May is here and soon our rooms will be filled with wonderful sober fellows visiting the beach on vacation. Our community here is recognized by visitors as an amazing, close and dedicated group of recovering alcoholics. We truly are the lucky ones.

So, as we welcome and get to know our out-of-towners this season, let’s offer a hand and support during a time that could be challenging for them, particularly those newly sober, as they navigate group vacation homes shared with drinkers, family interactions and going out to local establishments where alcohol can be pervasive. Happy month of May.

As it’s May, the fifth month, let’s look at Step 5, Tradition 5 and Concept 5.

Step Five — Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. What are we likely to receive from Step Five? For one thing, we shall get rid of that terrible sense of isolation we’ve always had. Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn’t quite belong. Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were apt to be noisy good fellows craving attention and companionship, but never getting it — at least to our way of thinking. — Reprinted from The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 57, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Tradition 5 — Each group as but one primary purpose – to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Shoemaker, stick to thy last!” … better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition. Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.

Just as firmly bound by obligation are the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who have demonstrated that they can help problem drinkers as others seldom can. The unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, and bring recovery to, the newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, eloquence, or on any special individual skills. The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God, and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.’s all around the globe. — Reprinted from The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 151 – 152, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Concept 5 — Throughout our world service structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, thus assuring us that minority opinion will be heard and that petitions for the redress of personal grievances will be carefully considered. In the light of the principle of the “Right of Appeal,” all minorities — whether in our staffs, committees, corporate boards or among the Trustees — should be encouraged to file minority reports whenever they feel a majority to be in considerable error. And when a minority considers an issue to be such a grave one that a mistaken decision could seriously affect A.A. as a whole, it should then charge itself with the actual duty of presenting a minority report to the Conference. — Reprinted from The A.A. Service Manual Combined with the Twelve Concepts, p. C16, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Quarterly Report from G.S.O

The latest report from the General Service Office (G.S.O.) is where you’ll find recent activities of the General Service Board, A.A. World Services, Inc., and AA Grapevine, Inc. This issue includes advisory actions, finance reports, committee reports and other pertinent information.

Website Update

A few changes have been made to our website to better serve our members and groups. This includes adding new sections to the home page, that in addition to links to meetings, contacting us either by email or phone, are a New to A.A. section, Members & Groups section and a Carry the Message section.

The Members & Groups section includes resources for A.A. members and groups to keep our meetings updated accurately. The importance of keeping our local A.A. meetings updated on our website is essential to the success of the program and for alcoholics — whether new to the program, visiting our area or locals who are searching for new meetings to attend. But meetings do change. As a result, an easy new way to document those changes has been created to update and list new meetings.

• Update a Current Meeting — To update a meeting already listed in our meeting directory, please go to your listing, scroll to the bottom left, click the Update Meeting Info link which will open a form that you can use to provide updates to the meeting, remove the meeting listing, or let us know if you tried to attend, but couldn’t.
• List a New Meeting — To have a new meeting listed in our meeting directory, please select this option to open a form form for you to fill out.

Newsletter Help Wanted

Want to be part of this newsletter? We would love to hear from you! We’re always interested in receiving short articles and experiences written by our A.A. members for possible publication. All submissions are subject to review and editing. Send submissions to support@sussexaa.org. Below are some ideas.

• How you worked a specific step.
• A favorite A.A. slogan and how it has helped you.
• How you got your first service position.
• Something your sponsor said that impacted you.

Mark Your Calendar

Upcoming events that may be of interest to you.

• Southern Delaware Intergroup Monthly Meeting — Join us on Thursday, May 4 at 6PM via Zoom. Meeting ID: 987-8110-5001, Passcode: 914711. Our intergroup is a resource for 12-Step work and Alcoholics Anonymous information in Southern Delaware.
• SDIAA Archives Committee Meeting — The next meeting of the Archives Committee is on May 8 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior located at 20276 Bay Vista Rd, Rehoboth Beach. Doors open at 6:15 PM.
• 2023 Northeast Regional Forum — Held June 2 through June 4 at the Boston Marriott Burlington Boston, MA, the Regional Forum provides unique opportunities for A.A. members to exchange information with representatives of the General Service Board, A.A.W.S., AA Grapevine and G.S.O. Registration for the forum is free. Online pre-registration is encouraged. Go here to register for the 2023 Northeast Regional Forum.
• Founders’ Day 2023 — The 88th annual Founders’ Day will be held on June 9 through June 11 at the Akron University. The annual gathering is held on the weekend closest to June 10, which marks the day in 1935 when A.A. co-founder, Dr. Bob took his last drink in Akron, Ohio. For more information and to register, see the Founders Day 2023 Flyer and visit Founders’ Day.org.