MBAIAA Newsletter – MARCH 2018

Published on March 22, 2018

Step 3 –“ Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him”

“then it is explained that other Steps of the A.A .program can be practiced with success only when Step Three is given a determined and persistent trial. This statement may surprise newcomers who have experienced nothing but constant deflation and a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever. They have become persuaded, and rightly so, that many problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault powered by the individual alone. But now it appears that there are certain things which only the individual can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can make the decision to exert himself. Trying to do this is an act of his own will. All of the Twelve Steps require sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God’s will.
It is when we try to make our will conform with God’s that we begin to use it rightly.”
Page 40- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Alcoholics Anonymous Events To Plan For

(for a full list of events see the Events Calendar page of our new website)

Monterey Intergroup Birthday / Speaker Meeting
Saturday, March 31st @ 7:30 PM

Hosted this month by Wild Women – A women’s group that meets Wednesdays at noon in Pacific Grove at The Center For Spiritual Awakening 522 Central Avenue. The speaker will be Claudia C.This is a monthly birthday meeting held on the last Saturday of each month (except for December when the meeting is held along with a holiday banquet ). The first part of the meeting includes a presentation of birthday medallions for those celebrating annual A.A. anniversaries and all are invited to participate. Birthdays are followed by an A.A. speaker who shares for 40 to 45 minutes and the meeting ends about 9pm. Coffee is typically ready no later than 7pm. Arrive early for good parking, fellowship and a great seat!

The Steering Committee and the IGRs (Intergroup Representatives) have voted to increase the price of the raffle tickets at the monthly birthday meeting from $1.00 to $2.00 or 3 for $5.00. So come prepared! See you there!

Monterey High School Cafeteria
Herman Drive at Larkin, Monterey CA 93940

News From General Service

The recent issue of Box 459 is out and there are some very interesting articles. The lead story is about an AA Convention that was held in the city of Zhengzhou, China. The next article is how the hand of A.A. reaches around the world. Another features suggestions for lending a hand during natural disasters.

To see current IGR minutes and financial reports CLICK HERE

A Note From Jana

Greetings fellow members! Spring is on its’ way and there is much to be grateful for (as always!). But instead of Spring, my mind is on Summer. There are a couple of events that are coming up that are worth saving the day for. June 17th we will be celebrating Unity Day in Toro Park. Unity Day is in recognition of the founding of our program in 1935. We have a BIG delicious barbeque/picnic with live music and a meeting and it is co – hosted by the Monterey and Salinas Fellowships. It is a wonderful opportunity for sharing all we have received from A.A. I encourage all to attend and bring your families (with the exception of the four legged members- no dogs are allowed in the park).

The second big event of the Summer is the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Bay Area Intergroup. On August 1, 1968, groups from Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, which had previously listed their meetings in the San Francisco directory, decided to form their own group. Now if that isn’t a good reason for a party, I’m not sure what is!

There have been a few locations for our Central Office. The first of which was Red’s Donuts on Alvarado Street in Monterey (oh…the irony!) and in 1988 (20 years later) we moved to our current location on Cass Street.

So, in celebration of this 50 year legacy of recovery on the Monterey Peninsula, the Monterey Bay Area Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous will hold a dinner and a meeting at the Hidden Valley Music Center in Carmel Valley on July 21st. Early evening to sunset is a lovely time to be in the Valley in the summertime.
We hope to have many of the archives that have been collected by Steve B. so that you will be able to see the history of our fellowship.

We will keep you posted about the details of both of these upcoming events.

On a less celebratory note, I was going through some files here in the office, and I found a newsletter from the early nineties that had a little cartoon on the bottom that had a fellow trying to stretch a dollar bill between his two hands. The caption was ‘we have stretched the dollar as far as we can!’

People have been putting a dollar in the basket for a VERY long time. Clearly, the difference between a dollar in the 1970’s and a dollar today are quite apparent to everyone. If you can afford it, please consider putting more in the basket. Rents for meeting spaces and all other aspects of holding a meeting are rising.

The 7th tradition contributions for the first two months of 2018 are 25% less than those of the same time period in 2017. People tell me that they don’t carry cash anymore. Until we can figure out a safe and easy method to establish a ‘digital basket’, please remember to get a little extra cash and bring it with you to a meeting. In order for the hand of A.A. to always be there, we all need to do what we can. We have stretched the dollar as far as we can.

We Are Always In Need Of People To Be Of Service

If you are interested in being a part of what we do here at Central Office, I am always looking for office volunteers . People to be on the other end of the phone when someone reaches out for help. It is generally a four hour commitment (either 9:30 – 1:30 or 1:30 – 5:30) 1 day per week. Currently, I need a few people to keep on a list of those that are willing to fill in for these positions once in a while. Call or come by and let’s talk!

In closing, please feel free to stop by Central Office. If you are one of the ‘Trusted Servants’ at a meeting (Secretary, Treasurer,etc,) and you have any questions about the responsibilities of that position, don’t hesitate to ask what those responsibilities might be.

I am in the office Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 -5:00.