AREA 83 ARCHIVES
e
October 2008
Upcoming Events:
Ottawa— Ottawa AA Archives
Presents the 6th Annual Longtimers
Luncheon. Mac Hall, Bronson Centre
211 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa. Luncheon at
11:30am. Longtimers Panel at 12:30 pm.
$10 Information: (613) 237-6003
www.ottawaaa.org
Toronto—24th Annual Archives Breakfast.
November 2, 2008. 9:00-12:00 Speakers:Kay
H. (Thornhill Group); Ben W. (Thorncliffe Park).
1036 Lakeshore Road E., Mississauga.
Contact Roy R. (905) 274-4511. Tickets $25
Hamilton —12th Annual Hamilton &
District Archives Breakfast. Sunday April
19, 2009. Carmen’s Banquet Centre (Stone
Church Rd. E.). For more information call
(905) 522-8399.
Of Special Interest
The 4th Annual Area 83 Archives Workshop in
Toronto. April 4, 2009 is set as the date to coincide with
the Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) Archives
Week. We have tentatively set out the agenda to include a
conservation workshop, oral histories, computer records
(paper and audio), cataloguing collections. We had a great
experience with the 3rd Annual Archives Workshop in
Ottawa that included a tour of the City of Ottawa Ar-
chives. The location is yet to be determined. It’ll be a pot-
luck and promises to be great day. For more information
watch the Archivist’s blog!
The 13th Annual National Archives Workshop is being
held in Woodlyn Hills, CA (northwest Los Angeles) at the
Warner Center Marriot Hotel. Sept 24-27, 2009. Plan to
be there if you can.
The http://area83archivist.blogspot.com has a wealth of
information. Along with information about upcoming ar-
chives events, there is a wealth of information about pres-
ervation of paper, conservation, anonymity and photo-
AREA 83 ARCHIVES
October 2008
Inside this issue:
History of General 2 tion of AA Ar-
Service in Ontario
What’s new in the 3 shop (NAW) did
Districts
Map of Ontario General Service circa 1951
· District 22’s
Banner Project
· District 74
Upcoming Events 4 ting up a re-
· Ottawa
graphs. Updates are made on a regular basis so keep
Hamilton
checking back. There is an opportunity to provide feed- Toronto
back and you are encouraged to do so in order to help oth-
ers who access the blog.
Other sources of archival information:The Archives
Of Special Interest
Association of Ontario website (http://aao.fis.utoronto.ca/
• The 12th Annual NAW
index.html) also provides a host of links for the profes-
sional and novice archivist. Have a look at the Archives • The 4th Annual Area 83
Association of British Columbia’s website on Small Ar-
Archives Workshop
chives for a real treat in access to more information that is
(Toronto)
easily and legally downloadable (http://aabc.ca/msa/) .
• The Archivist's Blog
The Archives Workbook from the GSO provides a wealth • Other sources of archival
of information for the newly initiated to the well seasoned information
A.A. history buff. Look at the GSO Archives website
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/
en_gso_archives.cfm Contributions to “The Eighty
Three ” should be sent to:
If you have any questions at all about anything to do with archivist_area83@sympatico.ca
Archives just contact me, Máire O’B at archi-
vist_area83@sympatico.ca
The Ei ghty – Thr e
Volume 4, No. 1
October 2008
Area 83 Archives Newsletter
History Lights the Way
12th Annual National Archives Workshop
One of the primary sites of sharing vital in-
formation on the
work of preserva-
tion and conserva-
chives, the 12th
Annual National
Archives Work-
not disappoint.
There were Gen-
eral Service and
Intergroup archi-
vists and archives
chairs and their
committees from across the United States
and Canada. All 4 Ontario Areas were rep-
resented; it was very inspiring. The week-
end is on of real work. On Thursday there
were meetings throughout the day and into
the evening; one of which was from Howard
L., Southeast Regional Trustee who sits on
the General Service Board’s Archives Com-
mittee. Each day started off with an AA
meeting—what a feeling to be part of a regu-
lar discussion meeting with members from
across North America! We spent all of Fri-
day in hands-on workshops about preserva-
tion and conservation techniques for paper.
Learning the enemies of paper, methods for
the restoration of damaged and worn papers,
Grapevines, Big Books we all became
acutely aware of how much needs to be done
to preserve our history. We got to sew
Grapevines, encapsulate documents, and
work on the delicate repairs of tears in pa-
per, remove old tape, eliminate rust, and all
in a great spirit of friendship and camarade-
rie. We closed Friday night with such heart
warming talks by several longtimers with an
average of 50
years of sobri-
ety to be fin-
ished off with
the best talk I
ever heard
Father Pete W.
give.
Saturday we
spent in listen-
ing to others
share on set-
pository, doing
oral histories (by our very own Area Archi-
vist, Maire O’B. and Peterborough Archives
committee person Cathy U.), trademark and
copyright laws, group histories, the financial
support of archives, databases, and a few
presentations on bids for the 14th & 15th
NAW. That evening finished off with every
one suitin’ up for a lovely banquet and a
beautiful presentation by Gail L. (Akron
Archivist) on the life and times of Nell
Wing.
Sunday is the business of the NAW. This
usually unfolds rather uneventfully with a
ratification of the NAW location in 2
years—2010 will be in Macon, GA. In 2011
there are several possibilities but these will
be decided upon next year in Los Angeles.
A few other items on the agenda drew
heated debate with resolutions to have new
agenda items tabled months in advance to
give registrants time to consider and discuss.
Plan to be in California next year—there is
just so much to learn -we need to Do It Now.
Page 2
Ontario General Service (OGS) and Provincial Committees (OPC)
Continuing from The Eighty-Three, Vol. 4, No. 2,
October 2007, the following is an excerpt from
Fifty Years of AA in Ontario:
“The entire province was considered one area by
A.A. for purposes of administration. Thanks to
Whit H. a couple of years, earlier a proposal was
made to GSO to break the provincial membership
into two more manageable divisions. The first
stage was implemented in 1958 and established
the West area almost exactly as it still exists to-
day. It did not last too long as the West area com-
prised a very small part of the whole. The other
area ran from Oakville to Quebec and included
the whole of the North. The delegate was Neil
McV. - still alive with long-term sobriety in
1993. Lee G. from Kitchener became the first
delegate of the newly formed west area after the
election was held in London.
In 1962, Al B. was the East delegate, succeeded
by Harold F. in 1963. The next development was
the creation of the East area and it remains almost
the same today. This took effect in 1963. North-
ern Ontario was left as one enormous area, it’s
first delegate was Jack K. a member noted for his
willingness to travel long distances at the request
of anyone with a question or problem about A.A.
A past chairman of the GSO Board, Gordon Pat-
rick, who is a non-alcoholic Trustee, the only Ca-
nadian to be chairman of the board to date, re-
lates a story about Jack traveling from Sault Ste.
Marie to Sudbury for an A.A. function and re-
turning without sleep but then going straight into
work. It soon became evident, however, that
Northern Ontario was too large an area for one
person, no matter how dedicated. In 1967 Ontario
was divided into four areas, as it is today. They
are the East area (#83), the North-West area
(#84), the North-East area (#85) and the West
The Eighty – Three
area (#86). The first delegate for the North-East
area was Bob McC. and the first delegate for the
North-West area was Vern C.
Although four areas have been established and
such a process alleviated some of the difficul-
ties, not all the difficulties have been resolved.
The Southern part of Ontario is much more
heavily populated than is the North. Distances
between groups are much greater in the North
needing more time and money. In the North, the
“As a consequence of decisions in
the past, a structure has evolved which is
not part of the overall organization
required by GSO in New York City. “
burden of carrying the message is borne by a
small membership. The geographical bounda-
ries were set by A.A. members in the early days
of the fellowship. The North-West area remains
the one with the smallest A.A. membership,
only 1,425 at this time, of all of the 91 areas in
Canada and the USA.
As a consequence of decisions in the past, a
structure has evolved which is not part of the
overall organization required by GSO in New
York City. An Ontario Provincial Committee,
currently known as the Ontario Delegates Com-
mittee, has continued to exist which is a means
of monitoring the four areas. Because it does
not fit into the formal GSO structure this com-
mittee has its limitations. Periodically, one or
other of the areas takes the ODC to task for one
reason or another. This very fact is positive
since the ODC should exist only if it can benefit
the members.”
Volume 4, No. 1 Page 3
District Archives
Scarborough District 22 Archives Committee has
Pembroke District 74 Archives committee have been
been very ambitious with a number of projects that
active on a number of projects one of which is a col-
have been reported in previous editions of “The
lection of medallions of members. Though the com-
Eighty Three”. They have captured the history of
mittee does not yet have a formal work space and re-
most of the groups in the District with colour photos
pository, it has been meeting regularly to file and
of all meeting banners of the groups. These are dis-
catalogue: correspondence and other paperwork in
played in a collage that is visible above. Along with
polyethylene sleeves; a collection of long timer inter-
these photos they have also assembled a similar col-
views on cassettes; a collection of Grapevines from
lage with photos of all the meeting locations in the
1956-2004; and medallions of members over 20
District. At the Spring 2008 Area 83 Service Infor-
years. The medallions are being inserted into a coin
mation Day large table size copies of this collage
collector sheets so that both sided of the medallion
and the meeting places were displayed in the Ar-
can be seen. They would like the medallions in the
chives Room. One person asked where they could
collection to include the member’s name and initial,
get one of these for their District and the answer was
and dry date. When displayed both sides can be
“Get a camera, get out there and take your own pho-
viewed. One special piece in that collection is a
tos!” For help on assembling a collage get in touch
white desire chip received 24 years ago at the first
with District 22 or send an e-mail to
meeting in Pembroke!
area83archivist@sympatico.ca.