District 19 Area 11

Branford, North Branford, Northford and East Haven Ct. Alcoholics Anonymous

 Minutes Business Meeting District 19 Area 11 September 23, 2025

  1. Welcome (DCM): Steve opened the meeting at 7

 

 

  1. General Service Representative Pre-Amble (ALL):

 

  1. Serenity Prayer (ALL):

 

  1. Concept IX (Diane):  Good, selected service leadership at all levels is essential for Alcoholics Anonymous’s future functioning and safety. This means choosing leaders based on their ability to embody principles, put plans into action, and provide a personal spiritual example, rather than personal ambition. The concept also highlights the need for rotation in service leadership to avoid stagnation and ensure diverse talent is utilized. 

Concept 10 volunteer for October:  Need one

 

  1. Tradition IX (Dave):  In order  to remain a flexible and spiritual fellowship, AA itself should never be organized. Instead, it should be a movement that can create service boards and committees, where members serve as trusted servants rather than authoritative figures, focusing on the group’s conscience and rotating responsibilities instead of imposing mandates or rigid structures. This tradition helps ensure AA remains a cohesive fellowship of equals, not an institution with governing bodies, and allows for individual groups to function autonomously. 

Concept 10 volunteer for October:  Need one

 

  1. General Service Representative Introductions / Reports & Concerns (GSRs):

The question regarding service end date came up.  Steve clarified that sometimes the GSR has to continue.  No one will stop you from coming.

 

    1. GSR Time for any AA questions/concerns or issues with their individual AA Group.  This is your time so please take advantage of it.

Dave Sunday EMR: nothing to report

Glen:  Northford Tuesday: Nothing to report

Fred: Answering service chair

Maureen:  Wednesday night Faith in Steps group:  Nothing to report

Jeff:  D19 Answering service rep.  I’m the contact person for this church.  After the August meeting the church said the room was left in disarray.  Please make sure the lights are off and everything has been picked up or thrown away. 

Frank:  Saturday night East Haven meeting:  It’s a small meeting with a core group and people are committed to it and they frequently have someone who is looking for help who is new to sobriety. 

Geoff:  A11 public information chair, contact chair for Attitude Adjustment Saturday at 4.  It needs a coffee maker and GSR

Dawn:  Schedule chair for D19

Pat:  GSR noon meeting at St. Therese. No updates

Kathy:  Roaming Gypsies in Northford.  Young people come to the meeting because of the name, they are intrigued.  They frequently get attendees from the nearby sober house.

Carolyn:  No updates

Diane:  Old Timers Zoom meeting on Wednesdays and Public Information rep for D19.  No updates

Sharon: Alt DCM

Stever:  DCM

Karen:  Secretary

Dave:  Treasurer

 

  1. Review & Approval of Meeting Minutes (D19 Secretary)

August 2025 minutes: Motion to approve: Dave   Second Dave 

 

Minutes were accepted  by unanimous vote.

 

 

 

  1. Old Business (DCM/ALL): 

 

    1. Voting Items

(1).  Providing the Central Connecticut Inter Group $1,000.00 for State Level AA Schedule Books

Fred:  the website is more accurate but people want schedule books.

Sharon: Accessibilities is printing large print schedules

Frank:  Schedule books go out of date but people like them.  He used them when volunteering at Yale.  Not everyone is computer literate enough to find a meeting online

Dave:  the importance of schedules is for the newcomer.  A newcomer at a recent meeting could not figure out meetings on the phone.

Dawn:  What is the difference between Intergroup and A11 and what governing body is over Intergroup?    Fred:  2 official Intergroups in CT, 1 in Fairfield county and 1 out of Wallingford. The chain is  AA group, district, Area, GSO.  Intergroup does things for multiple groups that are outside GSO function but have GSO numbers, follow steps and traditions.  They run a televised meeting, website, videos, audio stories of recovery.  They go into places the district and area don’t go.  They meet once per month at Gaylord. AA groups and districts donate to them. https://aa-intergroup.org/   link to intergroup for further information. https://ccti-aa.org/ is the link for the Central CT Intergroup. https://www.iafc-aa.org/ is the link for the Fairfield Intergroup.

 

Motion:  Dawn             Second:  Kathy                       Vote: 1 opposed.  Sharon does not want the money sent because it was done differently in the past and she is leary of Intergroups. No one wanted to change their vote, it passed 15-1

 

  1. New Business (DCM/ALL)

 

  1. Inter District Speaker : This would be a volunteer group of people who would travel to a meeting together so possibly you could have 3 speakers at a meeting.   Volunteers needed, please bring this back to your meetings and bring anyone interested  to the next meeting for further explanation.   A contact person would be needed.  The questions were posed, how often would they need to speak, how far would they need to travel.   The answer was it would vary.

 

 

 

  1. District 19 2026 Budget Discussion:  Please start to think about what you need for your budget.  Budgets need to get to Dave in November, vote in December and start it in January.  A question was asked about rent, it is paid once per year.

 

  1.  Committee Reports (District Sub Committee Chairs)

 

    1. Answering Service: Jeff:  August there were 0 phone calls.  GSR’s there are clipboards to bring back to your meetings to ask for volunteers.  Fred:  we have problems with people not answering their phones.  They are going to call first then go to text message.  We try to connect a caller in real time with a volunteer. Bridging the Gap has been reactivated. Sign up sheets with the option to volunteer for Bridging the Gap will be available soon.
    2. Public Information: Diane : No report
    3. Schedules: Dawn:  Bookmarks were passed around.  The question was asked about D19 trifold schedule, there is no plan for that now due to how fast the schedules change. There are some basic meeting, ie, 7:30, noon and 5:30 would be helpful to hand to newcomers. Steve suggested an Adobe program and will see if he can help with getting that printed.  The Intergroup will print a town book, not a D19 book.
    4. Registrar:  Stephan V.  I am updating the data base. 
    5. Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC):  Open
    6. Archives: Open
    7. Accessibility: Open
    8. ALKI-LINE: Open
    9. Website: Open (Note:  There is an Area 11 Ad-Hoc Committee formed and is looking for volunteers)

 

  1.  Officer’s Reports

 

    1. District Committee Member: Stephan V. This month’s Grapevine is Reaching Out in New Ways, using tech to reach out.  Your group could vote to have a subscription sent to their meeting.  I am still collecting the surveys. 
    2. Alternate District Committee Member: Sharon H.  sent Karen a report, Karen forwarded the email to everyone. 
    3. Secretary: Karen W. nothing new to report.
    4. Treasurer: Dave H.  I ran out of thank you notes due to the number of donations.  Reviewed the treasurer’s report.  Steve will work with him regarding the $1,000 donation. It was asked to put on the agenda next month, donations to Area and GSO. 

 

  1. Calendar Look Ahead (DCM):

 

    1. September CT AA Convention :  27 & 28 September 2025
    2. October GSR D19 Meeting:  28 October 2025
    3. November GSR D19 Meeting:  25 November 2025
    4. Initial Budgets Submitted to Treasurer:  25 November 2025
    5. December GSR D19 Meeting & Holiday Part:  23 December 2025
    6. District 19 Budget Review:  23 December 2025
    7. January GSR D19 Meeting:  27 January 2026
    8. District 19 Budget Vote:  27 January 2026

 

 

  1. Sick & Deceased (ALL):   Jerry, who attends the EMR meeting, his son committed suicide last week.   Danny’s service is 9:30-11:30 at Clancy’s with a burial at St. Agnes. 

 

  1. Anniversaries:  Steve and Dave, 4 years.  Geoff 14 years

 

  1. Responsibility Statement (DCM): – I am responsible when anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there. And for that, I am responsible.

 

  1. Closing

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