Category: Chairperson’s Corner

District 9 Chairperson Report – October 18, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.   I am humbled to be serving as the Chair for District 9.  Hope everyone is keeping safe.  Last weekend was our virtual Area voting assembly.  Thank you to all the District 9 trusted servants who participated in the process.  A big shout out to Debbie C. who worked tirelessly all weekend on the virtual aspect of the assembly.  I think her and her team did an awesome job and everything went the way it was supposed to go.  I want to congratulate our District 9 people that will be serving the Area.  Area Chair- Lisa D., Area Recording Secretary- Karen V., Jean G.-Area Grapevine Chair, Ken J.-Area Treatment Chair, Robin P.-Area Literature Chair and Shannon-Area Website Secretary/Treasurer.  On October 3^rd, Jessica and the Archives Committee held a combined Early Timers / Old Timers event.  It was a wonderful event and our three speakers, Karen V., Sharon G. and Billy G. shared much hope and recovery.  A reminder, Saturday on the 24^th will be the second Florida State Convention Planning meeting at 9am.  Join us and be a part of this great service opportunity right from the beginning.  And don’t forget to register for the 2021 Florida State Convention in Jacksonville and show them some love.  If they succeed, we succeed.

We will be holding elections after our reports.  We will be using Third Legacy Procedure like they did in Area this last weekend.  If you do not understand any of the proceedings, please let me know and I will do my best to explain.  The following open positions are: Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, Registrar, Archives, Accessibilities, Finance, Grapevine, Institution Liaison, Support Your Services and Carry the Message Day.  Officers and Standing Committees are two year terms and Service Activities are one year term with the eligibility to stand for a second year.  For us today that would be Intergroup Liaison and Room and Ride Coordinator.  And if you are wondering GSR Workshop Coordinator, ACM/DCM coordinator and Current Practice chair are all appointed in January by the incoming District Chair.  For each position, I will read what each position requires and entails.  Please don’t be afraid to step up and remember you can’t keep it without giving it away.

If you are not getting our blasts, please contact Jackie, our Recording Secretary.  We are always sending out all kinds of good stuff and to make sure you are in our loop.  Also, we continue with our seventh tradition of passing a virtual basket through the Zelle application as well as contributions to our P.O. Box.  GSRs, please thank your groups who continue to contribute.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.   I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  Remember the sun continues to shine in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 chairperson.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – September 20, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.   I am humbled to be serving as the Chair for District 9.  Hope everyone is keeping safe.  Last Saturday was our virtual Spaghetti Dinner hosted by Heather and the Support Your Services Committee.  We had a great speaker, Shelby B. who shared her story of hope and recovery and many of us enjoyed some delicious spaghetti and meatballs from the comforts of our own homes.  It was a fun time.  Our next event will be the Early Timers meeting being held virtually.  Jessica and the Archives committee is hosting this event and she will have more to tell us in her report.  A reminder, this Saturday on the 26^th will be our first Florida State Convention Planning meeting at 9am.  Join us and be a part of this great service opportunity right from the beginning.  And don’t forget to register for the 2021 Florida State Convention in Jacksonville.

As promised, I reached out to Nova about our lease for next year and they came back with restrictions on the amount of people we would be able to have in person.  Because the numbers were very low and not workable, the officers decided to defer the first part of the lease which runs from January to June.  We may be looking for alternate meeting locations in the near future.  More on that on a later date.

At the October business meeting, we will be holding elections.  This will be done virtually so that all who wish to attend may do so.  We will have many open positions as many of us rotate out after completing our two years.  Please pray on what position you would like to stand for.

If you are not getting our blasts, please contact Jackie, our Recording Secretary.  We are always sending out all kinds of good stuff and to make sure you are in our loop.  Also, we continue with our seventh tradition of passing a virtual basket through the Zelle application as well as contributions to our P.O. Box.  GSRs, please thank your groups who continue to contribute.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.   I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  Remember the sun continues to shine in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 chairperson.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – July 19, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.   I am humbled to be serving as the Chair for District 9.  I have some very sad news to report.  Our very own, Allan G. has passed away.  Please keep his family in your prayers.  He will be greatly missed.  Please take care of yourselves and keep safe.  We continue to embrace the virtual world for now.  I did reach out to NSU and they are definitely closed to outside groups through September.  Our next service event is a virtual Spaghetti Dinner.  Heather will have more on this event.  And don’t forget, our Delegate, Shirley P. will be giving her conference report on August 29^th at 2pm.  We have posted the particulars for that meeting on our website.  I hope to see you all there.  I do have some good news to share and something for us to look forward to and a chance to get some service in.  Fort Lauderdale’s bid for the 2022 Florida State Convention at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort has been chosen by the Joint Advisory Committee.  The dates of the convention are August 3^rd through 7^th, 2022.  There is lots to do to make it a success.  The very first planning meeting is September 26^th using Zoom.  The flyer is on our website under current events for September and has the log in information.  If you are thinking, hey, I don’t want to wait that long until I go to a state convention.  I got you covered.  Jacksonville is holding the next State Convention, August 5^th through 8^th, 2021.  Show them some love and buy a registration.  I will be there in August.

If you are not getting our blasts, please contact Jackie, our Recording Secretary.  We are always sending out all kinds of good stuff and to make sure you are in our loop.  Also, we continue with our seventh tradition of passing a virtual basket through the Zelle application as well as contributions to our P.O. Box.  GSRs, please thank your groups who continue to contribute.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.   I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And as I said in my Area chair report, although it although it may seem dark at the moment, the sun continues to shine in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 chairperson.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – July 19, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.   I am humbled to be serving as the Chair for District 9.  My prayers continue to go out to all of you.  Please take care of yourselves and keep safe.  NSU is still closed and we continue to use the Zoom platform until it is safe for us to meet in person with appropriate safeguards in place.  I will be reaching out to them at the start of August to see if they have any news on reopening. Given everything going on, it will probably be a bit longer.  Last weekend, Area 15 held its first virtual Assembly.  Our very own Debbie C. worked tirelessly on the virtual part and I think it went off very well.  Our vote count on Sunday was a little lower than I like.  We had 23 voting members.  There were two motions, and both passed.  One was to increase the hourly rate for Spanish translation services and the second motion was for an Ad Hoc Technology committee which could be a very timely and necessary committee.  On June 20^th, we held a great Zoom event, Carry the Message Day, How to Carry the Message in a Pandemic.  Debbie C.  and her committee did a wonderful job.  We are blessed with so much talent here at District 9.  The event was well attended and there was good information presented on how to continue our primary mission of helping the sick and suffering alcoholic.  Thank you to all the speakers.

In new business, Shirley P., our Delegate is only doing virtual presentations on the Conference she remotely attended.  We did have her scheduled for August 16^th which is the same day as our district meeting.  We always do a nice luncheon and have the report but not this year.  She is doing our presentation on August 29^th at 2pm.  We will, of course, send out the invitation.  If you cannot make it on August 29^th, Shirley is doing a presentation on July 26^th.  All of this info is posted on the Area 15 website.

Also, it is with great sadness to announce that Elizabeth is stepping down as Chair of Accessibilities.  Thank you for all your work on this committee.  We will hold elections for this position.

On a personal note, please keep Allan G., our ACM for sub-district 14, in your prayers as he is in the hospital.

If you are not getting our blasts, please contact Jackie, our Recording Secretary.  We are always sending out all kinds of good stuff and to make sure you are in our loop.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.   I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And as I said in my Area chair report, although it although it may seem dark at the moment, the sun continues to shine in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 chairperson.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – June 14, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.   I am humbled to be serving as the Chair for District 9.  My prayers and well wishes go out to all of you.  Please keep safe.  NSU is still closed and we continue to use the Zoom platform until it is safe for us to meet in person with appropriate safeguards in place.  Last Sunday was our virtual Founders Day event.  Many thanks to Heather M. for putting this on.  We had a great speaker, Stephen R. from Tampa who presented a fabulous power point on the history of AA.  The event was well attended.  On June 20^th, we will hold another great Zoom event, Carry the Message Day.  Debbie C.  will have more on that.  Our Gratitude Dinner chair, Joyce K. along with her officers and myself came to the very hard decision of postponing this year’s dinner.  With everything going on and the health and wellbeing of our members of the fellowship as our number one priority, the decision was made.  The work that was started this year will finish next year and we truly will have much to be grateful for.   

The Assembly in July at the Boca Raton Marriott is also going to be on Zoom.  Cary, our Area 15 chair held a meeting on June 8^th, with all Area committee chairs and district chairs.  I shared the results of our poll we conducted last month and we are going virtual for July only.  All rooms for the Assembly were canceled by the hotel.  It will be a full schedule and I asked David to post the agenda with motions.  Please take a look and discuss with your groups on how to proceed on the motions.  If there any questions, I am always available along with all of District officers and ACM/DCMs.  The details with log in information will be sent out via email.  If you are not getting our blasts, please contact Jackie, our Recording Secretary.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.   I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – May 17, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.   I am humbled to be serving as the Chair for District 9.  My prayers and well wishes continue to go out to all of you.  Please keep safe.  NSU is still closed and will not re-open until August 1.  We are receiving credits on our missed meetings.  So we will continue to meet via Zoom until we get back into Nova and it is safe for all of us to be there.  Just a reminder, we are not having a live Founders Day picnic at Snyder Park.  We are going virtual and Heather will have more on that.  Carry the Message Day will also be a virtual event as we are not sure on Nova being open to big groups in August. Debbie and her committee have come up with a very timely presentation for Carry the Message.  And because of that, we have decided to move the event to Saturday, June 27^th.   We have started planning meetings for Gratitude Dinner.  The last meeting was April 26^th with 76 in attendance via Zoom.  Joyce and her committee will have more on that and tell us the theme.  They have a Zoom meeting scheduled for May 24^th.  

The Assembly in July at the Boca Raton Marriott is still on.  Cary, our Area 15 chair needs our input on how to go forward with the July Assembly only.  The Area is looking into doing some attendance in Boca with a Zoom component.  I have created a poll and we will vote on whether we are comfortable going to the hotel or if we are more comfortable doing our business on Zoom.  The poll will be done under new business after elections.  The Boca Raton Marriott has agreed to no room attrition requirement and no Food/Beverage obligation.  We cannot, however, cancel the contract outright without a very large penalty.  Just a note, this is only for the July Assembly.  We have signed contracts for the next two years and we are not changing the way we handle Area 15 business in this two year cycle.    

The Florida State Convention in Jacksonville has been postponed until next year which will now be held August 5^th through 8^th, 2021.  The hotel went ahead and cancelled all room reservations.  The new link for hotel reservations should be available in July.  Also, all registrations and other purchases will be held for 2021.   

General Service Conference is meeting this weekend, May 16^th to the May 19^th.  We sent out the revised Agenda Items to the fellowship from Shirley, our delegate.  Some of the items will be forwarded to the 2021 Conference.  We have also sent out a letter from Greg T., our General Manager, detailing a shortfall.  The General Service Office has asked for and been given $3 million from the Reserve Fund which is their prudent reserve.  Book sales and contributions are way down.  This is the reason for a prudent reserve. 

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.   I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – April 19, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.   I am humbled to be serving as the Chair for District 9.  My prayers and well wishes go out to all of you.  Please keep safe.  All of you are terribly important to me.  I know these are trying times and I also know we will get on the other side of this with the help of our Higher Powers and this program.  We were able to host our Spring Fling Event on March 7^th.  We enjoyed chili, karaoke and a great speaker, Abby.  Thank you to Heather and the Support Your Services committee for all their hard work. As you know, our April Assembly in Boca Raton was cancelled.  Area 15 was able to do so with only an $1,800.00 cancellation fee.  The hotel initially wanted $44,000.00.  Great job there and a big thank you to Lisa D., our Area treasurer. We did go ahead and have our Pre-Conference Agenda items review with our Area 15 officers and our Delegate Shirley.  A big thank you to my District 9 trusted servants also on the call with me.  I received input from some of our groups and was able to relay same to Shirley.  The General Service Conference will be online in June.

Due to the quarantine and virus, NSU is currently closed and we are not able to use their facilities for our April district meeting or for our Old Timers event on May 2.  We are getting a credit for the missed events and it will be reflected on next year’s lease amount.  The officers and I have also gone ahead and cancelled our Founders Day Picnic at Snyder Park.  We are looking to host a virtual Founders Day celebration on Zoom.  More on that as we get closer.  The Assembly in July at the Boca Raton Marriott is still on and the flyer is on our website.  If you are staying at the Boca Raton Marriott, please use the link we sent out and the one on the flyer.  The hotel does not staff in place to take calls.

Unfortunately, the A. A. International Convention in Detroit has been cancelled but the Florida State Convention in Jacksonville is still on.  I know I have registered and am really looking forward to it.  If anything changes on that, we will let know you.

Just a note on Zoom meetings, please be mindful on where you are posting the access codes to our AA meetings.  As we get information for the good of all, we will continue to blast out to all of District 9 trusted servants.  The 2020 Grapevine is free for all to read, www.aagrapevine.org/we-are-here-to-help .

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – February 16, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me be of service.  Happy February to everyone.  If you are new to General Service, a big welcome and glad you are here.

The Final Agenda items for the General Service Conference was received from our Delegate, Shirley P. and we emailed them out to all the trusted servants on our distribution list. Thank you, Jackie. There are copies on the table. This information will be on our website (www.district9aa.org) and on the Area 15 website under Delegate Corner (www.area15aa.org).  When the background material is received, the Officers will split it into sections and pass it on to some Trusted Servants for review. They will then do a short presentation at our March District Meeting. The March District Meeting will be an abbreviated business meeting which means we will only hear a few key verbal reports to allow plenty of time to review the Conference Agenda items. All reports will be included in the minutes. The presentations should concentrate mostly on the items under consideration. We do this so we can be as knowledgeable as possible and provide an educated group conscience of what we want our Delegate to report to the General Service Conference.  In case you are not sure what we are talking about, every year in New York, usually in April, there is an annual meeting  where the delegates from all around the United States and Canada gather to “take actions that will guide the groups in the years to come.”  “The Conference considers matters of policy for A.A. as a whole…”  Some of these Agenda items will become recommendations and are then titled Conference Advisory Actions. They are, in turn, published in the General Service Conference Final Report and later distributed to the members in the form of a booklet. More detailed information on this whole process can be found in your Service Manual in chapter 7, The Annual Conference Meeting.

Please take this information back to your groups for input.  Our Area 15 Delegate, Shirley will be looking for our thoughts on these items at the April Assembly which will be held the first weekend in April at the Boca Raton Marriott.  Shirley will be here in August at our meeting to let us know how it all went in New York and to give her Delegate report.

Welcome to Victor T. who is our new Room and Ride Coordinator. And our next event is Spring Fling on March 7^th and Heather will have more info.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  If you missed anything or want more information for your groups, please visit our website, www.district9aa.org.  Flyers are there as well as all other sorts of info.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

District 9 Chairperson Report – January 19, 2020

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me be of service.  Happy New Year to all and I hope everyone had a great holiday.  The first weekend of the month was our assembly at the Tampa Airport Marriott.  We had 22 votes on Sunday for our District which is a little low but I understand Tampa is not the easiest place to get to and some of us were still on vacation.  The Assembly went well.  There was lively discussion on the Area motions and the Area budget was passed.

We will have elections today for Room and Ride Coordinator which is a Service Activities position and for Gratitude Dinner Chair which is a Special Committee position.  We will follow our Third Legacy procedure from the AA Service Manual.  Our Service Activities Chairs serve for one year with the eligibility to stand for a second year.  Gratitude Dinner Chair serves for one year.  Each person standing will have the opportunity to state their qualifications.  Those voting today are GSRs, DCMs, ACMs, all current Committee Chairs and District Officers.  Alternate GSRs may vote if their GSR is not present.    If you do not understand something, please ask.  Welcome to Debbie C. who is our incoming chair for Carry the Message Day and to Heather M. who is going to complete her second year as Support Your Services Chair.  Also, congrats to Victor T. and Heather M. who both became ACM’s.

I have some notes on upcoming events and some calendar changes and confirmations.  In February, Conference Review Agenda items will be sent out from New York to the fellowship.  These are items that will be discussed at the Annual Conference in April in New York.  Just a side note for any new trusted servants, “the Conference considers matters of policy for A.A. as a whole” (from the Service Manual, page S57) Shirley P., our delegate will carry our voice to New York on these items.  When I get the agenda items, we will email blast them out to you.  Please take them back to your groups for input.  Shirley will be looking for our thoughts on these at the April Assembly which will be held the first weekend in April at the Boca Raton Marriott.  We will be going over the items as a District at our March District meeting.  That meeting is March 15^th.  Shirley will be here in August at our meeting to let us know how it all went in New York.  She will give her Delegate report.  I have been in contact with the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church to secure a date for the 2020 Gratitude Dinner.  This year we will be having our Gratitude Dinner on October 30^th.  This date is not ideal but because the church is celebrating 60 years and has many things planned in November, we were closed out of those dates.  My contact did assure me that next year we are back in early November.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  If you missed anything or want more information for your groups, please visit our website, www.district9aa.org.  Flyers are there as well as all other sorts of info.  We will have some very exciting changes to the website.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me be of service.  Our Winterfest event was last Saturday and I had a great time.  Our own Sharon G. was the speaker and she was awesome.  Thank you, Sharon.  And thank you to Bobby V. for subbing in for Heather.  It was wonderful seeing Archives, Grapevine, Literature, Accessibilities and Website committees in attendance.  District 9 always shines.  It was another successful event.

We will have elections for some of our Service Activities today following our Third Legacy procedure from the AA Service Manual.  Our Service Activities Chairs serve for one year with the eligibility to stand for a second year.  All servants elected will serve beginning in January if they did not stand for their second year of service.  Each person standing will have the opportunity to state their qualifications.  Those voting today are GSRs, DCMs, ACMs, all current Committee Chairs and District Officers.  Alternate GSRs may vote if their GSR is not present.  I will give a brief description of each of the positions up for vote. Those positions open for vote today are Room and Ride Coordinator, Carry the Message Day and Support Your Services.  Just a note there, Heather may stand for her 2^nd year in that position.  If you do not understand something, please ask.  Welcome to Tom M. who stood for Intergroup Liaison and to Allan G. who is now an ACM.  A big thank you to my trusted servants rotating out this month.  They are Tom M. with PI/CPC, Melissa B. with Accessibilities, Judy O. with Literature and Milinda B. with website.

We have finalized the calendar for all Nova  events and Assemblies.  The only date that will most likely change is Gratitude Dinner and I am already emailing Coral Ridge Presbyterian for a definite date.  I also finalized the lease with Nova for next year.  We are also voting on our budget this month for next year.

I hope to see all of my beautiful District 9 servants in Tampa the first weekend of January, 2020.  Flyer and area information such as motions are on our website.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  If you missed anything or want more information for your groups, please visit our website, www.district9aa.org.  Flyers are there as well as all other sorts of info.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for this opportunity to be of service.  Our Gratitude Dinner was held on November 1^st and was a great event.  I   thoroughly enjoyed the food, fellowship and of course a great speaker.  As always our dedicated group of volunteers went above and beyond.  Our next District 9 event is Winterfest.  Planning meetings have started.  Come join us for a chicken dinner, ice cream, ugly sweaters and of course, a great speaker.  The next planning meeting is this Wednesday, November 20^th at Denny’s, 7 pm.

We held elections for some of our Standing Committees and our Service Activities following our Third Legacy procedure from the AA Service Manual last month and will do the same this month.  Our Standing Committee Chairs serve for two year terms and our Service Activities Chairs serve for one year with the eligibility to stand for a second year.  All servants elected will serve beginning in January if they did not stand for their second year of service.  Each person standing will have the opportunity to state their qualifications.  Those voting today are GSRs, DCMs, ACMs, all current Committee Chairs and District Officers.  Alternate GSRs may vote if their GSR is not present.  I will give a brief description of each of the positions up for vote. Those positions open for vote today are Room and Ride Coordinator, Intergroup Liaison, Carry the Message Day and Support Your Services Chair.  Just a note there, Heather may stand for her 2^nd year in that position, also the same for Carry the Message Day Chair.  If you do not understand something, please ask.  Welcome to those trusted servants who stood last month.  It was Jennifer C. for her second year as Institutions Liaison, Steve B. as PICPC Chair, Liz O. as Accessibilities Chair, Victoria R. as Literature Chair and Dave D. as Website Chair.

We are finalizing our calendar for next year and will have it in print in December here at the meeting and online shortly.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  If you missed anything or want more information for your groups, please visit our website, www.district9aa.org.  Flyers are there as well as all other sorts of info.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  We hosted the Area Assembly in Boca Raton the first weekend in October.  I could not be prouder of District 9.  Debbie C. and her committee and all of the volunteers worked so hard and it all went off smoothly.  Awesome job.  I received nothing but thank yous.  We had our Early Timers Event on October 12^th.  Thank you to Jessica C. and the Archives committee.  There were 3 great speakers, Gail, Ron and Fred who shared their experience, strength and hope with us.  Planning meetings have started for Winterfest.  Come join us for a chicken dinner, ice cream, ugly sweaters and of course, a great speaker.  Next planning meeting is this Wednesday, October 23^rd at Denny’s, 7 pm.  The last planning meeting for Gratitude Dinner is October 27^th at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, 1 pm.  Thanks to Judy O. and her committee for all of their hard work.  I am very excited for the dinner and look forward to seeing everyone there.

After the committee reports today, we will hold our elections for some of our Standing Committees and our Service Activities following our Third Legacy procedure from the AA Service Manual.  Our Standing Committee Chairs serve for two year terms and our Service Activities Chairs serve for one year with the eligibility to stand for a second year.  All servants elected today will serve beginning in January if they are not standing for their second year of service.  Each person standing will give the opportunity to state their qualifications.  Those voting today are GSRs, DCMs, ACMs, all current Committee Chairs and District Officers.  Alternate GSRs may vote if their GSR is not present.  I will give a brief description of each of the positions up for vote. If you do not understand something, please ask.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  If you missed anything or want more information for your groups, please visit our website, www.district9aa.org.  Flyers are there as well as all other sorts of info.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me serve as your District 9 chairperson.

Our Spaghetti Dinner Event on Saturday, September 7^th was a great success.  We had a really good turnout.  The food was tasty and filling and the speaker, our very own past trusted servant, John A. was awesome.  He had a powerful message of hope and recovery with lots of service thrown in.  If you missed the Spaghetti Dinner, don’t fret, our next event of food, fellowship and message will be our Winterfest event.  Heather, our Support your Services chair has all of the details.  We are hosting the next Assembly in October right here in Boca Raton at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center.  There are still opportunities to be of service from working registration, being a greeter or taking a shift in hospitality.  The next planning meeting for the Assembly is September 17^th.   More from Debbie, our Assembly chair in her report.  Planning is still going strong for the 2019 Gratitude Dinner.  Thank you to Judy O. and her committee.  Their next planning meeting is September 29^th at the Pompano Beach Group at 1:00 pm.  Jessica C. and the Archives committee are busy planning for the Early Timer’s Event to be held October 12^th and the planning meeting for this event is Saturday, September 28^th at the 441 Group at 2:00 pm.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service and as you can see there is something for everyone. All of these events and planning meetings are on our website, www.district9aa.org.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me serve as your District 9 chairperson.

We have a special treat today as our Delegate, Shirley P. is here to give her report on the General Service Conference that was held in May.  And a big thank you to Shirley for taking the time to keep us all well informed and for representing our District and Area.  It’s a big job.  I am very excited to hear her report.  Last Saturday was our Carry the Message Day event here at Nova.  A big Thank you to Victor for a successful event.  The speakers for District were our very own Jackie S.  who gave us much inspiration and John A., a past district chair.  Thank you to all of the committee chairs who showed up and represented our District.  We are hosting our next Assembly in October right here in Boca Raton at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center.  There are still opportunities to be of service from working registration, being a greeter or taking a shift in hospitality.  The next planning meeting for the Assembly is August 20^th.   More from Debbie, our Assembly chair in her report.  Heather and the Support Your Services committee are going full force for the Spaghetti dinner and I would love to see all of us there in service for that event which is next month, September 7^th.  The next planning meeting is August 21^st at Denny’s.  Heather will have more.  Planning is still going strong for the 2019 Gratitude Dinner.  Thank you to Judy O. and her committee.  Their next planning meeting is August 25^th at the Sober Today Club. Jessica C. and the Archives committee are busy planning for the Early Timer’s Event to be held in October and the planning meeting for this event is Saturday, August 24^th at the 441 Group.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service and as you can see there is something for everyone. All of these events and planning meetings are on our website, www.district9aa.org.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me serve as your District 9 chairperson.

It was great seeing so many District 9 trusted servants in Tampa.  We had a total vote of 26 which is good since Tampa is not the easiest to get to.  We had a great Assembly.  And remember, we are hosting our next Assembly in October right here in Boca Raton at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center.  There are many opportunities to be of service from working registration, being a greeter, taking a shift in hospitality.  The next planning meeting for the Assembly is August 20^th.   More from Debbie, our Assembly chair in her report.  Heather and the Support Your Services committee have started planning meetings for the Spaghetti dinner and I would love to see all of us there in service for that event.  Next planning meeting is July 24^th at Denny’s.  Heather will have more in her report.  Planning is still going strong for the 2019 Gratitude Dinner.  Thank you to Judy O. and her committee.  Their next planning meeting is July 28^th at the 441 Group.   And don’t forget, August 10^th is our Carry the Message Day event right here at Nova.  Victor will give us the details in his report.

One last event to mention is the 63^rd Florida State Convention right here in our own backyard at the Trump Doral in Miami from Wednesday, July 31^st to Sunday, August 4^th.   It is a not to be missed event with lots of fun, lots of fellowship and lots of great messages.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service and as you can see there is something for everyone. All of these events and planning meetings are on our website, www.district9aa.org.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me serve as your District 9 chairperson.

We had our Founder’s Day picnic on June 9^th at Snyder Park.  There was a great turn out with lots of good food, great music and a wonderful meeting.  Our speaker Pat R. gave a great talk on the history of AA.  I learned a few things I didn’t know and had a really great time.  Thank you, Heather and all of the volunteers for a successful event.  It takes people to make these events run smoothly.  Heather will be gearing up for the Spaghetti dinner and I would love to see all of us there in service for that event.  I know I always say it is fun to do service, the truth is “it’s fun to do service.”  Planning is still going strong for the 2019 Gratitude Dinner.  Thank you to Judy O. and her committee.  Please be sure to come to the next planning meeting on June 30^th at the Fourth Dimension Club.  There are plenty of service opportunities.  We are also underway with planning meetings for the October Assembly in Boca Raton.  Debbie C. will have more information and that meeting will be this Tuesday, June 18^th.  Again, more service chances.

Friday, July 5^th through Sunday, July 7^th is the Area 15 General Service Assembly at the Tampa Airport Marriott.  Shirley P., our delegate will be reporting on the General Service Conference she attended in May in New York.

One last event to mention is the 63^rd Florida State Convention to be held in our own backyard at the Trump Doral in Miami from Wednesday, July 31^st to Sunday, August 4^th.  They need plenty of volunteers.  Sign up on line https://63.floridastateconvention.com/ .  It is a not to be missed event with lots of fun, lots of fellowship and lots of great messages.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service and as you can see there is something for everyone. All of these events and planning meetings are on our website, www.district9aa.org.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me serve as your District 9 chairperson.

On May 4^th, Jessica C. and the Archives Committee put on their annual Old Timers meeting.  This event featured 3 speakers, Kass C., Thomas F., and Fred S. who all have at least 35 years of sobriety or more and it was truly inspirational and just a great meeting.  It was a nice turnout and I would love to see all of my District 9 trusted servants at all of these events or as many as you can make.  We need each other and we need to show each other that we support all that we do in the District.  Heather M., our Support Your Services chair, is busy planning our next Support Your Services event, the Founders Day picnic on June 9^th.  There are service opportunities available for the picnic.  The next planning meeting is this Wednesday at Denny’s.  Come celebrate AA’s birthday with us.  The funds we take in from our Support Your Services events helps to send our DCM’s, ACM’s and committee chairs to the quarterly assemblies.  So, I expect us all to sell tickets and get the word out about these events.  Planning is going strong for the 2019 Gratitude Dinner.  Thank you to Judy O. and her committee.  Please be sure to come to our next planning meeting on May 26^th at the Lambda Club South. We are also underway with planning meetings for the October Assembly in Boca Raton.  Debbie C. will have more information and that meeting will be this Tuesday, May 21^st.

One last event to mention is the 63^rd Florida State Convention to be held in our own backyard at the Trump Doral in Miami from Wednesday, July 31^st to Sunday, August 4^th.  They need plenty of volunteers.  Sign up on line https://63.floridastateconvention.com/ or on the sign up sheet and we will get you hooked up.  It is a not to be missed event with lots of fun, lots of fellowship and lots of great messages.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service and as you can see there is something for everyone. All of these events and planning meetings are on our website, www.district9aa.org.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me serve as your District 9 chairperson.

Last weekend was our Assembly at the Boca Raton Marriott, hosted by Districts 6 and 7.   We had 41 votes at the Sunday business meeting, way to go District 9.   We had one Area motion to increase the budget for ASL interpreter services and it passed.  We had abbreviated reports from District chairs and committee chairs and then Conference Agenda Review Items.

We have been busy here in District 9 and there is something for everyone.  Jessica C. and the Archives Committee are busy planning the Old Timers event to be held May 4^th.  This event features 3 speakers with at least 35 years of sobriety and it is always inspirational.  Planning is also underway for the 2019 Gratitude Dinner.  Thank you to Judy O. and her committee.  Please be sure to come to our next planning meeting on April 28^th at the Twelve Step House.  Heather M., our Support Your Services chair, has started planning for our next Support Your Services event, the Founders Day picnic on June 9^th.  The first planning meeting was this last Wednesday and the next one will be on the 24^th.  Come celebrate AA’s birthday with us.  We are also underway with planning meetings for the October Assembly in Boca Raton.  Debbie C. will have more information and that meeting will be this Tuesday, April 16^th.

One last event to mention is the 63^rd Florida State Convention to be held in our own backyard at the Trump Doral in Miami from Wednesday, July 31^st to Sunday, August 4^th.  They need plenty of volunteers.  Sign up on line https://63.floridastateconvention.com/ or on the sign up sheet and we will get you hooked up.  It is a not to be missed event with lots of fun, lots of fellowship and lots of great messages.

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service and as you can see there is something for everyone.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  Thank you for letting me serve as your District 9 chairperson. 

Our next Assembly will be at the Boca Raton Marriott, April 5^th through 7^th  which is right around the corner.  If you need to give up a room, please be sure to cancel through so that another trusted servant can get in at the group rate because there is still a waiting list.  Flyers for the Assembly are on the website.  Today we will be having an abbreviated Agenda where we only hear from some of our committees so that we can go over the General Service Conference Agenda items in preparation for our Delegate’s review at the Assembly in Boca Raton.  It is important to understand the items being discussed so that we can tell our Delegate our group conscience at the Business Meeting on Sunday, April 7th. Just a reminder, the 2019 General Service Conference Committee Agenda Items are on the password protected part of the website. Please know that all Committee reports will go in the Minutes so please be sure to get them in to our Secretary, Jackie.

I attended our Spring Fling Chili Cook Off Dinner with karaoke and speaker meeting and all I can say is I had a blast.  Thank you, Heather for a successful first event.  The chili was great, the turnout was awesome and it was all followed by a wonderful speaker.  A very big thank you to the following committees, Website, Archives, Grapevine, PI/CPC, Literature and Accessibility for bringing their displays.  It was a great show of team work and that we support each other in this wonderful journey of service and sobriety.  Plans are under way for Founders Day picnic so please stay tuned.  We will be having our first planning meeting for the October Assembly this Tuesday, March 19  and Debbie C. has all of those details. The first Gratitude Dinner planning meeting will be March 31st at the 101 Club at 1:00pm so come get on the Committee of your choice and help pick the theme of the Gratitude Dinner. More from Judy.  And Archives Old Timers Event will be May 4th and I am sure there are service opportunities there and Jessica has more on that. 

To any new trusted servants here today, welcome and please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service and as you can see there is something for everyone.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .

I am an alcoholic, member of the Live Laugh Love group, my sobriety date is July 13^th, 2008 and my name is Leslie.  I am so honored to be serving as your District 9 chairperson.   Congratulations to our new chairs elected at the January meeting.

Our next Assembly will be at the Boca Raton Marriott, April 5^th through 7^th.  Flyers on the website.  Our Delegate, Shirley P. sent out the 2019 General Service Conference Committee Agenda Items and they are on the website.  (shout out to Milinda and her website committee, everything for the district and about the district is on the website).  As soon as the background material is available, I will send out to those members who are presenting and we will go over the items at our district meeting.  Please bring these agenda items back to your groups for discussion so we can better advise our Delegate, Shirley at the April Assembly.

Our next event for Support Your Services is the Spring Fling Chili Cook Off and Dinner with karaoke and speaker meeting.  The dinner is March 2^nd and planning meetings are wrapping up.  I attended the planning meeting this last Wednesday and it was very well attended. Don’t miss out on the fun.  The last planning meeting is February 27^th.  This is an excellent way to give back by doing service and you most definitely will have fun.  Heather will give us more details in her report.

I have been in contact with Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church for our annual Gratitude Dinner and we have the date of November 1^st for the dinner.  They have penciled us in for that date and those planning meetings will begin soon. Judy O. will fill us in.  And as a side note, the 2018 Gratitude Dinner contribution was sent to the General Service Office this past week.  That check was in the amount of $3,284.28.

To any new trusted servants here today, please take this opportunity to get involved in any of our committees.  They need the help and we all need the service.

I am very grateful to everyone at District 9 who go above and beyond when it comes to service.  I can’t do any of this on my own.  I need everyone here, a reliance on a Power greater than myself and the love in these rooms.  And remember that the sun always shines in District 9.  In love and service, Leslie B. District 9 Chair.

If there are any questions, comments or you just want to say hi, my email is .