November is gratitude month. For many decades now, A.A. has formally set aside all of November as Gratitude Month as a time to express our collective gratitude for our individual sobriety.

Interestingly, no one is exactly sure why that month was originally chosen, though its connection with Thanksgiving seems obvious. Bill W. thought for a while that his sobriety had begun in November, but later calculations established the date of his new beginnings as December 11.

Whatever the origins, Gratitude Month has since the 1940s been in November and our shared thankfulness over the years has taken many forms and will continue to do so as our membership widens. The General Service Board began giving small gratitude dinners in the 1940s. These were precursors to the much larger Gratitude Luncheons that were orchestrated during the 1960s as a Public Information effort of G.S.O.

In the November 1949 Grapevine, Bill W. made a suggestion that Thanksgiving week be adopted as Tradition Week during which special attention will be paid to the Traditions. You can read more about this here. Many A.A. service entities today observe Gratitude Month by holding Traditions meetings and taking up special contributions to the General Service Office for A.A. services worldwide.

How an A.A. Group Functions Workshop

There is no better way than to start the month by participating in the A.A. Workshop & Roundtable Discussion hosted by Districts 1, 2, 3 & 13 — Area 12 Delaware on Saturday, November 2 at Conley’s United Methodist Church located at 33106 Jolyns Way in Lewes.

Doors open at 10 for coffee and fellowship, and the workshop begins at 10:30. The workshop will focus on focus on the chapter: How an A.A. Group Functions from the pamphlet The A.A. Group … Where it All Begins. For more information, see the event page here.

Thanksgiving Day Dinner and Alcathon

Capping off the month of gratitude is the annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner and Alcathon hosted by the Oak Orchard Thursday Third Tradition Group on Thursday, November 28 at the Indian River Volunteer Fire Hall located at 32628 Oak Orchard Rd in Millsboro.

There will be much fellowship, food and fun to partake in.

• Open A.A. meetings begin at 10 AM and recur on even hours through 8 PM.
• Dinner will be served beginning 11 AM and will continue until 6 PM.
• We encourage you to dazzle us with your wonderful homemade desserts; however we love the store-bought kind too!
• Bring donuts or breakfast danish if coming early.
• Volunteers needed to assist — contact us if your home-group can take a meeting.
• Financial donations appreciated.

Download the flyer and share with others.

New Meeting Announcement

Located at the Lewes Senior Activity Center at 32083 Janice Road, Promise Keepers is a new promises meeting held on Sunday evenings at 8 PM.

November 2019 Printable Meeting List

You can download the November PDF listing of our meetings in Sussex County DE.

Grapevine News

Here’s what’s new for November which you can download here.

• Annual Photo Contest. Each year, Grapevine holds a competition for photographers to be featured in their Wall Calendar. Send your best photographs by Dec. 1st here!
• Grapevine 75th Years Toolkit. Explainer video on YouTube.
• Book: Voices of Women in A.A.
• Grapevine and La Viña Catalog.
• Submit your Story for Upcoming Issues.
• Information for the Meeting Guide App can be seen here.
• La Viña November News
• Cartoon Book “Take Me To Your Sponsor“.