EXPERIENCE STRENGTH

FEARLESS and
THOROUGH
DISTRICT 33 NEWLSETTER
4.15
From Your DCM
Happy Spring-time District 33. March has been
mostly warm and beautiful and for that too, I am
grateful. March was also a month of firsts for
me. I attended my first PRAASA and my first
Burien Little Assembly. Thank you all once again
for allowing me to serve you as your DCM. This
has, in many ways, forced me from my comfort
zone to experience these service events,
something I might not have done otherwise.
PRAASA, which stands for Pacific Region of
Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly, was
an excellent experience for me and one I would
encourage you all to take in when you can. The
format involves panel discussions followed by
open microphones for comments/sharing
combined with roundtables broken down into
service/committee positions. Next year PRAASA
will be held in Spokane on the first full weekend
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in March (4 –6 ). This is an opportunity if we
want to put together a group to attend, sharing
costs of transportation, hotel/motel/RV, and
even meals. Sounds like fun fellowship and an
A.A. road trip to me. I arrived late to the Burien
Little Assembly after attending another meeting,
but was able to take in two panels, the first of
which, “Diversity: Do you welcome everyone?”,
included Michelle L. from our district. The
second panel I attended was “Anonymity in the
Electronic Age: Don’t tag me ‘bro!?” Both panels
were thought-provoking and spiritually engaging.
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Next year (this year was the 42 year!) I’ll plan
on being there for the entire day. We also held
our GSR orientation in the month of March.
There was a tremendous amount of service
experience amongst the 20+ people who
attended. Thank you to all those who came to
learn, share, and help out. In particular I want to
thank our Workshop Committee Chair. Mindy G.,
and Jim H., for their hard work and preparation.
Unfortunately only a handful of groups sent their
GSRs. If you were unable to attend please
contact me and I’ll forward the handouts. And a
EXPERIENCE
STRENGTH
quick note on this year’s Assembly. It will be
held at the Bell Harbor International Conference
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Center on the Seattle waterfront, October 16 ,
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17 , and 18 . All GSRs should attend as this is
your opportunity to express your group’s
conscience on issues affecting your group,
district, and area, as well as A.A. as a whole. To
defray costs and hopefully encourage greater
attendance I’m suggesting we set up carpools
with shared parking. We can also plan on “potlucking” snacks during the day and maybe going
to nearby restaurants to eat in groups. This way
we can avoid some of the costly meals offered
with the registration. Just some thoughts, but
again I can see the potential for some fun
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fellowship! Lastly, I’ll be attending the 2 Area
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72 quarterly on April 4 and will provide some
feedback on that next month. Gratefully InService to You, Paul B., DCM-District 33.
a meeting is what we deem as "sick", is it not
our responsibility to participate and do what we
can to share our strength, experience, and
hope? Are we not responsible to be the hand of
AA that reaches out to be a part of the solution?
I really feel what AA needs is a lot less judgment
especially when it comes to meetings. In my
own personal experience, that only "bad"
meetings I've ever gone to were the ones I
chose to not participate in because I was too
caught up in my own head and my own
judgments. There are difficult people in our
meetings; some hard to hear, some hard to
listen to, some really annoying, and some
delivering the exact message we need.
Sometimes these are all the same person, and
at one point or another that person was us and
can be again. To have a true transformation of
character we need to let go of everything we
know and everything we desire to control.
Patience goes a very long way, as does a kind
hand or ear that reaches out to another in need.
At one point we were all "sick", and even the
best meetings won't be heard to the person who
is trapped in their own head.
Carrying the message…….
One story at a time
Good Meeting
What makes a meeting "good"? I often hear
people talk about how Folks should go to this
meeting because it's "good" based on the
amount of sobriety that sits in the rooms or the
shares that happen. I've also been told about
meetings I should avoid because the meetings
are "sick". As in a lot of folks who are
not completing the steps or sticking with
recovery. When this happens, I always think
about "focus on the solution and the solution
increases" and the next thought is that "I am
responsible whenever another alcoholic reaches
out for help." I first found AA in a hall every other
meeting in town referred to as the "1, 2, 3 hall"
or a "sick hall", and it was my first home group.
There were lots of people who had been sober
for years. Some who had cycled through the
steps many times and others who could not
make it past step 3, but were still sober. It has
been my opinion that what makes a meeting
"good" has more to do with your attitude and
participation than the members outside of you. If
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Some of the best analogies for recovery have
come to me from your mouths in meetings all
over the state. Others have come from my
experience in sobriety. My first sponsor used to
take several of us to the gym three or four times
a week. In addition to helping heal and grow our
severely abused bodies, the principles of the
gym applied to our spiritual growth as well. You
can go to the gym, dress in the latest workout
wear, sit on a bench for hours, and the result will
be...nothing. Work up a sweat, push some iron
around, lots of reps, lots of weight, and your
muscles react. You get stronger, more resilient,
and overall healthier. Yes, it hurts, but pain is
gain. Recovery is like that, too. Read the book,
work on the steps, trust God, help others, clean
house (whether you want to or not) and not only
does the program work, you get rocketed
into...well you know. It was during one of those
Row, Row, Row Your Boat Continued…
particularly grueling sessions at the gym when
my sponsor had me on the rowing machines,
that this scenario came to mind. Recovery is
like rowing a boat. In order to go forward, I need
to have both hands on the oars and row. The
more effort I put into rowing, the further I get. If I
stop rowing, I don't get very far. As a matter of
fact, the current (which always seems to be
against me) pushes against me and I lose
ground. But I want to see where I'm going, too.
So I row with one hand so I can turn and see
where I'm going. But since I'm rowing one
handed, I'm simply going around in circles.
Being the good alcoholic, then, I switch hands.
Still going in circles, just the other direction. No,
it's only when I'm facing the back of the boat,
rowing, that the boat moves forward. God is at
the tiller and steering. He alone can see where
we're going, and I need to trust that he knows
the way. If I'm doing it right, I get to see where
we are now and where we were. The future is
God's domain, and I must trust Him to get us to
our destination. Read the book, do what it says,
apply these principles in all of my affairs, help
other alcoholics, let go and let God...that's
rowing for me. I'm not in charge of anything,
except rowing. That's “right sized” for me.
DID YOU KNOW......
~ Sister Ignatia died in Richfield, Ohio, at age
77, on April 1, 1966. There were reportedly
about 3,000 people present at the funeral,
including A.A.’s co-founder, Bill W. She was
born in Ireland as Bridget Della Mary Gavin on
January 1, 1889 at Shanvalley, Burren, in
County Mayo.
~ "Alcoholics Anonymous" (the Big Book)
was first published April 10, 1939.
~ April 29, 1896 Edwin (Ebby) Throckmorton
Thacher was born in Albany, New York and was
the youngest of five boys.
February 1940 - April 1941 A.A. grew from 33
members to 350 members!
EVENTS; UPDATES; HAPPENINGS
HOPE
AROUND THE SOUND:
HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT
April 3: Area 72 April Business Quarterly
Oak Harbor, WA
April 14: 6PM DISTRICT 33 MEETING. Our
Area Treasurer, Heather C., will attend our April
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14 Business Meeting to provide further
background and to answer questions concerning
the Area “Standing Committee Reimbursement
Policy.” In particular Heather will be prepared to
address questions such as: What has the cost
been to the Area in past rotations? What is the
projected cost if continued? Where in the Area
budget have/will the costs be allocated? Heather
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will also provide a 7 Tradition presentation and
answer questions along these lines as well.
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April 10-12: 33 Annual North Coast Roundup
Seaside, Oregon
April 11: Blossoms Women’s Luncheon
Port Townsend, WA
April 11: Area 72 Treatment Comm. Quarterly
Everett, WA
April 18: Area 72 Accessibility Comm. Quarterly
Vancouver, WA
April 25: Area 72 Web Committee Quarterly
Shoreline, WA
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April 27: North Star’s 40 Anniversary
Celebration; Tacoma, WA
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April 28: Narrows Group 51 Anniversary
1201 S. Jackson Street; St. Andrews Church
May 9: Area 72 PI/CPC Quarterly
Denny Park; Seattle, WA
May 15-17 Olympic Roundup; Port Angeles, WA
July 24-26; Freedom in Sobriety Conference
LaQuinta Conference Center; Tacoma, WA
Newsletter@district33aa.org
REGARDING: The new GSIG 2015 meeting
schedule booklet yellow in color: The meetings at
Lake Sawyer Christian Church: The addresses are
incorrect: they are listed as 31605 3rd Ave.; Black
Diamond whereas ACTUALLY the churches’
address is 31605 Lake Sawyer Rd, S.E. Black
Diamond. Please make a note of this and spread
the word. Lot’s of folks will end up at the Black
Diamond Community Center….
District 33 is currently scheduled to have booths
at TWO community events at this time. They
are: Maple Valley Days, located at Lake
Wilderness Park:
June 12, 2015 : 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM
June 13, 2015: 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM
June 14, 2015: 10:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Note: We will be sending out booth staffing
request forms in mid May: We will need a total of
(16) volunteers for Maple Valley Days.
Covington Days Festival, location not available
at this time
HOURS ARE CURRENTLY
UNKNOWN – HERE ARE THE DATES:
July 18, 2015 AND July 19, 2015
 Notes: We should have location and
hours of operation available by May 1st.
 We will be sending out booth staffing
request forms, mid June: Volunteer
count is to be determined.
TRUSTED SERVANTS DISTRICT 33
DCM: Paul B.
Alternate: Eric P.
Treasurer: Ruth G.
Alternate: Judy G.
Secretary: Susan P.
Alternate: Open
Archivist: Katy C.
Alternate: Jim H.
Treatment: Okkie A.
Alternate: Open
Registrar: Mark H.
Alternate: Open
CPC: Janet T.
Alternate: James S.
Corrections Chr: Okkie A.
Alternate: Open
Workshop Chair: Mindy G.
Alternate: Open
GSIG Rep: Rick L.
Alternate: Open
Accessibility Chr: Vandy D. Alternate: Open
Newsletter Ed: Mindy G.
Alternate: Michelle L.
Printer: Mindy G.
Alternate: Open
P.I.: Chuck G.
Alternate: Open
Webservant: Rick G.
Alternate: Open
Literature Grapevine – Open Alterante: Open
Open means these positions are in need of
your support. Please see anyone of us,
or come to the district meeting and join us!
We need all the help we can get in Unity!
HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP
GARY AND MINDY G NEED ONE MORE
SEASIDE TICKET PLEASE CONTACT
NEWSLETTER@DISTRICT33AA.ORG