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Monthly Newsletter, Hudson-Mohawk-Berkshire Area 48, District 4

June, 2013

A.A. GENERAL SERVICE OFFICE—GSO

Box 459 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163

HMB AREA 48 Area Chair-Pat L. hmbchair@aahmbny.org Area Treasurer Box 114, Route 30 118 Polar Plaza Amsterdam, NY

HMB DISTRICT 4 PMB 159 61 Elmwood Avenue Gloversville, NY 12078 TRUSTED SERVANTS: DCM—Debbie W. (518) xxx-xxxx Cell: (518) xxx-xxxx Alt DCM—Hawk R.

Secretary—Aggie R.

Treasurer—Dave C. COMMITTEE CHAIRS: Answering Service-Debbie W.

Archives—Eric S.

Bridging The Gap– Marianne B.

Corrections-Kean T

fm.corrections@gmail.com

CPC/PI-Kirsten P.

Functions-Anne R.

Grapevine-Sandra P.

Newsletter Editor-Bob B.

(518) xxx-xxxx

Records Keeper-

Hawk R.

Annual Summer Gathering

“QUEST” FOR PICNIC SITE

Neighborhood Watch:

A.A. MEETING SITE CLEAN-UP

Wikipedia defines a ‘quest’ in literature or mythology as a journey leading to a

specific goal which requires great exertion on the part of the hero. It demands

the hero to overcome unforeseen obstacles and travel widely. It results in show-

casing new locations and different cultures as it leads to an outcome of good

consequence.

When she saw the Wikipe-

dia definition of a “quest,”

Anne R., our Function’s

Chairman felt this surely

must be describing the

process of finding a place

for the upcoming District 4

summer picnic!

Last year many people,

(both those who attended

the picnic and those unable

to attend) expressed a pref-

erence to hold the 2013

event at site more conven-

ient to all of groups in the

District (particularly Cana-

joharie and Amsterdam).

There was also concern

about (Continued page 7)

Northampton Beach *

Shuttleworth *

*Wintergreen

PROSPECTIVE PICNIC SITES

Complaints have been voiced

from people attending meet-

ings at 76 Guy Park that out-

patients receiving pharmaceu-

tical drugs from the St. Mary’s

Outpatient Program have been

attempting to sell them to A.A.

attendees going to meetings.

Officials at St. Mary’s have

responded with resolve to

swiftly address this problem.

In addition to other steps, they

have asked that anyone seeing

inappropriate solicitations or

loitering by people not attend-

ing a meeting, to please notify

the Hospital’s liaison with Guy

Park A.A. Groups, Donnie D.

You can also contact DCM

Debbie W. at (518) xxx-xxxx or

bwalters@nycap.rr.com

All information will be passed

to the appropriate people confi-

dentially and without identify-

ing the source.

While announcing this situation

to the “Out To Lunch Bunch”

Group, it was also men-

tioned that recently several

items belonging to A.A.

groups have “disappeared.”

Hopefully the “Neighbor-

hood Watch will help clean

up these situations as well.

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Call to Order; The May GSR Meeting held at St.

Mary’s Hospital, 3rd Floor was called to order by

DCM, Debbie W. who opened the meeting by read-

ing the Preamble of Alcohol Anonymous.

Approval of Minutes: Secretary notes were

read, Marianne B.motion to accept minutes,

Steve S. 2nd; all in favor.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Treasure report; Joe K. read the treasure re-

port, Hawk motioned to accept report, Steve S.

2nd; all in favor. Joe continues to work with

Dave C. to become more familiar with the posi-

tion.

Archives; Eric S. absent

CPC/PI; Kirsten P. absent

Corrections; Keen absent

Grapevine; Sandra P. absent

Bridging the Gap; Marianne reported that the

old BTG forms are obsolete, Ernie ( area chair)

is working on the new forms. If any clients need

assistance they are to contact Marianne directly

until this matter is resolved. Bob will put an ex-

cerpt in the Newsletter.

Functions; Anne R. absent, she called Deb and

reported that all is going well for the May as-

sembly, which is being held this Sunday 5/19/13

at Florida Town Hall. Les B. reported that due to

a function at the hall on the Saturday prior to the

event, that district 14 will have to set up the ta-

bles the day of the assembly. Les will be at the

hall at 7am Sunday.

Newsletter; Bob B. reported that the newsletter

went out as scheduled. Bob noted that there are

no one year anniversaries for the month of May, and he

encouraged GSR’s to contact him or Aggie as far as the

home group anniversaries for each month. Bob is look-

ing for an assistant newsletter editor to prepare the per-

son for the position when district 4 rotates committee

chairs.

Phone service; Roger W. took the book for the Pass it

on Group. Steve S. brought up the question as to what

happen to the black bag and the literature that is suppose

to accompany the phone book. Deb will look into it.

Records Keeper; Hawk had nothing to report.

Special Needs; Steve S. had Marianne report that all is

well.

Treatment; Dave C. reported that everyone who is do-

ing service work for treatment is doing a great job. Dave

reported that he talked to Sarah Luck and Judge

Gerodeno while attending the Fulton County Drug Court

graduation, and they are willing to let treatment speak

for ½ hour in July.

GSR REPORTS

Steve S. reported that The Great Sacandaga Lake Group

will be having their 40th anniversary on Saturday night.

Hawk reported that the Spring Fling dance t which

Open Arms sponsored went well.

OLD BUSINESS

None.

NEW BUSINESS

Delegates Day Report: Keith W. will report on Dele-

gates Day at the May assembly. There will be two pro-

posals at the May assembly,1) Anonymity in the news-

letters, 2) Website guidelines. Deb encouraged GSR’s to

check out the information on the area web site. June 7-9

is the Northeast Regional Forum.

Financial Status of GSO: Hawk pointed out that the

GSO is in the red and suggestion was made that if eve-

ryone who celebrates an anniversary made contributions

to the GSO, this would eliminate any financial prob-

lems.

Page 2

A.A.’s ―Helping Hands‖ at Work:

District 4 Service Committee and GSR Reports

(Continued on Page 4)

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Page 3 Page 3

District 4 GSR Meeting: Monday, June 10, 2013. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.

All GSR’s and all Committee Chairpersons should attend. If the GSR cannot

attend, Groups should send their Alternate GSR.

A.A. Founder’s Day Celebration: Saturday, June 15, 6:00 PM-9:00 PM. Cele-

brate the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, 78 years ago (June 10, 1935).

You are invited to attend the group anniversary meeting of the Glens Falls

Original A.A. meeting, celebrating 75 years as a group. Bill W. was one of

the founders of the group which started just three years after the founding of

A.A. Christ Church, Corner of Bay & Washington Streets, Glens Falls, NY

Feel free to bring a dessert.

New Your State Informational Workshop: Friday through Sunday, August 16-

18, 2013– Notredame Retreat House, 5151 Foster Road, Canadaigua, NY

14424. (585) 394-5700. Panels on Treatment, Corrections, CPC, PI, and Spe-

cial Needs.

HMB 2013 Convention: “A Design For Living” (November 1-3, 2013) Hotel

Utica, 102 Lafayette Street, Utica, NY 13502 (315) 724-7829 $99 Rooms

Nightly includes Continental Breakfast. Reservations by phone only.

[Mention HMB Convention for special rate.]

Upcoming Events:

Individual

Anniversaries

Heart to Heart Group:

Gloversville

6/11/66 7 Years

Tough Love Group:

Amsterdam (W. Charlton)

6/4/91 22 Years

Saturday Night Speakup:

Amsterdam 7 Years

6/1/88

GROUP

ANNIVERSARIES

IN JUNE

Thank you to Aggie R.

and Bev P. who maintain

our list of Celebrants.

Announcements:

SUNDAY ―TWELVE STEPPERS‖ TIME CHANGE: Beginning on Father’s Day, June

16th Sunday Step Meeting at 76 Guy Park will meet at 1:00 PM rather than at

12 Noon.

GALWAY GROUP MONTHLY POTLUCK ON VACATION ―ON HOLD‖: The Galway

Together Group is taking a break from having its monthly pot luck dinners on

the third Monday of each month. The group’s regular meeting on Mondays is

an open discussion meeting and starts at the group’s regular time of 7:30 PM.

The pot luck dinners may resume in September. All are welcome.

BRIDGING THE GAP: Due to issues caused by obsolete forms, Marianne B.,

BTG Chairman is requesting that forms for new applicants be sent directly to

her. You can reach Marianne through contacting Debbie W., (518) xxx-xxxx

NEW MEETINGS TO CHECK OUT

NEW NOON MEETING—‖Pathway to Serenity‖ Group. Meets Tuesdays and

Thursdays at the Gloversville Club House, 218 Kingsboro Avenue. Newly

elected officers are: GSR: Anne R.; Alternate GSR: Paauline G.; Treasurer:

James; and Secretary: Glyn.

NEW MIDNIGHT MEETING: The ―Blurry Eye’d Bunch‖ Groupo started in May

with meetings held at the Clubhouse at 218 Kingsboro Ave. in Gloversville. It

meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00 A.M.

Also: Dave M., 1 year

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A Message from Your Area Chair-Pat L.

Every year in August the

New York State Informa-

tional Workshop rotates

among the four Areas in

the State. This year the

event will be the weekend

of August 16 through the

18th 2013, in Canandaigua

New York.

Located south of Roches-

ter in the Finger Lakes Re-

gion we will be staying at

the Notre Dame Retreat

House on Foster Road in

Canandaigua. This is a

very casual weekend, featuring panels on Treat-

ment, Corrections, CPC, PI, and Special Needs as

the main panels. Each Area also schedules a cou-

ple panels of their choosing, on service topics.

There will be a speaker from GSO.

Meals will be communal in a large dining room,

and bedrooms will be typical of a retreat house.

Flyers are on the website and in the Area newslet-

New York State Informational Workshop

ter. All AA members are welcome to attend and are

invited to do so. Generally the number of rooms

available is limited. When our Area has hosted, we

have generally had 50 – 55 rooms available, and

these were always filled. Early registration is rec-

ommended. Hope to see you there.

In service, Pat L HMB Area Chair/Alternate Dele-

gate

Notre Dame Retreat House Overlooking Spectacular Canandaigua Lake

“Hey! Where’s the Beef?”

Galway Monday Night

Dinners to Resume in

September

Members of the Monday Night Galway Group

are announcing that they are ending their

monthly potluck dinners which were being held

on the third Monday of every month.

The Group plans to resume with the dinners in

September.

If you didn’t make it to any of the Galway Pot-

lucks, you missed good meals, great company,

and extraordinary meetings and anniversary cele-

brations. Put Galway on your calendar for the

third Monday in September!

Updating Bank Account Signature Authorizations:

Dave C. reported that in order to change the checking

account over the bank needs a signature card. Dave

made a motion to authorize Deb W. and Joe K. as sig-

natures for checking account. Hawk 2nd the motion, all

in favor.

Planning for the Summer Picnic: Dave mentioned

that functions needs to start focusing on the district pic-

nic for the summer, it should be addressed at the next

business meeting. Shuttle Worth Park should be con-

sidered for the picnic.

ADJOURNMENT:

The meeting was adjourned around 8:00 PM by Group

Consensus.

(Continued from Page 2)

District 4 GSR Meeting

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Rotation insures that fresh ideas are brought to the

table and helps to bring about spiritual rewards far

more enduring than personal

fame. And, in the spirit of Tradi-

tion Twelve, rotation ever re-

minds us "to place principles be-

fore personalities." Terms for

most offices are usually two

years, but can be any length the

Group designates.

A number of District 4 positions

will be rotating at the end of

2013. If you are currently in one

of those positions, it is becoming

time to begin thinking about who

might be able to best fill your

shoes when your term expires. If

you would like to take on service

work for the first time or do ser-

vice in another capacity, now is

the time to let others know.

People rotating out are encour-

aged to make sure to help train your replacement.

Through training your successor, you can assure that

your positive contributions will carry forward.

Smooth, well-planned transitions and training of suc-

cessors are hallmarks of dedicated leaders who put

their organizations first.

Yours in service and unity,

Debbie W., DCM

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GSO Guidelines for Rotation of Service Positions:

A Message from Your DCM-Debbie W.

12 Stepper’s Time Change

Blurrt Eted Griyo 0 Names of

Officers

Hello, everyone. If you haven’t floated away in the

heavy rains or been blown away by the wind,

you’re probably enjoy-

ing the pleasant

weather we’re experi-

encing between our

summer storms. Our

prayers and thoughts

are with the less fortu-

nate people living in

tornado zones.

I like the summers but

they are never quite

long enough. That

will be true this year

also. Seasons rotate,

and they rotate for a

good reason. The earth

renews itself through

its daily rotation and

through seasonal rota-

tion of the climates.

A.A. renews itself through rotation of its trusted

servants. The GSO guidelines and A.A. experience

over many years suggest that things seem to work

best when service position within A.A. rotate peri-

odically.

Why have rotation at all? Rotation of service posi-

tions keeps A.A. members from becoming frozen in

office. It also ensures that group tasks, like nearly

everything else in A.A., are passed around for all to

share.

―The burden I can bear but the

constant rotation makes me dizzy.‖

Beginning Father’s Day (June 16th), the

Sunday 12 Stepper’s Group will move its

meeting time from 12:00 to 1:00 PM.

The “key issue” behind the time change

is,..well…er ….KEYS!

To open the 76 Guy Park Building,

someone must go to St. Mary’s Hospital

Sunday Meeting Time to Change to 1:00 PM

“Twelve Stepper” Group Addresses Key Issue and sign out the door keys. Keys are available

after 11:00 AM.

Many of the people with cars also go to church

services. Picking up the keys is a burden be-

cause they have to leave Church early. Hope-

fully this time change will help address the is-

sue of “who can get the keys.”

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The Treasurers Corner

For April and May, 2013

Group Donations to District 4

APRIL:

Gloversville “Pass it on Group” $50.00

Gloversville Friday Night Group 50.00

MAY:

Gloversville Friday Night Group $75.00

Celebration Donations

Come on, Folks. Honor your Sponsor’s

Anniversary or Your Own with $1.00/year.

Thank you for your contributions.

Joe K. Treasurer, HMB District 4

Thank You, Volunteers for a Job Nicely Done!

HMB Area 48 May Assembly Outcomes

The May 19, Area Assembly hosted by Districts

4, 8, and 14 was a successful and fruitful event.

The morning was devoted to hearing a compre-

hensive report from our Area Delegate on the

2013 General Conference.

Many of the items were routine such as minor

changes to Conference Approved Literature.

Two items however, were of great interest to

most people at the assembly.

First, it was de-

cided by GSO

to publish a

commemorative

reprint of the

1st Edition of

the Big Book.

It will be avail-

able sometime

during 2014.

A second item

being followed

my many peo-

ple pertained to

the change in

Is your Group’s

mail going to the

right person?

If your group has changed

GSR’s or other trusted ser-

vants, please be sure to no-

tify Hawk at (518) xxx-

xxxx, (518) xxx-xxxx or re-

cords.district4 @gmail.com

verbiage to the “Blue Card” for “Open Meetings.” The

outcome of the GSO vote was that the Blue Card will re-

main the same.

The success of the H-M-B–Area 48 Assembly was attrib-

uted to the splendid work by volunteers in District 4.

Anne R., was Functions Chairperson. She credits Aggie

R. for helping her “putting it all together” insofar as what

to do next. Aggie also prepared much of the food.

Greeters and people working registration were Debbie

W., Donna D., and Fran B. Sue served as event secre-

tary and she and Adam provided help with soda and wa-

ter. Hallie, Carrie T., Terry T., James, and Antique Jim

made “g...good stuff to eat”! As in the past, Les B. ar-

ranged for the facility and did the lion’s share of the set-up

and take down. We are deeply indebted to these people

for making the event a success! Thank you.

“ANONOMITY FIRST”

GROUP’S MEETING ADDRESS

This group meets at 7:00 PM every Wednesday

Night at 292 East Main Street, Amsterdam

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For nearly 65 years, the United Presbyterian Church in

Amsterdam has served as ―home‖ for the original

―Amsterdam Group.‖ Group members are extremely sen-

sitive about fire because a little over 10 years ago, the

existing Church Building burned to the ground. A.A. had

been the last group to use the building before the fire.

It was quickly determined, how-

ever, that the fire had been

caused by a boiler explosion of

the Church’s heating system.

On Thursday night when the cof-

fee makers arrived, Alarms were

going off. After a brief scare and

call to officials, it was learned

that alarms had been triggered by

a massive bolt of lightening which

struck the church earlier that af-

ternoon. The lightening was wit-

nessed by several firemen from

their Fire Station who immediately

went to the church. There was

no fire, however the mechanical-

room electrical system and tele-

phone switching system are still

not yet completely functioning. It was reminiscet of the

April, 2011 fire when lightening struck the church’s bell

tower and the entire church burned beyond repair.

The Original Amsterdam Group will celebrate its 65th An-

niversary in November. At it’s Monday Night business

meeting, the group decided to celebrate the event with a

special program to commemorate the early history of A.A.

(Continued from Page 1)

Quest for Picnic Site

the $8.00 per car “day use” fee charged at North-

ampton. Some people felt that this fee kept a

number of people from attending last year.

The goal is to find a “fun location” with full ac-

commodations. People like to play volleyball,

croquet, bocce ball, board games, cards, swim,

and canoe or kayak.

To feed over 100 people, we need guaranteed

pavilions, electricity, and restrooms, all available

on dates which are not in conflict with similar

events of other organizations.

Input is being sought from all GSR’s, Committee

Chairpersons, and others regarding their prefer-

ence of sites. Thus far, three locations have been

suggested:

Herbert L. Shuttleworth Park

1-22 Crescent Park Ave., Amsterdam, NY

12010 (518) 843-1893

Wintergreen Park

100-199 Wintergreen Park Road

Canajoharie, NY 13317 (518) 673-3112

Northampton Beach Campground

328 Housman Street, Mayfield, NY

12177 863-6000

Church Steeple Draws Huge Bolt of Lightening

First Presbyterian Church Unscathed

(...almost.)

View of the Church

Steeple from the

parking lot of the

Amsterdam Fire

Station.

Anne R. will be seeking further input from

GSR’s at the upcoming Monday Night GSR

Meeting. Additional research will be completed

on the sites and hopefully the place for this

year’s picnic will be chosen. Be sure to attend

the meeting so your group’s voice can be heard.

“Pathway to Serenity” at Club 24

New Noon Group: Tuesdays & Thursdays

District 4 is proud to have another

new group in its midst.

The new group, “Pathway to Seren-

ity” meets at the Clubhouse 218

Kingsboro Avenue, Gloversville

every Tuesday and Thursday at 12

noon. The group is highly organized

with a newly elected slate of officers.

Anne R. is the GSR; Pauline G. the

Alternate GSR; Glyn is Secretary; and

James is the Treasurer.

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(This page of the June newsletter was left blank in the newsletter mailed to snail mail recipi-

ents. After it was printed, however, the information below became available. It was included

in this location ONLY on the email versions of the newsletter:)

A.A. Founder’s Day

FROM THE HMB Area Chair’s Report

In the Area Newsletter:

In June we celebrate the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, 78 years ago on June 10, 1935. What is

significant for the month of June in our Area is the group anniversary celebration of the Glens Falls

Original

They are celebrating 75 years as a group; Bill W was one of the founders of the

group. Imagine the history of this group, started just three years after the founding of Alcoholics

Anonymous itself.

The anniversary celebration will be June 15, starting at 6 pm with refreshments, then the speakers meet-

ing at 8 pm. The location is Christ Church Methodist, Bay and Washington streets, Glens Falls NY.

Please feel free to bring a dessert.