District 14 met on 14 March at the Honesty Group in Collinsville. There were 18 GSR's and guests in attendance. The 18 April meeting will be hosted by the Collinsville Honesty Group at the St Johns Church of Christ on Clay & Seminary. The time for all GSR Meetings remains the same at 1 pm. See you there…..

IN MEMORIAM

BILL ABBOTT

A LONG TIME MEMBER OF THE ST HENRY'S BOOK CLUB GROUP

LEAVING US WITH 21 YEARS OF SOBRIETY

NOTES FROM THE MEETING:

Grapevine (Gene E. – 277-9730): The website for the Grapevine is: www.aagrapevine.org and it is a great site. Many things can be ordered via this site. One of the best is a selection of stories printed in the Grapevine over the past 60 years.

PI/LIT (Chuck G. – 337-5327 ): On the 22 nd of April 2004, there will be a seminar with a focus on Suicide Prevention at St Elizabeth's Hospital Centennial Room. Sue S. has volunteered to go and speak. She will be a member of AA and will not represent AA. Much discussion on this item.

Corrections (Doug T. – 337-8451): Meetings at SWICC are going great. Attendance has grown from 6 inmates to about 15-20. A need for more literature was expressed to include Spanish version of the Big Book. All will be ordered. If you have old Grapevines, please pass them on to Doug. Give him a call.

Answering Service (Maggie E. – 398-7012 ): Apparently the cost has risen from $60 a month to $64 a month. Terry S. (District Treasurer) will check into this further. There was a need expressed for an updated contact list. A list was passed around at the meeting with a considerable number of names added to it.

Where & When (Gene E. – 277-9730): A combined W&W for Dist's 14 & 18 is posted on Districts 14's website. The folks that publish the W&W for the St Louis Metro Area are interested in putting Districts 14 & 18 into it. A lot of discussion on this item. More later on this item….

Corned Beef & Cabbage was exceptionally well attended. Estimated attendance was 350-400 people. A fantastic job was done by all the people who made it a success. Much thanks to them.

The Coffee Pot Gro up in Shiloh is now a NO SMOKING meeting. Attendance has gone up.

Public Service Announcement (PSA) was drafted/created by Don F. Two versions were passed around for the GSR's to examine. One was decided upon and Don will contact the Belleville News-Democrat for submission and entering into the paper.

The Fellowship Group of Sparta now meets at 215 West Jackson in Sparta on Thursday at 8 pm.

After a brief discussion, Terry S. will attempt to reserve the Cathedral Grade School for the 2005 Corned Beef and Cabbage on 12 March 2005. More later…..

The 623 Group is considering serious renovations to their building according to Paula E. (GSR). The final plans must be brought before the board to be discussed. More later….

There is a new meeting in Shiloh at the United Methodist Church on Saturday at 6 pm. They even have a potluck on the last Saturday of each month with a speaker. The group has not selected a name nor a GSR. More later…..

According to Sue S., the Monday night meeting at the St Clair County Jail is doing really great. More women are always needed to help. A great way to do service work. Give her a call at

398-3648 if you believe you would like to help.

The email address for the St Louis Intergroup is: www.aastl.org I tried it and it worked. Appears to be a very good site.

Debra B. (346-1603) is the new GSR for the Collinsville New Life Group.

UPCOMING EVENTS :

A Big Book Weekend presented by The Early Ducks Group will be held on 19-21 Mar 2004 at the St Anthony's Medical Center, Hyland Center Bldg in St Louis Missouri. Call 314-707-7956 for more info.

The 23 rd Southern Illinois Area Spring Conference will be held from 26-28 March 2004 in Peoria

at the Holiday Inn. A banquet and “pre-registration” will be held on 26 March 2004. Call 309-674-2500 for reservations. The reservations must be made by 25 Feb 2004 --- NO EXCEPTIONS. For info, call Mike W. at 309-579-3748.

There will be a potluck dinner and speaker meeting at the Sparta 212 Group on 28 Mar 2004. Eating will commence promptly at 1 pm and the speaker will begin at 2 pm. The speaker will be Kevin from Perryville MO.

The 28 th Annual Springtime in the Ozarks Convention will be held 15-18 Apr 2004 at the Inn of the Ozarks in Eureka Springs Arkansas. Call Butch B. for more info at 479-253-5758 or 479-253-2976.

The 7 th Annual Little Egypt Roundup will be held in Anna Illinois from 30 Apr to 2 May 2004. For more info, Call Denny M. at 618-643-2200 or Mike Mc. at 618-993-4086.

June 2004 Area Assembly : District 14 is the host. The site is the Shrine. Funds have been allotted to reserve the site. The date is 6 June 2004. Chris C. & Maggie E. are working the flyers. Arrangements are being made to have a meeting at the Shrine on 5 June at 8 pm.

The 4 th Annual Midwest Motorcycle AA Convent ion will be held from 11-13 June 2004 in Pearl City Illinois at the Emerald Acres Campground. For more info, call Jodi S. (815) 703-6071, or Tom S. (815) 623-5329 or Jim B. (815) 398-9001 or Chopper Dave (815) 703-4109.

The 31 st Illinois State Conference will be held 6-8 August 2004 in Tinley Park Illinois at the Holiday Inn Select. Call 708-444-1100 for reservations. For more info, Call Debbie Y. at 815-538-1920 or Ginny L. at 815-722-3823 or Don K. at 815-254-8741 for details.

The 25 th East Central R egional Conference and the 51 st Indiana State Convention will be held concurrently from 13-15 Aug 2004 in Indianapolis IN at the Adams Mark Hotel and Conference Center (airport location). For more info, call Janice T. (317-823-4183) or Dorothy W. (317-784-2092) or Bruce J. (317-951-9589).

The September 2004 Area Assembly will be held in Tilton IL on 12 Sep 2004. District 9 is the host. The site is the Tilton Community Center on 201 West Fifth St. Call Margaret M. at 217-446-6499 for more info.

BIRTHDA YS: (Birthdays will only be entered if they occur before or on the date of the GSR Meeting; otherwise, they will be entered in the next Booze News)

623 Group: JD – 13 yrs, Ron F. – 12 yrs, Gordon – 6 mos, Kris B., Ashley, Jeanette G., David – 30 days.

Cahokia Serenity Group: Reggie McN. – 13 yrs.

Collinsville Honesty Group : Roger E. – 23 yrs, Bob F. – 7 yrs, Terri P. – 30 days.

Dr. Bobs Group : Ed B. – 20 yrs, Bruce P. – 3 yrs.

East St Louis 12x12 Group : Bernice V. – 13 yrs, Reggie J., Ann R., Malcolm P. – 12 yrs, Thurman G. – 8 yrs, Larry J. – 4 yrs, Ruby D., Bill T. – 2 yrs.

Kings House Group: Gale H. – 5 yrs.

O ' Fallon Trailer Group : Virgil L. – 33 yrs, Randy – 30 yrs, Dave – 20 yrs, Rob H. – 18 yrs, Larry McC. – 17 yrs, Sue S. – 15 yrs, Michael B. – 14 yrs, Debbie B. – 12 yrs, Steve B. – 11 yrs, Tom S. – 10 yrs, Mark K. – 9 yrs , Curt R. – 8 yrs, Melissa B. – 7 yrs, Barney L. – 6 yrs, Tim H., Mike S., Lex W. – 5 yrs, Larry T., Mike B., Matthew L. – 4 yrs, Chris J., Shane P. – 3 yrs, Julie J., Darah F., Jeff F., Lorie J., Terry, Nick D. – 2 yrs, Cindy B., John A., Bob B. – 1 yr, Travis – 6 mos, Amy, Bobby, Corey, Dallas, Lance, LeeAnn, Lynn W. – 30 days.

Recovery-In-Brooklyn : Ann R. – 14 yrs, Frank D. – 2 yrs, Randall B. – 30 days.

Sparta 212 Group : Allan K. – 21 yrs, Bill R. – 19 yrs, Phyllis F. – 17 yrs, Charlie W. – 15 yrs, Larry S. – 13 yrs, Eddie H., Betty A. – 5 yrs, Larry H. – 2 yrs.

Shiloh Coffee Pot Group: Carole E. – 11 yrs, Jonathan W. – 6 yrs.

St Henry ' s Book Club Group: Dan W. – 1 yr.

Wades Square Group: Flo L. – 28 y rs.

Waterloo Group: Louise G. – 23 yrs , Greg P. – 8 yrs, Bob T. – 1 yr.

Rule 62 Corner:

Rule 62, Part 155: God beat me to the Earth with alcohol and only then did I contemplate his existence. Courtesy of Dale W. Coulterville IL.

Rule 62, Part 156: For a free refill on your serenity, go to an AA meeting --- anywhere. Courtesy of Gene E. Belleville IL.

Rule 62, Part 157: A.C.T.I.O.N. - A ny C hange T o I mprove O ur N ature. Courtesy of Don M. Olive Branch IL.

Rule 62, Part 158: I've learned that most of the things I worry about never happen. Courtesy of Don M. Olive Branch IL.

Rule 62, Part 159: Those who bring happiness to the lives of others cannot keep it for themselves.

Courtesy of Don M. Olive Branch IL.

Rule 62, Part 160: The only thing we can take with us when we leave this world is what we gave away. Courtesy of Don M. Olive Branch IL.

Rule 62, Part 161: Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it. Courtesy of Don M. Olive Branch IL.

Rule 62, Part 162:

"God Speaks"

Tell the kids I love them - God

Let's meet at my house Sunday before the game -God

C'mon over and bring the kids - God

What part of "Thou Shalt Not...." didn't you understand? -God

We need to talk - God

Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer. – God

Loved the wedding, invite me to the marriage. –God

That "Love Thy Neighbor" thing...I meant it. – God

I love you and you and you and you and...-God

Will the road you're on get you to my place? –God

Follow me. -God

Big bang theory, you've got to be kidding. –God

My way is the highway. –God

Need directions? –God

You think it's hot here? –God

Have you read my #1 best seller? There will be a test. -God

Do you have any idea where you're going? –God

Don't make me come down there. –God

Courtesy of Tom S. Belleville IL

Rule 62, Part 163: I don't suffer from stress. I am a carrier. Courtesy of Maggie E. Belleville IL

Rule 62, Part 164: Decisions made while fearful and or angry are almost always bad decisions.   Courtesy of Don M. Oliv e Branch IL.

Editor: Gene E. (277- 9730)