24.12.2012 Views

BETTER TIMES BETTER TIMES - Greater Toronto Area Intergroup

BETTER TIMES BETTER TIMES - Greater Toronto Area Intergroup

BETTER TIMES BETTER TIMES - Greater Toronto Area Intergroup

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Published monthly for AA members in the <strong>Greater</strong> <strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Area</strong><br />

<strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong><br />

INSIDE THIS EDITION:<br />

ORC a Smash Hit . . . . . . . 1 .<br />

Treat ment Fa cil ities Day . . . 1 .<br />

CON CEPT VIII ..........2 .<br />

The Ed i tors Say ..........2 .<br />

Have you Heard? . . . . . . . . 3 .<br />

Let ters ................3 .<br />

Did we see you? . . . . . . . . . 4 .<br />

In ter group Re port . . . . . . . . 4 .<br />

Alatoon ...............4 .<br />

“How many drunks<br />

died be cause they<br />

could not be k ept<br />

away from booze long<br />

enough...?”<br />

See The Editors Say... page 2.<br />

Concept VIII - See page 2<br />

Quote of the Month<br />

When any one, any -<br />

where reaches out<br />

for help, I want the<br />

hand of A.A. al ways<br />

to be there. And for<br />

that:<br />

I Am Re spon si ble<br />

Bill W.<br />

On tario Re gional<br />

Con fer ence 2000<br />

Chair, Wes B., Long -<br />

branch Group, said the<br />

con fer ence was a “barn<br />

burner.” He is “happy,<br />

pleased, and com for t -<br />

able” with the week -<br />

end. “Ev ery thing went<br />

smoothly,” he said.<br />

Over 2,700 peo ple<br />

at tended this year’s<br />

con fer ence held at the<br />

Royal York Ho tel,<br />

March 17 – 19. Num -<br />

bers were down slight -<br />

ly as some peo ple<br />

did n’t feel they could<br />

do both the ORC and<br />

the In ter na tional Con -<br />

ven tion at the end of<br />

June.<br />

“The at mo sphere was a real<br />

sense of calm and joy,” said Ka ren<br />

M., Thurs day East End Group.<br />

“Peo ple were all so friendly.”<br />

Meet ing rooms were packed as<br />

D on’t<br />

at ten dees lis tened to many dif fer -<br />

ent sto ries of re cov ery.<br />

The changes from pre vi ous<br />

years were well re ceived. The<br />

larger Ball room for the pan els<br />

was great. Even that room was<br />

Volume 5, Number 2<br />

April, 2000<br />

25 cents per copy<br />

2000 ORC a Smash Hit!<br />

Volunteers from the <strong>Intergroup</strong> service committees<br />

were on hand outside the Concert Hall to provide<br />

information on their activities to ORC visitors.<br />

packed. The com -<br />

mit tees en joyed<br />

be ing on the main<br />

floor where all the<br />

ac tion was.<br />

While some<br />

smo k ers did n’t<br />

like go ing down -<br />

stairs to smoke, the<br />

ma jor ity of con fer -<br />

ence vis i tors were<br />

glad to have clear<br />

air on the main<br />

floor.<br />

It was Pe ter K.’s,<br />

East York Group,<br />

first ORC. He even<br />

did a stint as a<br />

greeter. Early in<br />

so bri ety, he was<br />

over whelmed by<br />

the sto ries and the abil ity to tell<br />

one’s story to so large a group.<br />

Most peo ple will agree with<br />

Wes that the week end was a suc -<br />

cess.<br />

Ann P.<br />

Treat ment Fa cil ities Day 2000<br />

miss the<br />

Treat ment Fa -<br />

the pain we once felt and<br />

the joy in re cov ery we<br />

cil ities Work shop<br />

now feel.”*<br />

Day, a free jam-<br />

Ron ald J., Golden Mile<br />

packed day in clud -<br />

ing pre sen ta tions,<br />

pot luck lunch, and<br />

in for ma tive vid eos.<br />

Group, said, “Please ask<br />

your group if they are<br />

will ing to do nate 12 &<br />

12s or Big Books for<br />

In 1934, Bill W.<br />

detoxes.”<br />

tired to help drunks<br />

Bring your ques tions<br />

in a New York hos -<br />

and do na tions of books to<br />

pi tal. None seemed<br />

the TF Work shop Day,<br />

in ter ested, but Bill<br />

Sat ur day, April 15 9:30<br />

stayed so ber.<br />

Oakridge Community Centre, 63 Pharmacy, north<br />

of Danforth, Saturday, April 15, 9:30 a.m.<br />

am to 4:00 pm at the com -<br />

“There is no such<br />

pletely ac ces si ble Oak -<br />

thing as un suc cess ful Twelfth about so bri ety af ter be ing in such ridge Com mu nity Cen tre, 63<br />

Step work, since it keeps us so ber. a place, Donna M., Thorncliffe Phar macy above Danforth (near<br />

Be ing chan nels of the AA mes - Park Group, and Treat ment Fa - Vic to ria Park sub way sta tion –<br />

sage – it works when other ac tiv i - cil ities Com mit tee Chair, in vites east end of plat form). Plenty of<br />

ties fail.”*<br />

you to come to the Work shop. free park ing.<br />

To find out about vol un teer ing<br />

in a detox, half way house, or<br />

Vol un teers need to be “de pend -<br />

able with cheer ful hu mil ity.”*<br />

* from pam phlet AA and Treat -<br />

ment Fa cil ities<br />

treat ment cen tre, or to find out “What is im por tant to share is<br />

Don ald O.


<strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong> /2<br />

At the World Con fer ence in<br />

To ronto in 1965, Bill gave<br />

us the Re spon si bil ity Pledge for<br />

the first time. It was a tre men dous<br />

feel ing and I, for one, have tried to<br />

fol low its guide lines since that<br />

time. This re spon si bil ity pledge<br />

does not say that it is for al co hol -<br />

ics only. It says,“When any one,<br />

any where reaches out for help, I<br />

want the hand of AA al ways to be<br />

there.”<br />

If a per son came to me bleed ing,<br />

I would take him to a hos pi tal. If a<br />

per son had a heart at tack, I would<br />

call 911. If I came across a drunk<br />

who might die, I would try to get<br />

him to a hos pi tal or a detox. If<br />

some one with a drug prob lem<br />

asks for help, I would sug gest NA<br />

or CA. For a per son with le gal<br />

prob lems, I would rec om mend<br />

that s/he con tact a law yer be cause<br />

I do not have the knowl edge or<br />

ex pe ri ence to help in these ar eas. I<br />

can, how ever, help to point the<br />

way. That does not mean that I am<br />

af fil i ated with any of these ser -<br />

Trustee Over sight<br />

The Trustees of the Gen eral<br />

Ser vice Board act in two pri mary<br />

ca pac i ties: (a) With re spect to the<br />

larger mat ters of over-all pol icy<br />

and fi nance, they are the prin ci -<br />

pal plan ners and ad min is tra tors.<br />

They and their pri mary com mit -<br />

tees di rectly man age these af fairs.<br />

(b) But with re spect to our sep a -<br />

rately in cor po rated and con -<br />

stantly ac tive ser vices, the<br />

re la tion of the Trustees is mainly<br />

that of full stock own er ship and of<br />

cus to dial over sight which they<br />

ex er cise through their abil ity to<br />

elect all di rec tors of these en ti ties.<br />

con cept con tin ues de fin -<br />

T his<br />

The Editors Say...<br />

A Better Way<br />

vices or that I am endorsing them<br />

in any way.<br />

When AA was founded, it was<br />

with the help and guid ance of<br />

peo ple from all walks of life,<br />

many of them non-alcoholics<br />

whose only in ten tion was to help<br />

suf fer ing al co hol ics. With their<br />

help, the AA phi los o phy was<br />

spread around the world.<br />

When I found AA there were no<br />

detox cen tres and there were very<br />

few, if any, treat ment cen tres.<br />

How many drunks died be cause<br />

they could not be kept away from<br />

booze long enough for their heads<br />

to clear so that they could make a<br />

de ci sion? Thank God for treat -<br />

ment cen tres and detox cen tres:<br />

they buy some pre cious time for<br />

the sick and suf fer ing al co holic.<br />

We co-operate with these fa cil i -<br />

ties and they co-operate with us.<br />

Out of town vis i tor? Call 416-487-5591 to find a meet ing.<br />

The AA pro gram is an in te gral<br />

part of the re cov ery pro gram in<br />

most treat ment cen tres to day, and<br />

the al co hol ics are ad vised to make<br />

it a part of their lives af ter they are<br />

re leased from the cen tre.<br />

Re cently, there has been a lot of<br />

op po si tion to the AA Web Page<br />

from the AA mem ber ship at large.<br />

No where on this Web site, how -<br />

ever, was there an en dorse ment of<br />

any of the fa cil i ties which were<br />

linked to the site. In fact, it was<br />

clearly stated that AA does not<br />

en dorse any of them. It was<br />

merely show ing the way to some<br />

more ap pro pri ate area of as sis -<br />

tance for an in di vid ual whose<br />

prob lem with ad dic tion might not<br />

be al co hol - based. The page<br />

mere ly made the seeker aware of<br />

the ex is tence of other av e nues of<br />

help.<br />

CON CEPT VIII<br />

ing of re spon si bil i ties and au thor -<br />

ity be gun in the pre vi ous con -<br />

cepts. It lim its the role of the<br />

Trustees in the AA Grape vine,<br />

Inc. and AA World Ser vices, Inc.<br />

to the kind of over sight achieved<br />

by elect ing the di rec tors of those<br />

in de pend ent en ti ties, but es sen -<br />

tially dis cour ag ing them from<br />

play ing day-to-day roles as ac tive<br />

ad min is tra tors or ex ec u tives of<br />

those com pa nies. The ar range -<br />

ment is very much in line with<br />

cor po rate busi ness prac tices.<br />

The Gen eral Ser vice Board is in<br />

ef fect a hold ing com pany, with<br />

cus to dial over sight of its wholly<br />

owned and sep a rately in cor po -<br />

rated sub sid iar ies, of which each<br />

has, for op er at ing pur poses, a sep -<br />

a rate man age ment.<br />

Since our Trustees bear the pri -<br />

mary re spon si bil ity for the good<br />

con duct of all our world ser vice<br />

af fairs, ex pe ri ence has shown that<br />

our Board as a whole must de vote<br />

it self al most ex clu sively to the<br />

larger and more se ri ous ques tions<br />

of pol icy, fi nance, group re la -<br />

tions, pub lic re la tions and lead er -<br />

ship that con stantly con front it. In<br />

these more crit i cal mat ters, the<br />

Board must func tion with great<br />

care and de lib er a tion.<br />

We can per haps ap ply this con -<br />

cept to ar eas of our own lives,<br />

where we should re sist the temp -<br />

ta tion to mi cro-manage in the af -<br />

From The Twelve Con cepts<br />

for World Ser vice Il lus trated.<br />

Copy right: Al co hol ics Anon -<br />

y mous World Ser vice Inc., 1986<br />

AA can not solve ev ery one’s<br />

prob lems. AA does an in cred i ble<br />

job; but the facts show that only a<br />

small per cent age of drunks ever<br />

find their way to the pro gram.<br />

What about the rest of the suf fer -<br />

ing al co hol ics? Could there be an -<br />

other way? A better way? Any<br />

way?<br />

Maybe one day the med i cal pro -<br />

fes sion will dis cover a way to al -<br />

ter the genes. AA be gan be cause<br />

of the fail ure of the Ox ford<br />

Groups and the Wash ing to nian<br />

Move ment. Suc cess is born of<br />

fail ure.<br />

From 1935 to to day, AA was the<br />

better way, per haps the only way.<br />

Maybe in 2035, there will be a<br />

better way.<br />

My prayer is that we in AA do<br />

all we can to help those who try to<br />

find “a better way” to help those<br />

sick and suf fer ing hu man be ings.<br />

Maybe in the fu ture, there will be<br />

no need for AA. But for now,<br />

thank God for the AA way of life.<br />

Dan McK.<br />

fairs of our spouses, chil dren, par -<br />

ents or friends. What we re ally<br />

have to be con cerned with is our<br />

own re spon si bil i ties and du ties.<br />

The Twelve Con cepts of Al co -<br />

holics Anon y mous do for AA as a<br />

world wide or ga ni za tion, what the<br />

12 Steps do for per sonal re cov ery<br />

and what the 12 Tra di tions do for<br />

the har mo ni ous and ef fec tive<br />

func tion ing of AA groups.<br />

Gord H.<br />

<strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong><br />

Pub lished monthly for AA<br />

mem bers in the <strong>Greater</strong> To -<br />

ronto <strong>Area</strong><br />

234 Eglin ton Av e nue East,<br />

Suite 202<br />

To ronto, On tario M4P 1K5<br />

Tele phone: (416) 487-9865<br />

Fax: (416) 487-5855<br />

E-mail: btimes@idirect.ca<br />

Web: http://www.aatoronto.org<br />

Ed i to rial Com mit tee:<br />

Ann P., ed i tor, Jim B., Kevin<br />

M., Gord MacK., Dan McK.,<br />

Don ald O., Ka ren V., Myles W.<br />

Opin ions ex pressed in <strong>BETTER</strong><br />

<strong>TIMES</strong> are those of the au thors<br />

and do not nec es sar ily re flect<br />

those of <strong>Greater</strong> To ronto <strong>Area</strong><br />

In ter group


Out of town vis i tor? Call 416-487-5591 to find a meet ing.<br />

Let ters:<br />

Dear <strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong> :<br />

The 1999 Win ter Sea son Open<br />

House Com mit tee would like to<br />

thank ev ery one who at tended this<br />

year’s event and es pe cially those<br />

who vol un teered their time and<br />

en ergy in help ing to make the day<br />

such a suc cess.<br />

Mike, 20 yrs., H ill<br />

Group, Apr. 13.<br />

✽<br />

Mike N., 20 yrs.,<br />

N ew A n chor G roup ,<br />

Apr. 20.<br />

1999 marked the 55th an ni ver -<br />

sary of this oc ca sion be ing hosted<br />

by Al co holics Anon y mous mem -<br />

bers in To ronto. It was won der ful<br />

to see this long-standing AA tra -<br />

di tion be ing con tin ued with such<br />

love and fel low ship.<br />

The day just would n’t have hap -<br />

pened with out all of the AA mem -<br />

bers who con trib uted by cook ing<br />

the tur keys, set ting up the hall,<br />

clean ing the veg e ta bles, un plug -<br />

ging the sinks, mak ing the cof fee,<br />

play ing the mu sic, putt ing out the<br />

gar bage, clean ing up, and so<br />

much more. True fel low ship in<br />

ac tion – a won der ful ex pe ri ence.<br />

Thanks again to you all, and we<br />

look for ward to do ing it all again<br />

in De cem ber 2000!<br />

In love and ser vice,<br />

Dale H.<br />

WSOH Chair<br />

Did You Know?<br />

T here are 486 meet ings and<br />

groups listed in the most re -<br />

cent ver sion of the In ter group<br />

meet ing book.<br />

The book, with a brown cover<br />

this time, is avail able from the In -<br />

ter group Lit er a ture De part ment<br />

(416- 487-9865, fax 416-487- 5855,<br />

and lit@aatoronto.org).<br />

There will be about 12,000 cop -<br />

ies of the book printed and dis trib -<br />

uted this year in the GTA.<br />

And in any given 12-month<br />

period, there will be nearly 100<br />

changes to the con tents.<br />

Myles W.<br />

Have you Heard?<br />

Recent Medallions<br />

Ron Y., 5 yrs., Thornhill Group, Mar. 7.<br />

Larry W., 10 yrs., Light house Group, Mar. 17.<br />

Len B., 1 yr., Lan sing Group, Mar. 18<br />

Bill O., 1 yr., Re cov ery Group, Mar. 24.<br />

Upcoming Medallions<br />

Frank B., 5 yrs., North To ronto Group, Apr. 4.<br />

Irene H., 1 yr., North To ronto Group, Apr.11.<br />

Ruby C., 1 yr., Silverbirch Group, Apr. 7.<br />

Donny B., 5 yrs., Hill Group, Apr. 13.<br />

Mike, 20 yrs., Hill Group, Apr. 13.<br />

Janet G., 5 yrs., Scarborough Cen te nary Group,<br />

April 13. In hos pi tal, Ed u ca tion thea tre, 1st floor (be -<br />

low main lobby).<br />

Mike N., 20 yrs., New An chor Group, Apr. 20.<br />

Helen MacC., 1 yr., New An chor Group, Apr. 27.<br />

Car o lyn B., 10 yrs., North To ronto Group, May 2.<br />

Carmen M., 5 yrs., North west ern Group, May 7.<br />

Things We Can not Change<br />

The fol low ing mem ber(s) have died re cently.<br />

Mark McC., Pine Hills Group, Feb. 29.<br />

Valerie F., Rich mond Hill Group, Mar. 14.<br />

Special Events, Conventions &<br />

Conferences<br />

An At ti tude of Grat i tude Kitchener-Waterloo’s<br />

14 th An nual Spring Roundup, Apr. 9, 8:00 am –<br />

8:00 pm. St. Ja cob’s Com mu nity Cen tre. Break fast,<br />

lunch, all meet ings: $9. Ban quet (all in clu sive): $23<br />

(by Mar. 31.) Info: Norm B. 519-743-6843.<br />

New An chor Spring Ser vice Meet ing. April 13,<br />

8:30 pm. Open spon ta ne ous speaker fo rum, top ics of<br />

“Spon sor ship” and “I am Re spon si ble.” Hot dogs,<br />

chips, and pop.<br />

Where do I go from Here? Treat ment Fa cil ities<br />

Day Apr. 15. 9:30 am – 4:00 pm. Oak Ridges Com -<br />

mu nity Cen tre, 63 Phar macy, 1 block north of<br />

Danforth Ave. Free. Pot luck lunch. Pre sen ta tions.<br />

Fel low ship. See page 1.<br />

Grat i tude 2000 Speaker and Spa ghetti Night,<br />

Apr. 15. 7:00 pm. Din ner; 8:30 pm. Speaker. St.<br />

Luke’s United Church, Rm. B3, Sherbourne and<br />

Carlton. $10. Tickets from com mit tee mem bers.<br />

We are not a Glum Lot! Great Lakes Re gional<br />

Con ven tion of Young Peo ple in AA, Apr. 20 – 23.<br />

Erie, Penn syl va nia. Speakers, pan els, dances, work -<br />

shops, “so ber jam.” Reg is tra tion: $15. Ban quet: $18.<br />

Info: Don 814-864-2185; Michelle 814-455-4526;<br />

TAPman@aol.com; michaelj@erie.net. Ho tel room<br />

rate $64, 1-800-822-5011.<br />

A New Day – A New Be gin ning, 36 th An nual Blos -<br />

som Time Con ven tion, Apr. 28 – 30. Ni ag ara Falls.<br />

AA, Al-anon, Alateen. $15. Ban quet $35. Dance<br />

$10. Pre-register by Apr. 14, The Ni ag ara Falls Blos -<br />

som Time Con ven tion, Box 851, Ni ag ara Falls, ON,<br />

L2E 6V6. Info: John 905-358-2805 or Sandy<br />

905-374-7831 or e-mail: jforrest@caninet.com Ho -<br />

tel Res er va tions: 1-800-263-3508.<br />

Working To gether Info AA Day, May 13. Lan sing<br />

United Church, 49 Bogert Ave. just north of Yonge<br />

St. & High way 401 – within walk ing dis tance of<br />

<strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong> /3<br />

Sheppard sub way. Speaker meet ings, pan els, del e -<br />

gate’s re port, AA vid eos, lit er a ture ta bles, free cof -<br />

fee, and a great pot luck lunch. Guest speaker:<br />

War ren S. from Gen eral Ser vice Of fice in New<br />

York. Tickets: $5.00.<br />

Vic to ria-Haliburton Con fer ence, May 13.<br />

Royal Ca na dian Le gion, Lindsay. Reg is tra tion:<br />

8:00 am; first panel: 9:00 am. Con fer ence/ban -<br />

quet/dance: $20. Con fer ence/dance only: $10.<br />

Info: Jim S. 705-374-5497 or Anna R. 705-324-<br />

5841.<br />

The Mir a cle of It So bri ety in Ac tion Con ven -<br />

tion, May 19 – 21. St. Pe ters burg, Florida. $43 US<br />

incl. Ban quet. Info: Con ven tion Com mit tee, PO<br />

Box 2571, Pinellos Park, FL 22780-2571; e-mail:<br />

soberaction@aol.com.<br />

65 th An ni ver sary of AA, June 10. Spon sored by<br />

the New Hope Group, Orillia. 8:30 am to 8:00 pm.<br />

Panels, speak ers, lunch, buf fet din ner: $15. No<br />

meals: $5. Info: Bill B. 705-325-4889.<br />

Mir a cles Hap pen The 2000 Trillium Con ven tion,<br />

June 23 - 25, In ter na tional Plaza Ho tel, 655 Dixon<br />

Road, To ronto. AA, Al-anon & Alateen Pro -<br />

grams. Reg is tra tion $25; $5 Alateen. Reg is tra tion<br />

905-983-5352. Room rates: Dou ble - $100.80; Tri -<br />

ple - $108.64; Quad - $119.84. Ho tel res er va tions<br />

1-800-668-3656. Men tion Trillium.<br />

Pass It On – Into the 21 st Cen tury In ter na tional<br />

Con ven tion of AA, June 29 - July 2. Min ne ap o lis,<br />

Min ne sota. $125 CDN. Reg is ter by fax:<br />

805-654-1676 or //reg is ter.rcsreg.com/icaa2000.<br />

Look for reg is tra tion forms at your group or 234.<br />

Info: 805-654-0110 or www.aatoronto.org for link.<br />

New Meetings<br />

Get A Grip Group, Thurs. (closed), Sat. (open).<br />

11,753 Sheppard Ave. E., & Port Un ion Rd. No<br />

smok ing. Wheel chair ac ces si ble. (Sub ur ban East)<br />

Yorkville Group, Sat. 8:00 pm. Church of the Mes -<br />

siah, Av e nue Rd & Dupont (across from Hare<br />

Krishna tem ple). (Cen tral)<br />

Meeting Changes<br />

393 Meet ing, Sun. 3:00 pm. Note: West stair well.<br />

(Cen tral)<br />

ABC Group, Tues. not Mon. (East)<br />

Yorkville Group, Wed. 8:00 pm. New lo ca tion:<br />

Church of the Mes siah, Av e nue Rd & Dupont<br />

(across from Hare Krishna tem ple). (Cen tral)<br />

Groups Needing Support<br />

York Group, Thurs. 8:00 pm. (Cen tral)<br />

Meadowvale South Group, Thurs. 8:30 pm. (Sub ur -<br />

ban West)<br />

How to reach us<br />

S ub<br />

mit group news, me dal lions, other event no -<br />

tices, let ters to the ed i tors, or ar ti cles to <strong>BETTER</strong><br />

<strong>TIMES</strong> (be fore April 10 for the May is sue) by mail:<br />

c/o GTA In ter group, 234 Eglin ton Ave. E., Ste. 202,<br />

To ronto, ON, M4P 1K5, by fax 416-487-5855 or by<br />

Internet e-mail to btimes@idirect.ca. Only signed<br />

sub mis sions with a means of con tact will be ac -<br />

cepted. Sub scrip tions avail able. Call Linda at 416-<br />

487- 9865.


<strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong> /4<br />

Noreen F., Thorncliffe Park<br />

Group, GTA In ter group<br />

Chair said, “This past month has<br />

proven how Al co holics Anon y -<br />

mous works. Three fu ner als<br />

in one month – two friends<br />

and a brother. In the past, I<br />

would have gone to the li -<br />

quor store. I went to a meet -<br />

ing in stead, re mem ber ing<br />

to keep first things first.”<br />

Fi nance Com mit tee<br />

Chair Ron S., North To -<br />

ronto Group, re ported that,<br />

in Jan u ary, in come was up<br />

due in part to the Grat i tude<br />

Month di rect de pos its and<br />

the me dal lion en grav ing<br />

ser vice. With ex penses<br />

down, we hope this trend<br />

con tin ues.<br />

Har old W., Port Credit<br />

Group, read a let ter from his<br />

group (orig i nal on file at<br />

234) re gard ing fi nances.<br />

The or der of busi ness was<br />

sus pended to elect a newly<br />

va cated se nior po si tion on<br />

the Op er ating Com mit tee.<br />

One of the three ju nior<br />

mem bers Rob W., Royal<br />

York Group, was elected to<br />

the se nior level. A new ju -<br />

nior mem ber was elected –<br />

Denise C., Meadowvale South<br />

Group.<br />

The Grape vine Com mit tee<br />

still has an ur gent need for a<br />

chair per son. Send re sumes to<br />

234.<br />

The Ar chives Com mit tee has<br />

been in vited to set up a dis play at<br />

the 2000 In ter na tional Con ven -<br />

tion in Min ne ap o lis, Min ne sota,<br />

re ported li ai son Bruce L., New<br />

Life Group.<br />

He then re ported that the In for -<br />

ma tion AA Day 2001 Chair per -<br />

son from In ter group is Jim R.,<br />

Bloordale Group, past Chair of<br />

In ter group.<br />

Info AA Day 2000 Chair Ed H.,<br />

Twelve Steps Group, DCM Dis -<br />

trict 22, and the com mit tee are<br />

ready to roll. See page 3.<br />

Twelve-Step Com mit tee li ai -<br />

I n<br />

<strong>Intergroup</strong> Report...<br />

First Things First<br />

son, Jim H., Keep It Sim ple<br />

Group, stated the need for ad di -<br />

tional re li able phone greet ers to<br />

do one four-hour shift a month.<br />

Training ses sions are held on the<br />

third Sunday of each month at<br />

1:30 pm at 234.<br />

<strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong> Chair Jim B.,<br />

Agincourt Acorn Group, read a<br />

let ter from Webmaster Myles W.,<br />

Open Mind Dis cus sion Group,<br />

de tail ing the changes on the Web<br />

site. He then in tro duced Myles<br />

who listed sev eral pos i tive com -<br />

ments re ceived re gard ing the site.<br />

Sev eral group reps voiced se ri ous<br />

con cerns re gard ing the Web site<br />

and its links. The Web Site Com -<br />

mit tee will meet at 7:30 pm, on<br />

Thurs day, March 30 at 234. All<br />

are in vited to at tend.<br />

The Treat ment Fa cil ities Com -<br />

Out of town vis i tor? Call 416-487-5591 to find a meet ing.<br />

I dunno what the holdup is, Jeb. There’s some guy up there a talkin’ to<br />

General C., about goin’ to some kinda meetin’ instead of findin’ ole Chief<br />

Sittin’ B. He keeps goin’ on about “Easy Does It,” and “First Things First...”<br />

mit tee Chair, Donna M., Thorn -<br />

cliffe Park Group, re minded us<br />

that the TF Work shop Day will be<br />

held April 15. This com mit tee<br />

needs con tin u ing group and in -<br />

di vid ual sup port. See pages 1 &<br />

3..<br />

The Pub lic In for ma tion Com -<br />

mit tee li ai son, Viki B., Tues day<br />

Night Dis cus sion Group, re ported<br />

this com mit tee is pres ently giv ing<br />

sem i nars to Uni ver sity of To ronto<br />

med i cal stu dents. The pub lic ser -<br />

vice an nounce ments con tinue to<br />

air on TV sta tions. PI re quests<br />

youn ger mem bers of AA to vol -<br />

un teer to carry the mes sage into<br />

high schools. Call 234.<br />

The Self Sup port Com mit tee is<br />

very ac tive in re turn ing to group<br />

busi ness meet ings to de ter mine<br />

how the mon ies from the self sup -<br />

Did we see you?<br />

port do na tion cans are to be di -<br />

vided among the four ser vice<br />

en ti ties, re ported li ai son Kevin<br />

M., North To ronto Group.<br />

Ac cess Abil ity li ai son<br />

Rob W., Royal York<br />

Group, re minded us that<br />

a shut-in vis it ing ser vice<br />

is avail able. Vol un teers<br />

are in place, but so far no<br />

re quests are forth com ing.<br />

Cor rec tions Day held<br />

in Jan u ary was a suc cess<br />

with 75-100 peo ple in at -<br />

ten dance, re ported Car o -<br />

lyn R., Re cov ery Group<br />

(Thornhill), Al ter nate<br />

DCM Dis trict 14. The<br />

Cor rec tional Fa cil ities<br />

Com mit tee pro vides a<br />

con tact point be tween jail<br />

and so ci ety. Vol un teers<br />

are al ways needed.<br />

New busi ness: A mo -<br />

tion per tain ing to the To -<br />

ronto In ter group Web site<br />

was made by Rob E.,<br />

Trial & Er ror Group, on<br />

their be half: “That In ter -<br />

group di rect who ever is<br />

re spon si ble for the Web<br />

site to im me di ately re -<br />

move the sec tion en ti tled<br />

Links to other Re cov ery Re -<br />

sources in its en tirety.” Dis cus -<br />

sion fol lowed. (Vote on the<br />

mo tion was de ferred till March<br />

28, 2000.)<br />

Noreen then closed the meet ing<br />

in the usual man ner.<br />

Jim B.<br />

All com mit tee meet ings are<br />

open to any in ter ested AA mem -<br />

ber. Call 234 (416-487-5591) for<br />

times and lo ca tions.<br />

To vol un teer for any com mit tee<br />

job call 234, or visit the Website –<br />

www.aatoronto.org – to sign up.<br />

Your in for ma tion will be passed<br />

on to the com mit tee.<br />

The next In ter group meet ing is<br />

April 25, 8:00 pm at St. Mar ga -<br />

ret’s Church, Av e nue Rd. above<br />

Eglin ton. All are wel come as ob -<br />

serv ers.<br />

keep ing with the In ter group pol icy, <strong>BETTER</strong> <strong>TIMES</strong> brings you the list of at tend ing groups at the Feb ru ary In ter group meet ing...<br />

A Place to Share, Agincourt Acorn, As Bill Sees It, Au rora, Bay view, Beaches, Bellamy, Beverly Hills, Bramalea, Brampton Re cov ery, Brampton United, Credit<br />

Val ley, Danforth, Deer Park, Don Mills, Don Val ley, East York, Erin Mills, Even tide, Fel low ship, Frontrunners, Glenholme, Glenview, Half-Century of AA, Hill,<br />

Isabella Cross town, Isling ton, KF, Keep It Sim ple, King City, Kipling, Lan sing, Last Chance, Meadowvale South, Melrose, Mid town, Mississauga, New An chor,<br />

No Name, Noon Rap, Oakville, Open Mind Dis cus sion, Phoe nix, Pine Hills, Port Credit, Reaching Out, Re cov ery, Re spon si bil ity, Rox Glen Tra di tional, Royal<br />

York, Sat ur day Morn ing Dis cus sion, Shep herd, Silverbirch, Six Points, Spon sor ship, St. James town, Start To day, Streetsville, Sunday North west ern, Sunny side,<br />

Third Tra di tion, Thorncliffe Park, Tra di tional, Trial & Er ror, Tues day Night Dis cus sion, Tues day Night Women’s, Twelfth Tra di tion, Twelve Tra di tions, Unionville,<br />

Wel come, Weston, Wood bridge, Yorkville,.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!