Greetings to all in Area 33. I hope you are all well, safe and enjoying our spring -like weather.

I would like to have a moment of silence for George M., who recently passed. He served as Non-Trustee Director and a General Service Trustee chairing the Finance Committee, followed by the Serenity Prayer.

Since my last report in March a lot has happened. We had successful MRU. A big thank you to the MRU committee for their hard efforts. There was a great turn out at the Michigan State Mock Conference. Thanks to Cynthia B. past Delegate Panel 69 who chaired the event and to District 18. It was the first hybrid, which went smoothly with the assistance of Shannon H. Right after that we had Area 33’s Pre-Conference. Attendance was up for that. Thank you to our Alternate Delegate Cheryl B. for making sure the Delegate was sent off to the General Service Conference fully informed.

Then off to New York for the 74 th General Service Conference. My report to the body will be given at our June Assembly. I am sure I will see you all. There was a lot of information given to us that affects AA and its members.

Now I would like to discuss the decorum at Area 33’s Assembly. We have lost our way. This is not so much what I see what you are doing but what the Officers are not doing and that includes me. We have all served at the group level as greeters, coffeemakers and GSR’s. Area Assembly is not that. I realized this while at Conference. Assembly is a business meeting not a fellowship meeting. We are emulating the General Service Conference. So, our behavior should reflect that. Many moons ago I was Chair of a Committee, in fact two Committees.

I was instructed by the Chair before me that we are to attend this meeting in business casual attire. That’s for those who are an Officer, a Chair, or DCM. This is out of respect for AA. Approaching the mic, remove your hat, please. You will have 2 minutes at the mic. If you go over the Chair will say thank you. At Conference it is a dead stop. You don’t get to finish your sentence. You say thank you and sit down. Andrew has a cow bell. It’ll be up to his discretion to use that or not. It was used during our Conference workshops, and no one complained.

Also, there is no walking behind the officer’s table. You may approach the front of the table before Assembly begins. There is nothing that important that cannot wait, short of a fire and I’m sure we will all be aware. There should be no whooping or cheering or applauding after a vote. I’m sure you can all understand. I repeat this is how its handled at Conference. You have now moved into a new level of Service.

I was recently informed that a member of a District knew nothing about the Hybrid Ad-Hoc committee. Carlyle W. gave a report on it in April. It was included in our minutes. The responsibility of the DCM is to take the information back to your District and discuss. It is the GSR’s responsibly to take this information back to the group. This was nothing but failure on the DCM’s part.

Good communication is all our responsibility. This is how we become informed. I know this seems harsh. You may not be ready for this level of Service work. It took me a few missteps, but I finally learned. It will help with your Committee work and my hope is that in this Assembly there are future Delegates. Area Assembly is where you will get the discipline for that.

As I stated before, I am guilty of every behavior I mentioned. So, let’s get back on track and get back to the reason we are all here …which is to help us “Carry the Message. “

One more issue. In March was the Pre-Conference. I witnessed many people working on the Committees, but then many left. It is expected that you stay until the end of the Pre-Conference. You are expected to be there to support your Chair, hear what the other agenda items are and give your voice. The Chair may be questioned on how they arrived at that conclusion, and they may need you to provide additional information.

I would never leave the General Service Conference once the Committee work was done. That would be me failing at my position, which is to support the work that we just did. This is a learning curve for all of us.

The Michigan State Convention/ECR Convention is being held June 6-June 9th.at Calvin University in Grand Rapids Michigan. The correct website is area34aa.org. Please pass the word along.

Before I close, summer is right around the corner. Our Area is fortunate enough to take advantage of the nice weather and have many picnics and fellowship gatherings. Please, before scheduling any event, check the Area calendar so there is no conflict with Area. We have 2 important dates coming up thru October, beside Assembly. That would be the Service Fair which is September 15th and the Area Inventory October 5th. I hope to see you all next month for my Conference report. Have a great Memorial weekend.

Respectfully submitted,

Jan V.
Panel 73 Delegate Area 33
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