BETTER TIMES BETTER TIMES - Greater Toronto Area Intergroup
BETTER TIMES BETTER TIMES - Greater Toronto Area Intergroup
BETTER TIMES BETTER TIMES - Greater Toronto Area Intergroup
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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,.