Archives Committee

Chair: James B

SERVICE THROUGH ARCHIVES

Whenever a society or civilization perishes there is always one condition present; they forgot where they came from.

—Carl Sandburg

Like any other A.A. service, the primary purpose of those involved in archival work is to carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous. Archives service work is more than mere custodial activity; it is the means by which we collect, preserve, and share the rich and meaningful heritage of our Fellowship. It is by the collection and sharing of these important historical elements that our collective gratitude for Alcoholics Anonymous is deepened.

A.A. members have a responsibility to gather and care for the Fellowship’s historical documents and memorabilia. Correspondence, records, minutes, reports, photographs, newspaper and magazine articles from the past and the present should be collected, preserved, and made available for the guidance and research of A.A. members and others (researchers, historians, and scholars from various disciplines)—for now and for generations to come.

The District 8 archives collection is stored in a climate-controlled unit in Montgomery.  A constantly-changing sampling of the collection is on display at The Happy Hour Group. This can be seen whenever the building is open for fellowship before and after meetings, or by appointment with the Archives chair.

Public Information Committee

Chair: Nick P

Like all of A.A., the primary purpose of members involved with public information service is to carry the A.A. message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Working together, members of local Public Information committees convey A.A. information to the general public, including the media.

In all public relationships, A.A.’s sole objective is to help the still-suffering alcoholic. Always mindful of the importance of personal anonymity, we believe this can be done by making known to the still-suffering alcoholics, and to those who may be interested in their problem, our own experience as individuals and as a fellowship in learning to live without alcohol.

We believe that our experience should be made available freely to all who express sincere interest. We believe further that all efforts in this field should always reflect our gratitude for the gift of sobriety and our awareness that many outside of A.A. are equally concerned with the serious problem of alcoholism.

We recognize that our competence to speak about alcoholism is limited in subject matter to Alcoholics Anonymous and its recovery program.

 

Literature Committee

Chair: Open Position

Today, as in the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous, the A.A. message of recovery from alcoholism is carried by one alcoholic talking to another. However, since the publication of the first edition of the Big Book in 1939, literature has played an important role in spreading the A.A. message and imparting information about the A.A. Twelve Step program of recovery.

A.A. co-founder Bill W., who often called the influence of A.A. literature “incalculable,” wrote in the May 1964 issue of the Grapevine, “Suppose, for instance, that during the last twenty-five years A.A. had never published any standard literature…no books, no pamphlets. We need little imagination to see that by now our message would be hopelessly garbled. Our relations with medicine and religion would have become a shambles. To alcoholics generally we would today be a joke and the public would have thought us a riddle. Without its literature, A.A. would certainly have bogged down in a welter of controversy and disunity.” (The Language of the Heart, p. 348) Bill’s words ring just as true today.

The newcomer, walking into an A.A. group for the first time, may be given a meeting list, basic recovery pamphlets and, depending on the individual group conscience, perhaps a copy of Living Sober or the Big Book. In 1992, the Conference Literature Committee suggested that the trustees’ Literature Committee develop literature committee guidelines comprised of shared experience from the Fellowship.

 

Treatment Facilities Committee

Chair: Colby W

Ever since A.A.’s co-founders first stayed sober by carrying the A.A. message into hospitals, many other alcoholics have discovered the great value to their own sobriety of working with suffering alcoholics in treatment settings. Today many A.A. meetings take place in inpatient and outpatient settings all over the world. Twelfth Stepping and sponsoring other alcoholics —where they are—has long been one of the most important and satisfying ways of keeping ourselves sober.

The District 8 Treatment Committee was formed to coordinate the work of individual A.A. members and groups who are interested in carrying our message of recovery to alcoholics in treatment and outpatient settings, and to set up means of “bridging the gap” from the facility to an A.A. group in the individual’s community.

In trying to reach the alcoholic who is in an inpatient or outpatient treatment setting, A.A.s work together, insofar as possible, by using suggestions from those who have had experience carrying the message into these settings. A Treatment Committee Workbook, available from the General Service Office, contains detailed information about carrying the message into treatment and outpatient settings, including ways to approach treatment personnel, presentations and workshops, temporary contact programs, and other helpful information.


Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) Committee

Chair: Wes

A.A. is considered by many professionals to be a valuable resource for alcoholics who want help. When there is a good working relationship between A.A. members in the community and paid alcoholism workers, the sick alcoholic is the winner—he or she gets the help needed from both.

Members of the CPC committee provide information about A.A. to those who have contact with alcoholics through their profession. This group includes healthcare professionals, educators, members of the clergy, lawyers, social workers, union leaders, and industrial managers, government officials, as well as those working in the field of alcoholism. Information is provided about where we are, what we are, what we can do, and what we cannot do.

 

Program Committee

Chair: Vicki S

The District 8 set up the Program Committee to coordinate regularly-scheduled workshops and other programs highlighting A.A.’s legacy of service. The workshops are open to all members of the fellowship. Program topics are selected from suggestions of the fellowship in District 8 and hosted at various locations throughout the District. To suggest a topic, email the Program Chair (below). Scheduled programs are shown on the Service Activities Calendar.

Wetumpka Group

WetumpkaGroupPicWetumpka Group
103 West Tuskeena Street, Wetumpka, AL 36092

map_it_buttonThe Wetumpka Group meets at 7 pm on Monday. All meetings are non-smoking.

 

History:

In 1968, four recovering alcoholics who had come into A.A. in surrounding groups — Downtown Montgomery, Alexander City, Clanton, and Capitol City Montgomery — became interested in an A.A. group in Wetumpka. It was suggested by Temple C. that they talk to Jack C., who had brought A.A. from the Five Points Group in Birmingham to Alexander City twenty years before.

Jack suggested the four have a meeting conducted like any other regular meeting. He also said, “Don’t be disappointed if all four of you aren’t at the first meeting.” They assured Jack that all four would be there. Of course Jack was right. Only three made it to the first meeting, as one had to be out of town.

The group met in Penton C.’s home, where the meeting was held for about one year. The group has had six different meeting places over the years, and currently meets in the brick house at 103 West Tuskeena Street in Wetumpka, directly behind the Presbyterian Church on West Bridge Street.


 



Free World Group

340 Queen Ann Rd, Wetumpka, AL 36092 (Metal Building in Back)

Elmore County Extension Office
340 Queen Ann Road, Wetumpka, AL 36092

(Metal Out-Building)

map_it_button

The Free World Group meets Sunday nights at 7:30 pm for a closed discussion meeting. All meetings are non-smoking.

History:

In September 1993, a group of drunks in Wetumpka got together and decided to start a new group. They got together with the local sheriff at the time, who gave them the top floor of an old building, which they cleaned up. A.A. was on the top floor, and N.A. was on the bottom floor. A.A. meetings were held four nights a week.

Unfortunately, two years ago, the group was forced to move. Without a home, they met outside in a local park for the summer, until they found their current location at the County Extension Office on Queen Ann Drive off Highway 14.

The group is located in the FFA Building. According to members, “Our group is small but quaint, with a few regulars and a number of court referrals.”

P.O.S.T. Newsletter, April, 2002