Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page

lowering the three flags adorning its Montreal headquarters to half-staff for

the duration of the convention.

Ernest Kurtz wrote: "Overall, the centrality of A.A.'s own story suffused the

whole convention and became permanently enshrined in the 'Family Album and

Souvenir,' Fifty Years With Gratitude, which in its reproduction of over a

hundred newspaper clippings and old photographs recalled their history to

A.A.s and A.A.s to their history."

Sources:

"Grateful to Have Been There," by Nell Wing.

Shortly after I originally posted this I received this message from Ruth

Hock's daughter:

"Just read the posting - what a wonderful memory of that convention!! It was

my first, and I went with my mother, Ruth Hock Crecelius. She could hardly

believe how large our fellowship had grown, and had just begun to "accept"

what her role in it's survival meant to us all. I had about 9 years in the

fellowship then.

Thought I'd add a couple of cute things about that convention that you all

probably didn't know:

I asked her that night what went through her mind as she accepted the book and

watched those thousands of people give her a standing ovation, Her reply was:

"I looked up and asked 'What do you think of this Willie?'"

Also, the 5 millionth copy of the Big Book was NOT given to her that night.

Everyone was up on the stage and suddenly someone remembered that the book had

not been returned from the binders (special leather cover). A representative

"snuck" (almost literally) from the stage to find a book.

Someone in the crowd (of course) had a Big Book with them, which was promptly

borrowed for the presentation!! Mom thought it was quite funny and typical of

the resources we alcoholics have! That book was signed by Mom and

returned to its owner. She got the leather bound volume soon after returning

to Ohio. It is currently in my home - a wonderful memory of her legacy to me

and all alcoholics!

Sybil C. was the speaker that night - I have wonderful memories of her family

and Bob Smith's during the meeting - each of us crying as his/her family

member was introduced and gave a talk. As Bob Corwin so profoundly put it in

a letter to me later: "we proudly sat in humility row basking in reflected

glory"! What a wonderful time in my recovering life in AA.

Thanks for all you do in helping keep our history alive!

Laurie L.

__________

A.A. International Convention, Seattle, 1990.

The ninth AA International Convention was held in Seattle, in 1990. This

convention drew 48,000 people from 75 countries. Dr. Bob's son and daughter,

Bob Smith and Sue Windows, and Bob's wife Betty were all in attendance.

It began, as had become the custom, with the Friday night flag ceremony. Nell

Wing, Bill's secretary and later AA archivist, wrote that: "The hall really

let go when the Soviet, Bulgarian, and Romanian flags were carried to the

front of the platform."

Nell told an interest anecdote about herself: "It was also a homecoming of

sorts for me. I had spent 1944-46 in Seattle (the 13th naval district) as a

member of SPARS, the Women's Coast Guard Reserve, In the basement of the

Olympic Hotel (now affiliated with the Four Seasons chain) there was a large

bar and dining room which we called the "snake pit" and where many of us,

along with the Coast Guard and Navy guys, did a bit of off-duty drinking. One

night I got involved in an all-night drinking spree and next morning, up

before my executive officer, was 'awarded' a captain's mast and sentenced to a

brief confinement in my quarters (the 'brig' was full). I was allowed out once

a day, accompanied by a shore patrol.

"Now, 44 years later, here I was in Seattle again and the recipient of the 10

millionth copy of the Big Book. No words can adequately express my deep

gratitude to this beloved Fellowship and my cherished friends therein."

So now we have some insight into why Nell Wing, who was not an alcoholic,

could be so comfortable with and dedicated to the many members of AA.

Source;

__________

A.A. International Convention, San Diego, 1995.

The 10th A.A. International Convention was held in San Diego in 1995. I could

find little written about it, but got this, if my memory serves me, from Tex

Brown whom I met at the International Convention in Minneapolis in 2000.

The Oldtimers Meeting At San Diego

The crowd was chanting, "Ruth... Ruth... Ruth..." This chant will probably

become the way the International Convention in San Diego will be remembered.

Forty-three years sober, Ruth O 'N., from New York City was the first of

fifteen speakers chosen at random (to place principles before personalities)

from the one hundred and twenty-two Oldtimers with forty years or more

sobriety (a total of 5318 years) who were present at the Saturday night

Oldtimers Meeting at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Ruth was delightful, and had completely won the hearts of the crowd of 42,000

by the time her allotted five minutes were up. They wanted her to finish even

if it took all night. [She kept on talking for a very long time.]

It became the background chant between each of the fourteen remaining speakers

(and in one case, during). The chant "Ruth, Ruth...." caught on and it was

being heard Sunday morning and later in the week at meetings in San Diego as a

celebration of A. A. itself.

The loving acceptance of the oldtimers by a much younger crowd, while lauding

their individual sobriety, was at a deeper level a celebration of the force

and power of the A.A. program that had kept them sober for as much as

fifty-five years. The Steps, written in December 1938 when there were less

than one hundred men (and no women, yet) who were sober, proved to be exactly

what was needed by all of us to get sober, and most importantly to stay sober.

In the next fifty-seven years many people have attempted to make changes in

them. There were proposals to add things to and proposals to take things out

of the Steps, but none of them worked. The oldtimers assembled in front of the

podium were the living proof that the 12 Steps to the A.A. way of life was

exactly what they (and we) needed.

How does this way of life work in the long run? I would like to tell you one

oldtimer's story. Shep became a member of the Glenbard Group about 1950. The

old Glenbard Group covered all of what is now District 40 and part of District

61. Starting out as an atheist, Shep was sober from the very start and

gradually became a pillar of the group. After about 20 years of good sobriety,

Shep fell victim to a severe form of Alzheimer's disease. He became helpless

and was

placed in a nursing home. It was the custom of this facility to have a

residents were then rewarded for their good behavior with a glass of wine. It

was the high point of the week.

Shep would not drink the wine. He didn't know where he was or what he was

doing there. He didn't even know his own name. He did not know why, but he did

know that he did not drink. Everything else was gone, but Shep still knew how

to stay sober. Can you imagine a deeper and more fundamental change in the

personality than this?

Many thought the Oldtimer's Meeting the high point of the Convention, a

demonstration that all of us can successfully live our entire lives as sober,

happy and fulfilled members of Alcoholics Anonymous.

P.S.

Past experience with A. A.'s amazing ability to consume vast quantities of

coffee was duly noted by the planners of this International Convention. They

did not run out of coffee, but the San Diego ATM's ran out of money!

(From the Fall, 1995 issue of N. I. A. Concepts, Area 20 Service Letter)

__________

A.A. International Convention, Minneapolis, 2000.

The theme of the International Convention of Alcoholics

Anonymous was Pass It On into the 21st Century.

According to Valerie, the Convention coordinator at GSO, 48,000

people attended the convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota

between June 29-July 2, 2000.

The Minneapolis Convention Center housed registration,

hospitality, Archives displays, and meeting rooms. Big Meetings

of all those who attended where held in the Hubert H. Humphrey

Metrodome under 10 acres of Teflon-coated fiberglass held up

only by air like a giant balloon. These meetings included the

kick-off ceremony on Friday night, the Old Timers Meeting on

Saturday night, and the closing (Spiritual Meeting) on Sunday.

Minneapolis has air conditioned SKYWAYS, a unique 5 mile system

of elevated walkways going from building to building that

connects most of the downtown area and downtown convention

hotels. But most convention members Walked the Walk to the

Metrodome each day. A special Big Book Blue Line was painted

onto the sidewalks of Minneapolis from the Convention Center to

Metrodome stadium. Like most things in A.A., none of us had to

walk-the-walk alone. Volunteers from the Host Committee were

strung along the entire route to guide us along and cheer us on.

After the Big Meetings in the Metrodome, we were able to

Dance-the-Dance in the Dome on Friday and Saturday nights.

I flew to Minneapolis on Thursday, June 29. My plane left from

the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport in Pennsylvania. When I went

to catch my connecting flight in Pittsburgh, the long line of

people waiting to board looked, somehow, like A.A. members. Why

did I think so? Because they all looked happy and cheerful and

excited, not a bit bored or irritable like many travelers.

When I walked up to the end of the line I said "This looks like

a bunch of drunks." The howls of laughter which greeted my

remark made me feel that I was immediately in the right place. I

got smiles, and hand shakes, and yes even hugs. I was

immediately at home with a group of people I had never laid eyes

on before. And that is the way it was for the next four days. I

met no strangers, only good friends I had not previously met.

After checking into the Radisson Hotel in downtown Minneapolis,

I went immediately to the Convention Center to register,

traveling there on one of the shuffle buses which had been

arranged to take us back and forth during the convention.

Getting into the convention center to register took a bit of

time. One could not get through the door without shaking hands

with the official greeters. Their enthusiasm never died. They

were shaking hands after the closing meeting as if it was the

first day of the convention.

Friday morning meetings were held on: Young, Sober and

Responsible; Pioneers in A.A.; Peace and Serenity; Progress

Through Pain; AA and Treatment Facilities; Let's be Friendly

with Our Friends; Is AA Reaching Minorities?; Tolerance and

Trust; Let It Begin With Me; First things First; Courage to

Change; Letting Go of Old Ideas; Fear

as a Stepping Stone; AA Meeting in Japanese; Ego Deflation in

Depth; The Joy of Living; A.A. and the Clergy;

AA/All-Anon/Alateen Meetings; Doctors in AA; Carrying the

Message into Correctional Facilities; General Service: AA

Politics?; Faith in Action; Pacific U.S. Regional - Meet Your AA

Neighbors; Feliz, Alegre y Sobrio; AA Around the World Call Up -

I; Partners in A.A.; At the Turning Point; Le Language du Coeur;

Sobriety is Progressive Too; Victory in Defeat; One Day at a

Time; A New Freedom; How It Works; Easy Does It - But Do It;

Freedom Through acceptance; Emotional Sobriety; Let Go and Let

God; AA Meeting in Japanese; Gratitudine in Azione; Freunde in

Aller Welt; There is a Solution; Sober Awhile - Now What;

Carrying the Message Through Public Information; AA Grapevine:

Our Meeting in Print; Southeast U.S. regional - Meet Your AA

Neighbors; Working With Others; Time to Start Living; una Neuva

Libertad; Reaching the Alcoholic with Special Needs.

Because of my interest in AA history I chose "Pioneers in AA."

Bob P. chaired the meeting. He was at one time the head of GSO.

His story is the last one in the Big Book: "AA Taught Him to

Handle Sobriety."

Bob told us he had an extremely serious operation 18 months ago.

He was not expected to live. The doctors told his wife that his

survival was a miracle and that it was because of his great

attitude. The doctors asked his wife where he got that great

attitude. We know the answer to that.

He told us that at the 1985 convention in Montreal, he was

supposed to present Ruth Hock (Bill's first secretary who typed

the Big Book) with the five-millionth copy of the book. He

discovered he did not have it with him. So they looked all over

for a Big Book to borrow. They finally found one and he

presented it to her with the assurance she would get the real

one later. Bob said Ruth loved that. She said "Oh that's soooo

alcoholic."

The speakers were: Ruth O. of New Jersey, Jules P. of

California, and Bob S. of Texas, a member of Al-Anon.

Bob S. spoke first. He said he was the only person still alive

who was present when Doctor Bob and Bill Wilson first met. It

was Dr. Bob's son, Smitty. He was 17 at the time. He went with

his parents to Henrietta Sieberling's house for his father's

first meeting with Bill. In the car his father said "I'm giving

this bird 15 minutes." His mother did not say to Bill, "will you

come to dinner next Tuesday?" She

said "why don't you come live with us?" Bill said without

hesitation "OK!" Smitty said that there were never two people as

different as Bill and his father. If it had been up to Dr. Bob

AA would never have got beyond Akron. If it were up to Bill they

would have sold franchises.

But they had two important things in common. They were both open

minded about spirituality, and they both had a desire to be of

service to others.

Smitty talked about how his parents brought alcoholics to live

in their home. Dr. Bob would take them up to the bedroom and

then give them some medicine. It was paraldehyde. "When my

teenage sister and I opened the front door and smelled

paraldehyde we would say 'Oh, oh, we've lost our beds again.'"

He told about the first man they tried to sober up. His name was

Eddie Riley and he moved in, I think he said with his wife and

kids. One day he chased Anne Smith around with a knife. Dr. Bob

considered Eddie his first failure. But at Dr. Bob's funeral a

man walked up to Smitty and said "Do you remember me?" It was

Eddie. He was living in Youngstown, Ohio, and was sober one

year.

Smitty took the woman he married to meet his parents for the

first time, Dr. Bob looked her up and

down and said of this tall, slender woman, "She's built for

speed and light housekeeping." Smitty said his wife was sober 19

years when she died. One day Dr. Bob told his son "Flies carry

germs. So young man, keep yours buttoned."

Smitty said the Oxford Group members communicated with each

other all the time. His mother was always on the phone with one

or another of them. And that, of course, was true of the

alcoholics in the Oxford Group as well. But things were not

always sunshine and joy. There were people in A.A. in the early

days with big egos. "Can you imagine?" he asked. "There were

actually alcoholics with big egos in the early days?"

Smitty ended his talk with a big plug for the traditions. "I say

thank God for those traditions." He got a standing ovation.

I don't remember much of what Jules P said, but he was very

enjoyable.

The last speaker was Ruth O. When Bob P. introduced her he said

that in planning the convention in 1995 he had a bright idea.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." They would let

every alcoholic with 40 years put their names and sobriety dates

in a big bucket, and the first 15 called could get up and talk

for five minutes.

When Ruth O. got up to talk she talked on, and on, and on. She

joked that they had told her that this time they were going to

have a trap door to use if she talked too long. But she was a

fascinating speaker, sober 52 years.

She lived in the Bronx when she came into A.A. and was the only

woman in her group for a long time. The men were apparently not

too kind to her. They were rather gruff. One of them asked her

one day how long it had been since she had a drink. She said

proudly: "50 days tomorrow." The man sitting behind her hit her

on the shoulder and said gruffly, "It's 49!" She must have told

that story often because the day before she celebrated her 50th

anniversary the phone kept ringing. When she answered a gruff

voice would say "It's 49! It's 49!"

But Bill Wilson was kinder. The first time she met Bill he

kissed her on the cheek. "I haven't washed that cheek since,"

she said. And somehow I believed her.

Our choices for the early afternoon meetings were: Lesbians/Gays

in AA; Women in AA; Humility: A Power Greater; Turning It Over;

La Consicence de Groupe,

Informee; Living Sober; AA and Native Peoples; Sponsorship:

Leading by Example; Young & successful - Who Needs Meetings?;

Tools for Sobriety; Twelfth Step: Love in Action; Estructuras de

Servicio General; AA Meeting in Japanese; Solo per Oggi; AA

Traditions and AA Events; Die Zwöf Schritte; Unity Through

Humility; Willingness: The Essence of Growth; AA's History of

Love; A Daily Reprieve; East Central U.S. Regional - Meet Your

AA Neighbors;

In All our Affairs; Twelve Concepts: The Structural Framework;

and Twelfth-Stepping the Old Fashioned Way.

I had no problem choosing. My old friend, Mel S, was speaking at

the Twelfh-Stepping the Old Fashioned Way meeting. I hadn't seen

Mel in years. Mel had his last drink on May 23, 1965, in a bar

at an officer's club in Virginia. He had entered the Army Air

Corps in 1939 as a private. He wanted to be a pilot. He retired

27 years later as a full Colonel. He told of the many escapades

involving crashing air planes when he was drunk. But he always

somehow managed to get out of trouble.

But finally, in 1965, he was ordered to fly his plane to

Washington to deliver some top secret papers to the Pentagon. He

drank and was in a blackout. He got a call saying that the

papers had not arrived at the Pentagon. Where were they? Mel

couldn't remember. He had no idea what had happened. He was

desperate. This meant the end of his career. He would be court

marshaled, he might serve time in prison. In desperation he

called the chaplain and told him his predicament. The chaplain

told him to stay where he was, he was sending someone to get

him.

Two men showed up, one of them an Army Warrant Officer. They

The warrant officer took him to stay in his home. It was a

small, modest home and they didn't have a guest room, but they

had an unfinished basement and they put a cot in the basement

for Mel. He lay there detoxing, and in terror of what the future

would bring, Then he heard a noise on the stairs, and his host

came down carrying a big roll under his arm. He spread the roll

on the floor next to Mel's cot and said "I'm going to sleep here

tonight. I know how you feel." Mel had trouble telling the

story, he was so filled with emotion.

Mel was madly trying to think of excuses to make up to get out

of this very serious trouble. But the two A.A. members told him

that he had to do two things: don't drink, and tell the truth.

So Mel told his superiors the truth. He had been drunk and he

had no idea what had happened to the top secret papers. An

investigation was begun, and Mel tried -- on the advice of his

A.A. sponsors -- to leave the matter in God's hands.

Then one day he got a call. It seems someone at the Pentagon had

found the papers. They had been locked away in a safe the whole

time. So Mel's superiors told him that since he had, indeed,

delivered the papers to the Pentagon as he had been ordered to

do, all charges against him would be dropped.

In all the years I had known Mel I had not heard his story

before. I was deeply moved.

Our choices for the late afternoon meetings were "Young People

in AA; Gratitude in Your Attitude; AA Loners and

Internationalists; AA and Court Programs; Carrying the Message

Into Treatment Facilities; El Anonimato al Nivel Público;

Archives: A Collective Vision; Intergrupos y Oficinas Centrales;

Freedom to Choose; History of the Big Book; Spiritual Journey;

Resentment - the Number One Offender; AA and Cyberspace;

Carrying the Message to Older Alcoholics; Notre Methode; AA

Meeting in Korean; AA Meeting for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing;

AA in Western

Europe/Scandinavia; AA in Central/South America; Viviendo

Sobrio; AA in Asia/Oceania Zone; Western Canada Regional - Meet

Your AA Neighbors; This Matter of Honesty; Prayer Under

Pressure; and A Daily Inventory.

Again I had no problem choosing; a friend from the Washington,

D.C. area whom I hadn't seen in 20 years, Hal Marley, was

speaking at the meeting on gratitude. I am very glad I had that

last opportunity to see Hal. He died not long after.

The highlight of the opening meeting that night was the flag

ceremony. The first flag to appear was carried by a Native

American in full traditional dress and carrying a large pole

covered with feathers. Then, as the name of each nation was

called, an A.A. member from that country entered carrying the

country's flag. They were called in alphabetical order, ending

with Zambia, followed by the flags of the host countries: Canada

and the United States. Over 75 countries were represented.

As each country name was called the members from those countries

rose and cheered loudly. But many of us cheered along with them.

Especially when the Russian flag appeared.

The flags were lined up in front of the stage and remained there

throughout the convention.

Saturday turned out to be a day for miracles. Miracles were

happening all over Minneapolis from the beginning, but I first