Good afternoon District 9, I am an alcoholic, I’m a member of the Lunch Bunch Group, my sobriety date is February 26th, 2009, and my name is Sherri.
Welcome to District 9’s monthly General Service Business Meeting. If you are new and not yet on our mailing list, please check the chat for a link to today’s agenda so you can follow along. I would like to begin by officially welcoming this year’s newly elected officer and chairpersons beginning with Al C., your new Treasurer, your new GSR Workshop Coordinator Steve B., your new Institutions Liaison Matthew A., your new Archives Chair John S. and your new Founders’ Day Picnic chair Bobby V. Thank you all for your willingness to serve.
Now, how about that 12 hour business meeting last weekend?!?! Even though we did not meet in person we had great support at the virtual Assembly, with 29 voting members present and many nonvoting members there as well supporting us. If you are a GSR who wanted to be there but just couldn’t for whatever reason or had to leave before it ended, get in touch with your ADCM or DCM and ask them for updates to the Motions so you can bring the results back to your group and they can be informed.
If you were present, then you know that Motion D passed as it was amended to read:
“That an Ad Hoc Committee be formed by Area 15 to review options to enable Area 15 Business Meetings, Conference Agenda Review assemblies and Area 15 Delegate and Officer election assemblies, to include a virtual conferencing technology component in conjunction with the in-person attendance. The Committee should include individuals’ members in Area 15 with an interest and experience in virtual conferencing technology. Composition to include a chairman and four other members: one member from the Area Quarterly Coordinator Committee, one DCM and two GSR’s. An Area 15 officer of the Area Committee may be selected as an ex-officio member. The Ad Hoc Committee Chair shall be appointed by the Area Chair, and the other members shall be chosen by the Committee Chair and Area Chair. The committee will begin work immediately. Any recommendations would be brought to the Area 15 entire voting body for consideration. The Committee may meet for up to twelve months. The Ad Hoc Committee meetings will utilize conferencing technology so there should not be a monetary impact on the Area.” Lisa your Area 15 Chair has asked me to remind you all that this committee needs a Chair, 1 DCM and 2 GSR’s to serve. Please email, call, or text me if you are interested in serving, I will then pass on our list to the Area for consideration.
The preliminary conference agenda items that were sent out a couple of weeks ago, for this year’s General Service Conference, are just that, preliminary. The agenda may very well change once the trustees meet at the end of January. The final agenda will be out in a couple of weeks and then shortly after that the background material will be sent and then we will have some of our trusted servants review the material and present to you a clearer understanding of what most of the items are about at our March District Business Meeting. There will be no GSR Workshop in March, and the Business Meeting will be abbreviated, meaning we will hear verbal reports from very few committees if any, the rest will appear in full in our minutes. This will ensure that you’re all well rested and that there be plenty of time for presentations.
April’s Assembly dates are the 8th – 10th at the Boca Town Center Marriott. The flyer was emailed out with this meeting reminder and is also posted on the Area 15 website. I’m sure Debbie has also put it in the chat. Please go ahead and reserve your rooms. You can also purchase your banquet tickets as District 8 is accepting Venmo payments, all the information is on the flyer. It’s very important that you attend, and really easy as it’s right next door to us. April is where our Delegate is going to be asking for our group conscience on how he should represent us at the conference concerning the conference agenda items we will be going over.
Your General Service Office has changed their 7th Tradition contributions address. Your check and MO contributions should be made out to “General Service Board” and mailed to the new address: PO Box 2407 James A Farley Station New York, NY 10116-2407. It’s on your agenda under
Announcements. Please let your group treasurers know and help spread the word to all the groups you attend. Our calendar for this year was also sent out with the business meeting reminder and can also be found on our website. Mark your calendars early for district meetings, assemblies, and for Founder’s Day June 5th, all other events are marked as “to be determined” until we know more as we get
closer to them, restrictions loosen, and venues begin to open for us. Our main priority along with our site selection committee is finding a place to meet in person if that is how the body decides. Next month we will launch a poll at our District meeting asking simply if you are ready to meet in person if we find an appropriate meeting space.
We have a motion on the floor today to vote on, which was presented last month from the Current Practice Committee.
We will also be conducting elections for General Service Representatives and Alternate District Committee Members if there are any, that have completed their two-year term and are ready to rotate down the service triangle, as well as elections for: Literature Chair, Intergroup Liaison, Room & Ride Coordinator, and Carry the Message Day Chair. A summary of the process along with descriptions and requirements will be put in the chat. If you are willing, meet the requirements, and have the time to serve one of these committees, we urge you to stand. Remember, God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
January is also when we normally hold our Gratitude Dinner Chair Election, but since Heather was installed and as a District we chose to postpone the last 2 years, she is still our Dinner Chair. With that being said, I had emailed Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, inquiring if we would be able to host our dinner there this year with more attendees than we would have been able to have last year and was told that the church is renovating and remodeling Fellowship Hall and other areas on campus beginning June of this year until sometime in 2023. That means no church this year. We will hear more from Heather and her committee next month.
This year’s, 65th Florida State Convention, right in our backyard at the Harbor Beach Marriott on Ft Lauderdale Beach will be from August 3rd – 7th 2022 and they need our support. Early registrations help make a fun-filled convention! There are also 32 committees that need both individual and group volunteers. You can register at: 65.floridastateconvention.com.
Please don’t hesitate to send your Questions, comments, or concerns to me at: chairperson@district9aa.org. You can also call or text me at: (954) 681-2309, I am here to serve you.
Lastly, I want to wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy, beautiful New Year. I’m so grateful to be serving District 9, where A.A. is so Divine. Thank you