, MN 9:00am – 5:00pm
December 5 Area Committee Meetings Best Western, Mankato, MN Standing Committees Meet 9:30am – 11:30am Area Committee Meeting 1:00pm – 5:00pm
All events are open to all members of Alcoholics Anonymous. Everyone is encouraged to attend and participate.
Attendance and participation is a responsibility of all General Service Representatives, Alternate General Service Representatives, District Committee Members, Alternate District Committee Members, District and Area Committee Chairs and their respective alternates, and District and Area Officers and their respective alternates.
Following is the 2010 1st Quarter calendar of events for the Area.
Jan 9 - Trusted Servant Leadership Training - St. John’s Lutheran Church, Northfield Jan 22-24 - Recovery, Unity and Service Conference - Holiday Inn, Fairmont Feb 6 - Area Committee Meetings - Best Western, North Mankato Feb 20 - Inventory - First Baptist Church - Minneapolis Mar 5-7 - WCRAASC - Dubuque IA
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- September 2009 Page 16
District 13
District Reports
District 7
District 3
District 7 is in good health with meaningful action in our committees, adequate money in our bank account and an excellent team of offi-cers, committee chairs, alternates and participating GSRs. Highlights: All officer positions and most committee chairs are filled! Most committee chairs have alternates. The number of GSRs par-ticipating has been up to 8 at our general meeting and Assemblies! Alternates become our pool of talent for the next rotation so we are actively seeking members to take these slots. Our “Outreach Project” is under way and we hope to increase the number of groups partici-pating across the District and we have a new pamphlet to help explain “Sponsor Your Professionals to AAs. As a District our focus is on doing work to help AA grow. Our efforts have been and continue to be mainly around placing literature in the District wherever alcoholics might pick it up, wherever a professional might pass it on to one who they think might have a problem. We are also trying to move the maintenance of established literature racks to AA Groups in our District. So far, of the 9 or so placements we have four covered by three AA Groups. Our Literature Chair track where the placements are and who the contacts are both from AA and at the location.In addition to our committee work we have three projects. Our “Out-reach Project” is moving along. We have information packets for the District volunteer to take to the group and have lined up volunteers to visit groups. Several visits have been accomplished already. The visits typically are set for about 5-10 minutes where the volunteer does a brief overview of what District 7 is and does and invites the group to join in at the District meetings. We also have a workshop set up for the afternoon of October 3rd at the Cross Of Glory church in Hopkins. (See the flyer elsewhere in the Pigeon). The focus will be on “General Service, What and Why?”. It will include a Taco Bar at Noon and presentations on all the District service activities that groups and members can participate in. Please
Our District has been very busy of the last couple of months. We have completed three of our workshops in three different Alano Clubs. Ken R. has brought the Area Archives to the workshops and spoke at two of them and Paul at the third, providing us with some Minnesota A.A. history. We’ve all learned a lot.Our P.I. committee has completed another year of staffing a booth at the Anoka County Fair. The fair went well and we had a number of visitors come to talk. P.I. has also made sure that the libraries in our district have copies of the Big Book and 12 and 12.Our Corrections Committee is reaching out to make sure that all of our correctional facilities in our district know about and have access to our Pink Can Plan.We have an almost full crew of committee chairs. The only one we have not filled is the Newsletter Chair so our Alternate DCM and I have out this out. I have shared it with the other DCM’s so please check it out.We have three more workshops schedule for the rest of this year. Our workshops are two hours long and we bring lunch with us. We have four presenters who discuss the A.A. service structure; How to get plugged into A.A.; The spiritual benefits of A.A. and the history of A.A. in Minnesota. The upcoming workshop dates are:September 19 at the Andover AlanoOctober 24th at the Coon Rapids AlanoNovember 14th at the Anoka Alano
Yours in love and service,Mary Kay F. DCM District 13
District 1 I apologize that I did not give a report in the last issue of the Pigeon. My bad. District 1 has been a busy keeping some committee chairs filled and viable, and some other committees have been very active. Our past PI chair moved away (we miss you Renee), Nikki B. kept up with PI communications and duties in the interim, and Beth W. has joined us as the new PI chair. We are currently in need of a Literature chair. Group Records is currently going over directory and getting ready for the next printing. By the time you read this, the new direc-tories will be here! Answering Service has been extremely busy. As of mid-July, we switched over to a different company to handle our calls. It was not entirely seamless in the transition. We lost connec-tion for a week in June. Upon learning of the problem, we asked St. Paul intergroup to advise us in what to do and they graciously helped us with trudging our phone calls until we could search out and get a better solution in place. Thank you St. Paul Intergroup for the great work you afforded us. There has been a new contact list created. If you want to be added, please let your GSR know or contact me. A subcommittee has been formed to organize a workshop happening later in the year. The details will be coming out soon. I have made my reservation for the West Central Region AA Forum in St. Cloud on September 11-13 at the Holiday Inn and Suites. I am taking one GSR with me. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your DCM. I am open to any questions you might have. [email protected] M.
join us!Our Alternate DCM is visiting groups in the West end of District 7 to see if they want to participate with us or would prefer a District West or North of us. This may lead to a redistricting request. We are still using the Area provided email for District 7 to do all our distribution emailing. It is very helpful to have one single source to maintain for our email lists. We now have a newsletter chair and will be publishing and distribut-ing a newsletter soon. It will be an email based communication to help keep the costs down.Our CPC Committee has developed (and will share) a new pamphlet designed to support our work helping to inform AA’s about what they can do to “Sponsor Professionals”. They also have a two minute skit to demonstrate an AA Member making a “Sponsor Your Healthcare Professional” visit.Our Corrections Committee has been very active with the Area Chair and the new Contact Program Coordinator to help improve the effec-tiveness of the program. We also have literature placements (“racks”) at several police and court locations in the District.Our PI Committee filled the slots for the Hennepin County Fair and has all our allotted slots filled for the State Fair. All our committee chairs have submitted their input for the 2010 bud-get and our Finance Chair and our Treasurer are pulling together the initial budget draft. Due to the change in our expense policy, we are well below budget on expenses and we are over budget on contribu-tions so we are strong financially. The changes included a new mile-age rate set lower to match the government charitable rate, car pool-ing requirements for reimbursement and cutbacks on event travel for committee members. So we do have the funds to increase our work on getting literature out in the District to those who might refer alcoholic prospects to us.
Respectfully Yours In Service
Terry L. [email protected]
District 15We are a group of recovering alcoholics trying to carry the message to the still suffering. We are trying. There was 18 concerned attendees at our last meeting on July 27th. We manned a booth at the Washington county fair. Handed out candy and AA pamphlets and talked to a lot of concerend people. We are carrying the AA. Message. We will have a workshop on sponsorship on Oct.24 2009. We will do the taco deal about noon. 2 wonderful speakers. see ya all Larry
Salutations from District 3 (Freeborn, Mower, Steele, Waseca and Dodge Counties). District 3 meets the 2nd Wednesday at 6pm at the Ellendae Community Center.Once again, this year at the Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna, ourdistrict funded and participated in a District 3 General Services booth.The participation from the district to ensure that the fair booth wascontinually manned was once again, above and beyond expectations.We are down to a handful of committee chairs, but we are moving along with our 12th step work with the zeal of an entire army. It never ceases to amaze me what we alcoholics can achieve with God and a handful of gratitude!We are still looking for interested persons to come and speak at ourvarious clubs and meetings. If you or anyone you know are interest-ed, please feel free to contact me, my information is listed below.Thank You for this opportunity to serve and grow with you my fellow friends in service and beyond.In Love and ServiceBridget H.DCM
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Hi everyone: Every year we hold a District Unity Picnic and this year it is held on Sunday, August 16th. District 16 consists of Rice County which includes Faribault, Northfield, Morristown, Shieldsville and Lonsdale. In past years we usually alternated between Northfield and Faribault to hold the picnic but this year we are holding it in Mor-ristown! Morristown has one meeting on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. and they are active in the District. They send a GSR each month and one Saturday when I went to their meeting to introduce myself as their DCM they were very welcoming. I was the only female with about 15 men in this meeting but I could not have felt more a part of. I had not met many of these members of AA and I am hoping to meet them again at the picnic along with their family and friends. Our district meetings are the 3rd Thursday of each month in the base-ment of the Village Drug in Northfield at 7:30 p.m. Please feel free to join us any time.District 16 is scheduled for Sunday, September 6 to man the State Fair Booth. This is the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Our PI chair did a great job at filling the slots. This will be my first year to man this booth. I am looking forward to it. In June, Scott A. came and shared his time in New York with us. As in the past, we have coordinated this with District 19. This year, we hosted District 19; however, they brought great goodies! Scott did a great job and we filled up the room. I was pleased with the participa-tion.I will be attending the West Central Regional Forum and the Area 35/36 Joint workshop. I look forward to seeing many of my AA friends there.Again, thank you for allowing me to serve and I look forward to meeting many new friends. Denise B., District 16 DCM
District 16
District 17My name is Jeanne, alcoholic, and the District Committee Member (DCM) for District 17.
District 17 is in full swing at our county fairs. This district is made up of three counties so we have the Sibley County, Carver County and McLeod County fairs to attend. We will also help to represent A.A. for the Area at the State Fair on August 31st.
District 17 is made up of a fairly large geographic area that has only a small handful of members willing to serve and I will be forever grate-ful for the love and support they have given to the district and to me. Thank you for allowing me to serve.
AAs humble servant – Jeanne H.
District 19
Hello from District 19. District 19 serves approximately 50 groups/200 meetings in Dakota County (Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Farmington, Hastings, Lakeville, Mendota, Rosemount, and South St. Paul). An updated District 19 Meeting Directory is avail-able on our website at: www.area36.org/district_19.php. We were fortunate to have Robert S., Area 36 Treatment Facilities Chair, in attendance at our last District Meeting on July 8th. Robert explained the Temporary Contact Program which provides a vital ser-vice of bridging the gap between the clients of the treatment facility and Alcoholics Anonymous. What a great way to be of service to the still suffering alcoholic. Thank you Robert.
Our first District 19 Newsletter for this rotation has been mailed to the groups. We are very excited that we have had several inquiries as a result of this effort.
A fall workshop is being planned by Barb our Alternate DCM and a planning committee. Mark your calendars, the workshop will be held on October 24th from 1 – 3 pm at Christ Church in Apple Valley. More workshop details including flyers will be available soon. We hope you are able to join us.
The Dakota County Fair is fast approaching and we have just a couple of time slots available to fill for staffing the District 19 Public Infor-mation Booth. The fair starts Monday August 10th and ends on Sun-day August 16th. We are thrilled to have a presence in the community at this event again this year.
Yours in Service,Kathy L. District 19 DCM
District 14Greetings from District 14, Wright County! There are currently 42 meetings in which to attend every week. “A friend is someone who knows you as you are, understands where you’ve been, accepts who you have become, and still, gently, invites you to grow.” I found this quote on o magnet on my daughter’s refrigerator, but there is no mention of who said it. I read it and then chuckled to myself because my daughter doesn’t share the same beliefs of AA as I do. She does, however, accept that I am alcoholic. Yet she is of the belief that I spend too much time with alcoholics and finds it difficult to under-stand that I really do enjoy meetings, working with other alcoholics, and enjoy service work in order to carry that message “to the still suffering alcoholic.” I guess the point I am trying to make is this: This quote is WHY I love AA! I can walk into any AA meeting and know that the room is full of friends….even though we have never met before. The people inside know who I am, understand where I have been and accepts me…as I am. I also relate “this friend” as my sponsor, who gently invites me to grow…although not everything my sponsor asks of me seems “gentle.” LOL…We are currently getting ready for the Wright County Fair. The fair runs from Aug 12-Aug 16. We will also be fulfilling our obligation at the State Fair on Labor Day. I have attended 22 meetings over the past 2 weeks to encourage service work for those who wouldn’t normally have a chance to do service. This service work is helping staff the AA booth at the Wright County Fair, August 12-16th. These meetings have been incredible! Everyone has been so welcoming, but very hesitant in volunteering or at the very least seemed disin-terested. When leaving the meetings my initial thought, alcoholic frame of mind, was that it was me…that I had done something wrong. After that initial panic passed, I wondered if it was about anonym-ity. From my own perspective, I didn’t care who saw me at the bar or a street dance making a fool of myself in my public, why would I care if someone ran into me at place where I was trying to do some-thing good, trying to make a difference in someone else’s life? I, at one time, have been guilty of keeping my identity within the walls of my home group, Dassel, but over the past 1 1/2 years I have seen the importance of “in all of our affairs.” I am not ashamed of whom I am today, and I try not to hide behind my anonymity. I think sometimes we are so into anonymity that if someone was looking for us, they wouldn’t know where to go. I will, however, protect your anonymity to the nth degree.District 14 is busy in keeping our jail commitments on Sunday and Monday evenings. We have also continued with the Adopt-a-Motel Program. We have public service announcements on our local cable network with phone contacts in different towns in Wright County. With the loss of the speaker desk through Intergroup, we have imple-mented our own phone list and are willing to come to your meeting to share our experience, strength, and hope with you as opportunities arise. We welcomed a new GSR from the Friday morning Big Book Study in Annandale this month. Welcome, Sarah!! There were 23 members making up our district meeting this month. Our medallions chair/ar-chives chair resigned without letting us bid him an official fond fare-well. We knew it was coming, but wasn’t sure when….John, you will be missed! Jim O will be taking over that chair as he is giving up the Literature Chair. Thank you for stepping up, Jim! Mike C, from the Hanover group, will be taking over that position. Thank you, Mike! As many of you know I love AA and what it has done for me! I wish that I had the time today to give back to AA the same amount of time I wasted in drinking. After the last Assembly meeting I came home in a state of “shock.” I am not of a sound political or financial mind. I am an alcoholic and I left the Assembly that day wondering what it was that I was doing there! I quickly sent off an email to a person that I respect and admire in the program…a person that used to “scare” me…a person who had the guts to tell me what I needed to hear, but also gentle enough with me to “keep me coming back..” I just wanted some insight on what the Area REALLY was all about and I wanted his input on this. In addition, I dug out a book I have had for 7 years, but haven’t read…AA Comes of Age. I remember when I first purchased it I went, UGH, politics…and put it away. I wish I had taken the time to read it. Today, I can honestly tell you that I have read it cover to cover twice in 3 weeks. IF ONLY…. I do what I can with what my Higher Power allows me to do…I am a changed person, I am here for you when you need me.If you are ever in Wright County, look us up. As I said, there are 42 meeting to attend and our District meets the first Monday of the month at the United Methodist Church in Buffalo at 7:30! Hope to see you soon.In love and service,Deb DCM Dist 14
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Where did July go? I know I was present each entire day of it. There sure were a lot of picnics and fun get-together last month and still more yet to come this month in August. If you have no idea what to do with yourself, check out the “Events” listed in our newsletter or give me a call. (Muhuhah ha ha - My evil laugh because you know I will find some fun service stuff to do.) Actually, I do have some fun Non-service stuff on my calendar so call me. There is usually a carpool going somewhere.
On July 11th, I attended the Southern Minnesota Area Assembly in Northfield. Lovely town - we had a carload of fellowship on the way there and back that day. There were I’m sure over 200 people there. You folks that didn’t make it sure missed out. We had lunch at the Tavern - Yummy. You can read what happened in Mary T.’s report within our newsletter.
This month, tons of stuff is going on. Area Committee Meetings in Mankato on August 8th. A joint Area 35 - 36 workshop in “Elk river on August 29th. Bummer I won’t be able to go to the 2218 Alano - Old Timers Party in Mpls on the 29th as well. I’ve never been to 2218 - The oldest A.A. club in Minnesota. On Tuesday August 11th, there is an outdoor speaker potluck in Jordan at Lagoon Par. The speaker is Rick B. He and his buddy, Bob O. facilitate 4th Step work-shops and they will be facilitating one here in our district in the Fall. There are 2 mistakes in our newsletter. If you can find them, let me know at the next district meeting.
Yours in loving service,“Annette W. DCM District 24
District ReportsDistrict 21
Since the last update, we have been busy at D21. In June we had the Hennepin County Fair in which we coordinated the shifts there and set the booth up. I would like to thank the other districts in Hennepin County for helping staffing shift and/or contributions to help offset the majority of the costs. Unfortunately from reports the attendance at the fair was down this year compared to last year and literature handed out was on the lighter side than what we would have liked to have seen it.
Since then we have been focusing on a workshop for this Fall. It will be Corrections related on how the average AA member can be of help to alcoholics in jails/prisons. 10% of our membership has come from this situation, so it is a viable avenue to carry our message to them at the various facilities. District 22 is spearheading it this year and D21 is helping (last year D21 spearheaded the workshop and D22 helped). Look for a flyer in the pigeon, and one this fall in the D21 Newsletter. We do know that it’ll be Nov 14th in the afternoon.
We are going to be staffing 5 shifts at the Area’s PI booth at the State Fair in St Paul on two separate days. Again this is part of D21’s an-nual effort at the Public Information level.
One of the areas that I feel we are really lacking on is active front line committee chairs. These are Treatment, basically visiting treatment centers on how AA can be of help; Public Information, handling the county and state fair commitments and local newspaper and cable TV PSA announcements; Cooperation with the Professional Commu-nity which visits doctors, nurses, lawyers, police depts, etc.; Cor-rections, where one visits the facilities to see how we can help staff AA meetings, make them aware of the Pink Can Plan, etc.;. and we need a Newsletter Chair too, this person would do the layout of the newsletter, update it each month and do the copying and mailing of it each month. I bet more than a few are going, wahoo I can not do that! Well I beg to differ. Often we must overcome our fears of the unknown. And we do provide training and support so a person can succeed in their role as a chair. The bottom line is that these positions help alcoholics and we need AA members to step up and be of help to AA. So if you can be of help, or you know of a person that would be a good candidate, please contact me.
And lastly, I think we will be looking at adding or updating a policy or 2 this Fall and will even be doing a district inventory too. So lots to do at District 21 and I hope that your group sends your GSR to your district meetings, and if they are not attending or reporting to your group, you may want to ask them, why aren’t they?
Yours in service,Alan N. D21 DCM
District 24
Report from Minneapolis Intergroup
To become more involved in your local district you can contact your District Committee Member (DCM) using the information found on page 2 of this newsletter. To attend your local District Committee Meeting, you can either contact your DCM or you can find out where and when they are held on page 3 of this newslet-ter. Become involved in Alcoholics Anonymous to deepen and strengthen your sobriety.
• We were saddened to learn of the passing of Kathy B. a part time staffer who worked at Intergroup for a number of years, until she moved to Idaho to be with her daughter.• We have a Group Phone Opening on the 3rd Monday of the month from 4:15 to 7:00.• The office will be closed on September 5 and 7 for the Labor Day Holiday.• Summer Open House - went extremely well, a big thank you to our Area 36 Officers, who served up the hot dogs at 11am. Steve K. Area Chair, Angie E. Alternate Delegate and Scott A. Area Delegate. The DCM at District 7 served up the sodas, thank you to Terry L. for his service. Several DCM’s and past Delegates attended. Next year we might change the name to Intergroup Unity Open House. All in all nearly 300 members attended. This gave everyone a chance to learn about AA participation at Intergroup or Area 36 TCP and CFC. The Temporary Contact Desk signed up additional volunteersThe Corrections Desk signed up additional contacts for their program• One rumor floating around is that the Pink Can Plan is losing money by purchasing from Minneapolis Intergroup. The truth is that as of early August there was over $19,000 in the Pink Can checking ac-count. The Pink Can checking account has never been below $3,000. More funds are coming in than Books & Literature being ordered and shipped. Minneapolis Intergroup as been the primary fulfillment loca-tion for all Pink Can orders since the Pink Cans inception.• Intergroup sells all of its literature at cost, which covers the cost of our vital services. An example of these Vital Services is the shared effort to maintain Area 36 Temporary Contact Program and Correc-tional Facilities Program. The cost to maintain these services for the Area at the Intergroup Service Office is $2,100 per month of which Area 36 pays a small portion of $160 per month. So any perceived profit from AA literature goes towards the cost of maintaining our Area 36 Services.• In addition our Service Office distributes at over 10,000 pieces of AA literature each year at no charge. The small mark up from AA literature enables AA Information to be provided to Schools, Medical Clinics, Professionals, and family members when it is appropriate.• The Business Cards that have Minneapolis & St. Paul Intergroup’s addresses, phone numbers and websites are printed 4 times a year, 10,000 at a time for $112.00. We give these away to any committee that wants them to carry the message. The total cost of $448.00 is charged as a PI expense in our budget.• We have been invited back to the University Of Minnesota School Of Social Work to give another AAI presentation. Skip L. was re-quested to return as they enjoyed his presentations in the past.• We received a call a few weeks ago from Rick W. GSO staff person who will be the coordinator of the 2010 International Convention in San Antonio. All Intergroup/Central Offices will be mailed 100 cop-ies of the Registration form. In addition all General Service Entities will also be mailed copies.We should have the form at the office by September 11. You can also go online at www.aa.org to register and get other details about the convention. Some of you may not remember Rick he was the office manager at Minneapolis Intergroup a number of years ago.• We have a revised pamphlet “A Message to Teenagers”. This pam-phlet is free of charge and now in stock at Intergroup.
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 19Southern Minnesota Area Assembly
Area Committee Minutes: August 8, 2009Best Western Hotel North Mankato, MN
Steve K: Opened Meeting with the Serenity Prayer followed by intro-ductions.
Accountant’s Report: GeraldReported that financial records come to him once a year and he files our tax returns and files for our 501 3c non profit status. Noted that we are in compliance with these standards. His Financial Report was passed out. He went through financial transactions and found no differences from those given by the Area Treasurer.
Officers’ Reports Delegate-Scott A.: Will have copies of The Final General Service Conference Reports for 2009 at the Forum in St. Cloud as well as the October Assembly. The Kindle Reader project has been terminated. Soft cover souvenir edition of AA Comes of Age will be available for the International Convention for $7.00. Registration will start on September 1st for the International Convention in San Antonio in July 2010.
Alternate Delegate-Angie E.: Spoke from the heart: over last month we have spent much time on problems in Area 36. Keep in mind that when we share we are in the same boat. Disagree without being disagreeable. Place principles before personalities.
Chairperson-Steve K.: Area Remote Communities and Special Needs and also the Area Group Records Chairs are vacant. Contact Steve K. if willing to serve.2010 calendar updates: • Formal Area Inventory-February 20th, First Baptist Church in Min-neapolis. • Spring Assembly-March 27th, Best Western Victoria Inn in Hutchin-son. • Summer Assembly-June 26th, St. Johns Church in Northfield. • Delegates Workshop -April 10th, Gopher Hills Golf Club in Cannon Falls. • Fall Assembly - October 16, 2009, AmericInn Hotel in Mankato. • Joint Area 36 and Area 35 Service Workshop, August 29, 2009 in Elk River-everyone is welcome.
Alternate Chairperson-Buzz G.: Visited District 1 – spoke on financ-ing and earmarking. Happy to come to any District. Plans are un-derway for next Recovery Unity and Service Conference on January 22- 24 at the Holiday Inn in Fairmont.
Secretary-Phyllis S.: Minutes from the May, 2009 Committee Meet-ing were approved. We are processing the Area Actions of the Area Committee meetings from 2002 through 2008 to get them posted on the Area Website. Presented a service talk at the District 8 brunch. I would be happy to visit your group or District to help in any way I can.
Treasurer - Doug C.: Group contributions are up significantly. We have cut back on expenses. Rod from District 23 and Joanie from District 1 both expressed a desire for the committees to be active. Allow reimbursement for committee chairs to go out and do their work. Paul H.: Groups still need to step up; we shouldn’t be depen-dent on In Kind contributions. Alan N.: Look at total expenses; we spent $10,000 less than we did last year. That is a wow factor. Dis-trict 7: Terry L.:-we are heading in the right direction-this is a very positive report-let’s fund everything people ask for. If we run into trouble again we will look at it again. Steve K. - Things are better in large part because of the actions we took earlier. Increased contribu-tions have allowed us easier choices than we had 2 months ago. If this continues then we can continue to fund what the budget calls for; including conference registrations by committees or participation in the General Service Structure with the rest of the region.
DCM Sharing Session Report: Steve C.-District 8.DCMs refocused on 12 step work. Discussed committee chairs not showing up and how the DCMs might deal with this. Make sure leadership workshop focuses on the Committee Chairs. In medical profession and in setting up contact people; get the head nurse the in-formation on Alcoholics Anonymous. Make sure doctors and nurses know your alcoholic history and that it is in your records. Talk about A.A. as a whole and focus on Area and District getting new people involved.
Standing Committee Reports:Archives-Ken R.: Proposals: 1. That there should be an annual Area Inventory. 2. That the Area send a letter to all roundups in our Area sighting our current financial difficulties and asking for specific help regarding the cost of Area 36 committees participation in their events. Archives will be participating in District 13 Workshops and will be displaying at the “31st Old Timers Reunion”.
Cooperation with the Professional Community-Dave B.:District 7 did a mass mailing to mental health facilities in their Dis-trict. Missy did a skit on sponsoring your professional at the District 8 brunch. She talked about the Sponsoring Your Professional Pam-phlet that they put together with the help of Intergroup. Dave thanked Intergroup for all their help-Steve and Chuck did a lot of work on this. Bob from District 24 talked about getting meeting directories to hospitals and hotels and possibly into jails and police stations. Dis-trict 8 –Went to East Side Homeless Connect and they will have 4 A.A. meetings a week at the Dorothy Day Homeless center on Sat-urdays at 1:00pm. University of Minnesota Family Health has put a link in their website to aa.org, and St. Paul and Minneapolis Inter-group. Committee has done numerous informational presentations at many different places, some as a result of participation at conferences. Spoke about doing presentations for 2010 conferences such as Physi-cians and Social Service Conferences so might get registration fee lowered or waved.
Corrections-Martha: Districts shared how they worked in prisons and jails and how to coordinate getting cards in police cars. Very helpful session. Talked about contact program-need more contacts and as-signers. DCMs need to get word out. District 21 and 22 are hosting a workshop in Golden Valley. They will be talking about moving “fear to gratitude” when doing Corrections work. Corrections Com-mittee is working on coordinating the work behind the walls. Want to set up a list of all facilities in the Area. Currently have no way to track who is going where. They do not want to duplicate efforts or during rotation lose names of contacts that are helpful.
Finance-Buzz: Old Business: Should we make using the medical/moving reimbursement rate for mileage, a permanent bench mark. Recommendation was to table indefinitely. Under new business they discussed ways to increase group participation and further reduce expenses. Thought working with the Districts to do outreach was a good idea. Got input from Sooze from District 22 who has done work with an outreach program. Discussed third quarter finance letter and what the tone should be. Groups that are participating have really stepped up to the plate but would like to get other groups involved in the process. Steve K. gave them a quick overview of the 2010 budget and it was their recommendation that we forward the budget to the Area Committee for publication in the Pigeon and approval at the October Assembly. Expressed concerns about circumventing the Area Budget process. Lively discussion was held.
Grapevine-Tom M.: The Grapevine has a subscription form in it. It is a postage paid card that asks for a credit card number. Tom will ask G.S.O. about this. Grapevine sales are up 13%-they have 2 new books.
Group Records-Tina McG. She has started school-willing but not able to serve. Last 6 weeks-a lot has piled up. Helped District 18 with outreach. Her updates for the meeting locator may not have fully uploaded. General Service Office is not printing regional directories this year (Conserving money).
Literature: Jim (Alternate Chair) - Showed copy of youth video poster. Had good dialogue of ideas. Entertained two proposals at today’s meeting. (1.) District 8 requested, we add the words “all electronic media” to Tradition 11. (Unanimously agreed to take that proposal forward). District 23 requested that Literature catalogs be available at all Area meetings. They did not bring this forward as a proposal but will request Steve to do this.
Newsletter-Mike C. Mike has recently moved. Lisa fixed his Area email this morning. Proposal sent to him: “Change the section of the newsletter policy which deals with including conferences and roundups in the Pigeon as part of the Pigeon.” Proposal: that the Newsletter will not include any flyers for roundups or conferences not sponsored by A.A. as a whole in the Area Newsletter. All such roundups and conferences must submit either enough printed flyers to be stuffed in the newsletter or a pdf to be printed by the publisher.
Unapproved Minutes from the August 8th Area Committee Meeting
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All costs for printing the flyers and stuffing them will be incurred by the conference sponsor. 50 % of the cost of mailing will be divided equally among all conference sponsors who choose to utilize this as an option. He will print and send to the Area Committee.
Public Information-Lisa G.: Discussed the various ways the Districts are carrying the message through PI. District 25 participated in a Health Fair at The Mall of American; staffed PI booth at the Guest House in Bloomington; District 18 had PI event at The Waite House. Other Districts are carrying the message at schools, county fairs, hotels, bus shelters, Radio/TV PSAs. Have many requests for confer-ences. Professionals are selling space at conferences. They discussed conference registration fees for conferences outside of our current budget. State fair is 3 weeks away. All days are filled. In follow up to the District 8 proposal to gather information on moving the PI booth at the State Fair. We could move the booth to the Health and Educa-tion Building. There is not a 10 year waiting list. Cost would be half of what it is now. Current booth number is #65. Suggestion was made to ask G.S.O. about display for the state fair.
Structure-Angie E: • Update on voting and election policy. The sub committee will pro-duce a draft by the December Area Committee Meeting.• Discussed placing the Trusted Leadership Training in the Area 36 Budget. The Structure Committee unanimously supported this pro-posal. • Addressed District 23 redistricting question. Tom R. visited with District 10 Groups and is going to provide a map to show us where the line would be. They will send a letter to registered groups in District 10 to inform them of request by District 23 to redistrict. This will come back to the next area committee meeting for a vote. Dis-trict 3 has some groups that attend District 1. Area will only get involved if there is a boundary change. Groups can change Districts by sending in a change form; this does not change the boundary.• Request to move date of General Service Conference; new informa-tion revealed, limited to the two options. • Tabled update of Trusted Servant Guidelines because they have too much on their plate.• New proposal: Area 36 saved the most money when purchasing literature by having ever Area committee purchase the majority of the literature from AAWS. Committee will research and discuss at the next Area Committee meeting.
Treatment Facilities-Robert S.: Tom C. from District 18 shared his experience with Treatment facilities. Used workbook as guide. Formed his own committee-used Alcoholics Anonymous Informational Pamphlets and the Contact Program. Treatment received registration fee for MAARCH Conference, Octo-ber20-22 (River Center.) Talk to Robert if you want to volunteer.
Remote Communities and Special Needs-Phyllis S.: Kevin from District 7 is putting literature in assisted living facilities. I personally learned at the committee meeting that Kevin who is vision impaired has software for his PC to load attachments so he can listen to a docu-ment or email. In viewing the Remote Communities Communicator provided us by Scott we discovered that Nebraska is putting together a workbook for Remote Communities. Hope to see what progress has been made on this at the Regional Forum in St. Cloud. We will be working on providing Alcoholics Anonymous Informational literature to facilities, i.e. Courage Center, Special Needs Fairs and festivals or conference and are interested in working with other Areas in getting pamphlets and literature for the Somalia Community.
Website-Lisa Ber.: 2009 updated calendar should be on the Area 36 Website within a week. Reviewed G.S.O. guidelines for Internet and drafted email guidelines. They will forward to Structure Committee to review. At the joint workshop with Area 35 the Ad hoc Meeting Locator Committee will meet and investigate showing the meeting locator at the West Central Regional Forum and how to handle other Areas interest in adding Group information to the website. Sugges-tion was made to have the “I am looking for a meeting” on the meet-ing locator website be more pronounced. Old Business: Literature Proposals:1. We request The General Service Conference develop a book on the “History of the Early Pioneer Women” in A.A. We are particularly
interested in Women from its beginning to the 1950’s. Motion to for-ward to the Assembly passed. Minority Opinion: felt we have enough literature out there. We voted to revote 14/12. On revote motion passed 16/12 and goes forward to the Assembly.
2. We request that the following change be made to the pamphlet “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship” (P15): Under the sec-tion “What should a newcomer expect from a sponsor?” (p.10), after the sentence, “A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who helps the newcomer solve one problem: how to stay sober, “*we propose the inclusion of the following sentence: “In this regard, a sponsor’s pri-mary duty is to demonstrate to the newcomer how he or she recovered from alcoholism through the program of action outlined in our basic text, Alcoholics Anonymous, and guide the newcomer through their own experience with the A.A. recovery Program. Delegate: Scott-Pointed out the timeliness of this proposal. At the last board meeting GSO talked about forming a subcommittee for revising this pamphlet. 24/3 motion passed and it will be forwarded to the Assembly. Minor-ity Opinion: Sounds like we are getting too specific on telling people how to do 12 step work. Lisa B.. Web Chair-Maybe there is a dif-ferent way to get this message across. No one changed their vote. Motion will be sent to the assembly.
3. Finance Proposal: Permanently adjust the mileage rate to IRS medical/moving rate as a benchmark for mileage reimbursement. At the last assembly, a floor action set the Area reimbursement rate to the IRS mecial/moving rate of 24 cents through the end of 2010. Consen-sus of Finance committee was that this reimbursement not be made permanent and be tabled indefinitely. 2/3 majority to postpone this motion. 27/2 voted for postponing this motion indefinitely. Minor-ity opinion: Serious concerns about being at a higher rate; probably never deal with it if we do not do it now. 3 people changed vote. Vote to revote defeated 24/5. Motion is postponed indefinitely.
4. Structure Proposal: Since Trusted Servant Leadership Train-ing has become a proven successful annual event the Structure Committee proposes that the Trusted Ser-vant Leadership Training be included in the Area Budget. If this proposal passes it would be put in the budget and voted on at the fall assembly. Motion failed 19/4. Minority Opinion: District 13 Alternate DCM: Ann-if this is an Area event it has to be in the budget. Alternate Del-egate: Angie- suggested that we have options. She hears both sides of the story and suggests if the Districts are sending money in for this event they say nothing about it being for Trusted Leadership Training.
New Business Archives Proposals: 1) That the Area have an annual Area Inventory on its calendar – this will go back to the Districts and have discussion at the Structure Committee.2) The Area Chairperson send a letter to all roundups sighting our current financial difficulties and asking for specific help regarding the Area 36 participation in their event. Currently the Finance Policy says we will fund our own participation. We will take this back to Districts for discussion.
Literature Proposal: 1. Request that we add the words “all electronic media” to Tradition 11. Consensus was to take this back to the groups for discussion.
Newsletter Policy Change: Motion changes the section of the newslet-ter policy which deals with including conferences and roundups in the Pigeon per his earlier report. Motion was seconded and will go back to the groups for discussion.
Proposed Preliminary 2010 Area Budget: DCMs need to take this to Districts/groups and review this, (handout provided) and come back prepared to review/discuss and vote on at the October Assembly. Steve discussed items of interest. Finance Committee reviewed this, this morning and favored having it go forward.
Regional Forum: Steve asked for a show of hands of how many of the Area committee are planning to attend the West Central Forum. Steve K. asked if there is any question by the full Area Committee of whether the Area should fund 8 people to attend the Regional Forum? Robert S.’s Alternate Treatment Chairperson will be funded to the Forum by his District.
Set Agenda for October 10th Area Assembly:1. Presentation: Area Chairperson Steve K. will pick 2 from the fol-lowing.
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 21• Presentation on Sponsoring a Professional (20 minutes). • AAI presentation on the use of a video aimed at Young People (30 minutes).• Corrections , Martha –presentation on future workshop (10 minutes)• Presentation focusing on how we carry the message by District Chair (20 minute presentation and 20 minute discussion).2................... G.S.R. sharing. 3..... Budget in the afternoon.4. 2 literature proposals brought forward by the Area Committee.
Announcements:
Mike C. – Newsletter Chair: please takes Pigeons and get reports in. District 7-Workshop, October 3rd at Noon (Cross of Glory Church in Hopkins) Taco Bar...............................................Ended at 6:20 pm. I thank Angie for taking minutes on new business as I had to leave early.
Closed with Responsibility Statement:
Respectfully submitted:Phyllis S. Area 36 Secretary.
Unapproved July Southern Minnesota Area Assembly Minutes
• Southern Minnesota Area Assembly• St. John’s Lutheran Church• 500 W 3rd St, Northfield MN 55057, 507-645-4429• July 11, 2009 • • Welcome, Open & Introductions – Meeting opened with the Se-
renity Prayer at 9:00 am. • Approval of Minutes – March 21, 2009 minutes were approved.• • OFFICER’S REPORTS• Delegate: Scott A. has requested the Remote Communities Com-
municator from the General Service Conference be posted on the Area 36 web site. You can register for Regional Forum in ST. Cloud at A.A.org. He has a collection of the power point presen-tations given on Finance, AAWS, & Grapevine at the General Service Conference. See him if you wish to have a copy. He sees fewer conferences in our future and less people being handed to us from treatment facilities. It’s time to go back to our roots and start knocking on doors and have face to face contacts with the professionals in our communities.
• Alternate Delegate: ANGIE E.-She attended the Service Work-shop by Intergroup. Also went to District 25. She shared from Big Book and Third Legacy of Service.
• Chairperson: STEVE K.-Attended Minneapolis Intergroup Board meeting and wants to cooperate with them. Joint 35 Workshop will be August 29th with a 12:30 start. At next Area Committee meeting we will be working on the budget. James N. is the new Correction Facilities Contact Program Coordinator. Tina McGee will be stepping down as Group Records Chair. Today Christa W. did registration. Website went live on June 1, 2009 with a $5000.00 fee. We will pay $500.00 for initial start up on the meeting locator which went live on June 1 and $150.00 a month there after.
• Alternate Chairperson: Buzz G. – Thanked District 15 for being greeters. He will be chair of Recovery Unity and Service Confer-ence. It will be in Fairmont at the Holiday Inn. Committee has been formed.
• Secretary: Phyllis S.-Area Actions have been sent to Web Master for posting. Updated calendars are available and new calendar will be posted on the Web.
• Treasurer: Doug C. - Copies of Treasurers report were made avail-able. Bank Account Balance is up significantly. Contributions in the last week were up and expenses have been down recently. Doug noted a number of small changes have been made to reduce Area expenses. Area expenses are down 18%. Area 36 was able to give Robert from Treatment a check for registration at the Mar-rch Conference.
• • Delegate: Scott A. - presented new “Hope Video” which could be
used as a tool for carrying the message to treatment centers. • • Comments on Hope Video from the microphone: Some thought
lack of diversity, not many young, mostly white-no wheel chairs, no tattoos. Other saw a lot of diversity and liked it. When men-tioned Traditions they call them by-laws. There was a book on the table that was not conference approved. One year anniversary person did not show much emotion, not real. If pay more will get better actors. Inaccurate description of first meeting-when he went he had not taken a bath. No disclaimer at beginning saying these were actors. Did not like actors playing an alcoholic. Videos usually have actors. One danger with actors; maybe they will turn out doing bad things later. Did not see different levels of sobri-ety. No mention of basic text, Big Book. Talked about sponsor giving advice, sponsors don’t give advice. Not rushing into steps and having a sponsor your age is unimportant. Survey people who are in treatment not us. We can’t be in video. It moves him that all these actors are being like us. Liked it till she heard com-
ments. Overall thought having faces-would keep his attention if in treatment. Use animation instead of actors and A.A. people for voices. Use members and screw up faces. What is a video sup-posed to look like- it gives a general overview and makes many good points? Can not make perfect video. Maybe because we are seeing faces we are more aware. Concerned it is to easy to give video instead of talking face to face telling our story. We need to share our pain. Thought meaning and ideas were good, will help people get over fear. Thinks if we show people in treatment, then people will ask questions-great tool. Needs tweaks but nothing will help unless ready. Background music has light fluff jazz-music showed emotion. Thought message and tool were good. Some of things are nit picking. Video will never be perfect-tweek it and it will be ok. Stayed away because prejudice against God, does not want more God in Video. Need more God in the video.
• • G.S.R. SHARING.• Ben: Friday Night Hope Group- Many groups register but some
do not. When we go to other groups Tradition 4 says no official AA Group.
• Joe: Foglifters -He knows we have to have discussion. Concerned that we are spending a little bit too much time on what we can’t do – maybe we should focus on what we do and how we can do it better.
• Jim: Crushed Grapes- Glad we spent time on the Video. Area brings us together.
• Sylvia: Owatonna Spanish Group-Minneapolis Spanish Group came down to visit their group and they appreciated it.
• Sue H.: ST Louis Park Sunday Night AA Group-Her group di-vides contributions the way the pamphlet says so if there contribu-tions are down that’s what they have to give. Financial letter said we should give at level of Budget; thought this was somewhat of a shaming message. Appreciates information in Newsletter on what we are doing; more information the better.
• Wanda: Chaska Women’s Big Book Study- They are child friend-ly.
• Rick: Outright Mental Defective-His group decided to contribute more to the Area. Church increased rent $100.00 and wants them to have own liability insurance.
• Kyle: Third Tradition Group in Northfield-went to Casper and it was a great experience and saw how great our Area is.
• Jeff M. (Alt. GSR): Foxhall Chapter 7-Through there CPC com-mittee they did a skit where they showed how to Carry the Mes-sage to a professional; in this case it was how to Carry the Mes-sage to your Doctor.
• Randy A: Tradition 5 Group-They are putting meetings on at Lino Lakes and Fairview Women’s Treatment Center.
• Tom: Basic Text Group in St. Paul- His group insists he submit receipts for expenses so everyone can serve regardless of financial circumstances. At the district, they are doing a commitment at the Homeless Shelter. He thought they might be able to bring some of these people to their meeting.
• GSR: Coming of Age Group in Rochester-Privilege to come here and they have a great group on Tuesday Night at 7:00.
• David (Alt G.S.R): We’re not Saints Group-Having 4th semian-nual Picnic week after the Area Committee Meeting.
• Bob M.: Solution Seekers in Shakopee-Knows a group that changed meeting location because Pastor raised rent and insur-ance.
• Jim: Crushed Grapes-Usually insurance is added to the church insurance-it is a rider and it is relatively inexpensive. Rider might be $200.00 a year. Renee: Living Sober Group in Burnsville-some in group thought Inventory questions are outdated. Would like other peoples experience on this.
• Steve S.: Bridges Group in Shakopee-number of groups in Shako-pee host a picnic which is open to all.
• •
www.area36.org The Pigeon ---- September 2009 Page 22
• District Reports• District 8: Hilary-Alt DCM-District put up billboards in St. Paul
last year and is looking into having illuminated billboards at some bus shelters. She has made contact with Project Homeless on the East Side of St. Paul. They are providing 1 meeting a week at Dorothy Day homeless shelter.
• District 14: Deb-DCM-Are doing adopt the hotel program, speak-ing at Wright County Jail and doing the Wright County Fair-Au-gust 12th to August 16th.
• • Committee Reports• Archives: Ken R. - Material contributions are up significantly-
they need more contributions-especially from Area Committee Chairs, District Secretaries and Newsletter Chairs. Older is better. Old Timers Reunion will be Saturday, August 29 at 2218 1st Ave. So. Alano. Can get Archives Newsletter “Markings” by going on line.
• Grapevine: Tom McM. Grapevine by-laws say that they must be self supporting and cannot accept contributions. Books chosen come from ideas presented by a group, a member or an advisory board. If get approval from General Service Conference they wait a year and then produce it.
• Group Records: Tina-Will continue for the time being. Christa from District 8 did the registration and will give forms to Tina who will do the updates.
• • Old Business: Lost of Translation Equipment is effecting partici-
pation. • • New Business:• Alan N: DCM District 21: Presented 5 proposals under new busi-
ness. • Carla N.: Thought we should do review of our Area spiritual
practices on how we conduct our Area Assemblies and that all of these proposals were being walked on, void of using the Com-mittee process structure. Information is given to the GSRs and groups so they are well informed when they come to the assembly.
• Steve K. Area Chairperson: These proposals did not come from the Officers. These proposals were sent out by Alan yesterday afternoon. This was not put out by the Area Committee. Normal process is we set the agenda for the Assembly at the Area Com-mittee. However we can under new business make motions and take actions on them.
• Alan N.: Anyone, GSR, DCM, etc. can make a proposal under new business.
• • Proposal 1: Alan N. Moved that: “That the mileage reimburse-
ment rate for Area 36 be changed to the IRS Medical rate from July 1, 2009 until Dec 31, 2010. After that point it would revert back to whatever our existing rate is.” Being this effects our Finance policy, this would need 2/3 to pass. Current reimburse-ment rate is 35 cents a mile, if this were to pass it would be 24 cents a mile, roughly a 1/3 decrease in mileage cost.
• Lengthy Discussion followed including the following comments: Some felt they were not fully informed and the way it was pre-sented circumvented area policies. Some felt the GSRs are del-egated authorities and said we have done this in the past. Many felt this was financially prudent and needed to be acted on now.
• 68 votes cast (50 for and 18 against). Motion passed.• Minority Opinions:• Randy A.-empathized with need to budget money better but felt
could be better done by individual trusted servants and it has not gone through the committee process.
• Sylvia A. – agreed with the sentiment of this but did not like cir-cumventing the committee process. Problem if gas prices could go up to $4.00 a gallon.
• No one changed vote so motion passed.• • Proposal 2: Alan N. moved that: “That we cancel the Joint work-
shop slated for Aug of 2009.” • Discussion ensued including the following comments. Alan:
Cost would be over $1000.00. This item is not in the budget. Doug was not sure of exact cost but rent is $50.00. Per Steve: Could not back out on rent. Have an obligation to Area 35. Mo-tion was seconded by Terry L. Some felt it was irresponsible to back out at this time.
• Sense of meeting was to oppose this motion. No minority opin-ion.
• • Mark M. made a motion to extend the new business meeting time
to cover the other 3 proposals that Alan wanted to present. Mo-tion was seconded. Motion was amended to vote on whether we should continue to discuss item 3 per Alan’s proposal and at the conclusion of this resume our published agenda.
• 72 votes cast: (60 in favor and 12 against). Motion passed. • Minority Opinion: • Lisa G. -Public Information Committee Chair: Mute to discuss
this-we do not go to these events without approval of the Area.• Brad: Self Imposed Crisis-Pink Can Plan affects the Area Financ-
es and we should continue with agenda. • • Proposal 3: Alan N. Moved that: “That we limit the reimbursable
positions for the West Central Regional Forum to 3 positions.” • Mark M. seconded the motion. Motion was discussed: Some
thought motion was confusing and decision could be put off. Oth-ers indicated we have done this in past and questioned value of all Committee Chairs going.
• 68 votes cast (41 votes against 27 in favor). Motion failed.• Minority Opinion: Alan N. we need to cut expenses- stressed
importance of operating balance being up at the end of the year. • One person changed vote so a vote was taken to decide if we
should vote again. 65 Votes cast (37 for and 28 against- simple majority required) Motion Passed.
• Second vote: 68 votes cast (42 for and 26 against). Motion failed.• • Proposal 4: Be it moved that: “That we limit the reimbursable
positions for the West Central Regional Conference in March of 2010 to 3 positions.” Motion was not discussed and was tabled.
• • Proposal 5: Be it moved that: “That we go to a 1 day Recovery,
Unity, and Service Conference in January of 2010. That only 1 night of hotel be paid for the chair of the event and no other hotel reimbursement for other positions. That the registration fee charged be sufficient to cover all associated costs so that it is self-supporting.” Motion was not discussed and was tabled.
• • Presentation-Pink Can Literature Purchases.• • 1. History, Policy, Sample Costs Comparisons.• History per Mark M., Past Delegate: When Bucky was corrections
chair he received requests from corrections facilities to provide literature. He was told it was outside area funds and should be handled by groups and district budgets. The problem he heard from correctional facilities was that Alcoholics Anonymous litera-ture was being categorized as religious materials and some facili-ties could therefore not purchase it and county and city facilities had no money to provide literature themselves. He consulted the corrections workbook and called the corrections desk at the General Service Office asking for experience. Both pointed to a pink can program which started in Northern California. He spoke with people who had successfully implemented the Pink Can Plan. They all sent examples of literature and materials that they used. He brought this to next Area Committee meeting and also invited the Grapevine Committee to join the conversation. They then voted and decided implementing the Pink Can Plan was an effective way to bring literature to inmates. He asked Minneapo-lis Intergroup to source the A.A. literature ordered by the Pink Can Plan. The Pink Can Plan continued to operate but in 2003 there was some concern expressed because the same person was the Pink Can Coordinator for a number of years, Pink Plan Coor-dinator made deposits and wrote checks from the Pink Can Plan Account; the checking account did not require 2 signatures. Due to these concerns changes were implemented to the Pink Can Plan starting in 2003.
• • Mark went through the updated Pink Can Plan. Some highlights: • • Funds are kept separate from the operating funds of the Area.• • The Coordinator shall submit the fulfillment order to the Inter-
group Office or• Grapevine Magazine in a timely manner.• • Orders are shipped from the Intergroup/ Office via standard
ground transport• • Grapevine subscriptions are delivered via USPS directly to the
Correction Facility (the same as any other subscription).• Mark provided spread sheets comparing amount paid for lit-
erature from GSO and Minneapolis Intergroup in year 2008 and then the difference. Total costs from Intergroup would be $28, 598.34 and AAWS cost would be $23, 399.00; difference would be 5199.34. Might be some variance due to discounts from Inter-group and cost of having GSO account.
• • 2. Why Area 36 should consider purchasing literature for the Pink
Can Plan from A.A. World Services, Inc. Paul H., Past Area Ar-chives. Numbers do not lie-it is cheaper to buy from the General Service Office. Plan started in California and they are the biggest purchaser of literature. Others states in our Region buy from GSO; we are the only region that buys from Intergroup. Minneap-
www.area36.org The Pigeon --- September 2009 Page 23
olis Intergroup sells literature to cover shortfall in group contribu-tions. Contributions of groups fall short of the services. Purchas-ing literature is a contribution. If we are buying literature marked up we are affiliating ourselves with Minneapolis Intergroup by supporting there services. Money must be spent prudently and judicially. We need to review everything. What we tried before may not have worked before but may work now.
• • 3. Why Area 36 should consider purchasing literature for the Pink
Can Plan from local Intergroup, Bucky L.: Board member of Minneapolis Intergroup and Intergroup Treasurer. Pink Can Plan was meant to be separate from the Area; when the Area is short in their budget-they can not take from the Pink Can Plan. He is not going to debate if it is cheaper to buy from G.S.O. Focus should be our customer, those on a bunk who are incarcerated. When developing the Pink Can Plan they needed an efficient system. What was important was when the request came in the order was filled and communication was clear and concise and any confu-sion was promptly clarified. The contact person at the corrections facility was generally not an alcoholic and their impression of us was based on how we responded to their request. By purchas-ing literature from Intergroup you are getting value. Value goes beyond the cost of the book. Value comes with the collective integrity with the professional community we are dealing with. We are responding quickly and well. Spanish person is avail-able. Intergroup gives added value through the Treatment Contact Program, Professional Inquiries, Public Information Inquiries, and Temporary Contact Program. The collective support of the groups is already there. Plan is doing well.
• • Discussion of Pink Can Plan Literature Purchases: • Comments on involvement with Intergroup:• 1. Questions rose about affiliating and subsidizing Minneapolis
Intergroup. • 2. Some thought a higher spiritual principle is involved and we
need to find a way to all get along, to work out our differences. Maybe buy half the literature from GSO and half from Intergroup.
• 3. Minneapolis intergroup does good work but does not serve St. Paul or outlying areas-we are supplementing a specific region.
• 4. Has issue with directing us to buy from a certain vendor; trust our trusted servants. They should figure out best way to do things.
• 5. Intergroup is always there and it is integral to what we do.• Comments about Time and Finances:• 1. Wondered how many need literature right away. Does this hap-
pen frequently.• 2. Orders are being filled.• 3. He got book in corrections and still has it; however for fiscal
responsibility it is prudent to consider cost factor.• 4. Absolutely be better to buy it from where it is less expensive.• 5. GSO can drop ship-we did not know this when the plan was
instituted.• 6. Plan is working-money is good coming in and out. • 7. We can get literature in a week, these are huge numbers and we
can’t pass that saving up.• 8. Do we understand financial prudence-do we want to keep do-
nating to Intergroup? • Other comments: • 1. Wish we could have spent time figuring out how to get literature
to all jails. • 2. Should spend our time going to corrections and helping inmates.
Groups have already spoken. Not a matter of finances. • 3. Discussing money again and again divides us. We do not have
enough volunteers. • 4. People are not going to facilities-don’t spend time talking about
money-go to facilities.• 5. Administrating of funds is being done fine. Thinks there are
places that are not getting books.• • District Reports• District 16: Denise - honor to have us in their District. They have
committed to helping with the State Fair. Most chairs are filled but are looking for an Archivist.
• District 18: Alternate DCM-Chris-Staffed booths at Hennepin County Fair and Pride Festival. Working with District 8 in getting information to police officers, doctors, and other local professionals. Are starting a group outreach program to educate people about General Service. Looking for people to fulfill service opportunities at the Hennepin County Jail.
• District 20: no report.• District 22: Lisa Bro. - Group Records are heading up outreach.
They have 66 groups and so far have reached 29 groups. CPC is sending letters to the clergy explaining what A.A. is and is not. Corrections chair has taken up service commitment at Lino Lakes.
They are distributing Large Print Big Books to Elderly facilities. . Currently working on doing a joint workshop with District 21 and the Area on Corrections; it is really to address personal concerns on safety and the benefits of carrying the message to these facili-ties.
• District 24: Annette-Because of outreach District meetings are getting larger. Mark came out and talked on Pink Can and Dave talked on CPC and Scott A. gave his delegate report. Last meeting they approved a financial policy. Marty, Alternate DCM is put-ting together some good reports on the Assemblies and Commit-tee meetings. Corrections are doing well, borrowed Fran O from District 21 for doing a presentation with Todd at the Scott County jail.
• District 26• • Committee Reports• Literature: 2 proposals coming forward regarding changes in
pamphlets and Early Women in A.A; he sent information to DCMs.
• Newsletter: Left over newsletter are on side table. If corrections for Pigeon, Please let him know.
• Corrections Contact Programmer: James N. - Needs signers and people who would write to inmates. To be a signer you need a computer to get on the data base. Needs everyone to fill out form to write to inmates. Knows we reach people-that’s how he got here.
• Structure: Angie-Read from Concept 4-“good service leaders at all levels are indispensable, leaders do not drive by mandate-they say don’t boss us.” She doesn’t intend to boss us. At the last meeting the Structure Committee recommended that the Trusted Servant Leadership Training event be included in the Area Bud-get. (The main benefit of this proposal is to eliminate the “ear marking” of monetary contributions from Districts for this event.).
• Web Site: Lisa B..-• Any issues about email addresses should be sent to her. Password
issues can be resolved in a week. Email system has spam filters which put span in your Junk email folder. Committee is working on Email guidelines. Requests to post something need to go to her. She will send to the Webmaster; it takes about 2 weeks to get something posted. She is working on our new site with our new hosting service, in 2 weeks should be easier to post. Meeting lo-cator is at aameetinglocator.org. Issues with meeting locator will automatically be sent either to web chair or group records chair.
• • Sample G.S.R. Report: Given by Sylvia: GSR for Spanish Group
IN Owatonna• • Announcements:• Third Tradition: August 14th- Pot Luck at 5:30 PM• District 13: 3 Workshops-September 19th Andover Alano, Octo-
ber 14th Fridley Alano, November at Anoka Alano. • Patrick: Thanked Steve K. for the way he handled issues.• Grace Church in Uptown: 2nd and 4th Saturday Concepts Meet-
ing. • Hole In Donut Group: 6:00-1 year anniversary.• Original Concept Group: 4 year anniversary, Potluck on August 1.• St. Paul Intergroup will have Ice Cream Social at Lutheran
Church of the Redeemer, September 19. • • Area Actions taken: “That the mileage reimbursement rate for
Area 36 be changed to the IRS Medical rate from July 1, 2009 un-til Dec 31 2010. After that point it would revert back to whatever our existing rate is.”
• • • • • Closed with the “Responsibility Statement” at 5:00 PM
SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AREA ASSEMBLYP.O. Box 2812Minneapolis, MN 55402
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
News from theSouthern Minnesota
Area AssemblySeptember 2009
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGEPAID
FARIBAULT, MNPERMIT NO. 21
The Next Deadline forThe Pigeonis on or before
Saturday, December 5th, 2009www.area36.org