|
3/22/15-Intergroup Marathon: 1,2,3...GROW!
Willingness, Honesty, Open-mindedness. Join us as we explore Steps 1, 2 & 3. The Reserve at Estero Clubhouse, 9-4. For more information, please contact Alice 239-248-8535 or Jill 310-968-3741 4/4/15-Intergroup Meeting The 2015 World Service Business Conference will be held April 27–May 2 at Embassy Suites Albuquerque Hotel and Spa. This year’s theme is “The Miracle of Abstinence!”
The theme focuses on our Strategic Plan for 2015, and the workshops will emphasize abstinence. Again this year, WSBC will offer the workshop, “All About Conference,” which includes information on parliamentary procedure. The Mentor Program will offer several opportunities during the week for first-time delegates, affectionately called Green Dots, and mentors to meet and discuss the Conference procedures. The Second Conference e-Mailing (available online January 9) will include the agenda questionnaire and motions and bylaw amendments submitted by the December 10 postmarked deadline. As of December 10, 2014, the WSO received the following motions: • Revise delegate committee participation and membership • Create a “One Day at a Time” chip • Replace gender-related terminology in the Steps and Traditions with “God” • Require the Region Chairs Committee to meet in North America for their third meeting • Revise OA Preamble to include “restricting and purging” *Make the Final Conference Report an electronic file only •Display the name “Overeaters Anonymous” on banners, displays, badges,and other signage at all World Service events •Housekeeping revisions to intergroup and service board registrations • Revise delegate registration deadline from 120 days to seventy days prior to Conference • Delete Outstates IG and its designated cities from Regions One, Three, and Four since it is now defunct. Service bodies should review agenda questionnaires, vote on them, and return them to the WSO by February 26. This is a postmarked deadline date. Reprinted from A Step Ahead, WSO Newsletter, 1st Quarter, available here.  From the OA.org site, here is a wonderful virtual workshop on Step Zero.
Every second Sunday during 2015, the virtual services committee will be presenting a podcast about the importance of working all twelve of the steps. Enjoy this one. More information, as always, is available on the oa.org website. IN MEMORIAMRozanne S., Founder. Overeaters Anonymous1929—2014
“I put my hand in yours, and together we can do what we could never do alone. No longer is there a sense of hopelessness, no longer must we each depend upon our own unsteady willpower. We are all together now, reach-ing out our hands for power and strength greater than ours, and as we join hands, we find love and under-standing beyond our wildest dreams.” – The OA Promise, by Rozanne S. “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”(For Today, p. 311 )With one step into a 1958 Gamblers Anonymous meeting, Rozanne S., the founder of Overeaters Anonymous, set foot on her worldwide journey to bring help and hope to thousands of people struggling with compulsive eating. Rozanne’s journey has come to an end. The Board of Trustees and the World Service Office of Overeaters Anonymous pay tribute to the woman whose energy, vision, determination and compassion gave birth to OA in 1960. With the help of many others, hand in hand, she nurtured OA for 54 years.Rozanne was born in 1929 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA, to parents who valued education and hard work. They instilled those values in Rozanne. When she was 12, the family moved to Chicago. Already she felt insecure about her weight and herself. At 18 and a junior at the University of Chicago, she thought being thin was the way to boys and happiness; she dieted from 142 pounds (64 kg) to 118 pounds (54 kg). A better fit, she thought, for her 5 foot 2 inch (157 cm) height. The boys came, and her grades plummeted. She left the university, enrolled in business school and regained the weight she had lost. A year later, she returned to the university and earned her degree. She began work as a producer’s secretary, first in summer stock and then in New York City. She returned to Chicago two years later and became a fashion copywriter for a department store. Her love of writing flourished. Seeking warmer climes, she moved to Los Angeles and reveled in her job as assistant advertising manager for a chain of department stores. Despite her success, low self-esteem plagued her, and she continued to suffer from compulsive overeating. January 1955 opened the door to love, and by the end of the year, she and Marvin S. married. The births of daughters Debbie and Julie followed. (Marvin passed away in November 1999.) In November 1958, she saw a television program profiling a new Twelve-Step program, Gamblers Anonymous. She and Marvin took a friend-in-need to a meeting, not realizing it was she who would find salvation. She thought, “I’m just like that . . . Their compulsion is with gambling and mine is with food, but now I know I’m not alone anymore!” (Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 11). She realized she wasn’t “wicked or sinful.” She had a disease, and it had a name: compulsive overeating. However, no groups existed for compulsive overeaters. A year later, in desperation she returned to another Gamblers Anonymous meeting where the founder encouraged her to pursue her idea of starting a Twelve-Step program for compulsive overeaters. On January 19, 1960, Rozanne and two friends convened the first meeting of Overeaters Anonymous. (For more of Rozanne’s personal story of recovery, see “Keep Coming Back: Rozanne’s Story,” Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition, p. 7.)Rozanne became OA’s visionary, always searching for new ways to reach out and carry the recovery message. She abandoned her initial attempts to rewrite the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions for compulsive overeaters, relying instead on the universality of the original Steps and Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Early on she recognized the media’s value in carrying the message. She coaxed the producers of a syndicated television show to feature OA. On November 1, 1960, seven OA members appeared on the show; it produced a significant jump in OA membership. With meetings in her home, endless hours dealing with correspondence and counseling and cajoling on the phone, papers piled high in her dining room, and hours spent on financials, Rozanne’s life, with Marvin’s support, became OA. But “together we can,” and with increasing membership and helping hands, together she and OA members grew the organization. Rozanne brought significant change to OA’s diversity, its outreach and its recovery program. She suggested OA hold its first Conference in August 1962. In 1961, OA had voted to ban men. Rozanne disagreed. With the Conference Committee’s approval, she invited A.G., a male Texan and co-founder of Gluttons Anonymous, to attend. Gluttons Anonymous merged with OA at the Conference, and thus began the welcome of men into OA. The announcement of the upcoming Conference appeared in the first OA Bulletin, written by Rozanne and precursor to OA’s Lifeline magazine. She thought of the name Lifeline when imagining a lifeboat next to a huge ocean liner at sea. A first Board of Trustees (BOT) emerged from the first Conference, and members also voted to hold an annual May Conference. The OA Conven-tion grew out of a day of sharing experience, strength and hope at the first Conference. In 1979, after Rozanne expressed concern for helping international OA members, the first Conference International Committee became a reality with Rozanne as chair. She also served on the BOT and as National Secretary.Rozanne wrote many literature pieces for OA, including the original To the Newcomer pamphlet (1966) to orient newcomers; I Put My Hand in Yours (1968) to give information on how to start and strengthen groups; and Beyond Our Wildest Dreams (1996) to share OA’s history. A DVD interview titled Reflections: A Visit with OA’s Founder and a CD compila-tion of speeches And Now a Word From Our Founder . . . Five WSBC Speeches brought Rozanne’s insights and hope to members at large. Rozanne’s compassion for and understanding of the emotional, physical and spiritual challenges faced by compulsive eaters have touched people worldwide. She leaves an enduring legacy that will continue to inspire and heal those who still suffer. Members who wish to honor Rozanne’s memory with a contribution can go to 50447.thankyou4caring.org. Select Rozanne S. Memorial in the Designation drop down menu. You may also call the WSO, 505-891-2664, or send contributions by mail toOvereaters AnonymousWorld Service OfficeP.O. Box 44020Rio Rancho, NM 87174–4020 This weekend, the Intergroup approves the nominations of its trusted servants.
In order for a meeting to be represented, it must have a member present at Intergroup. This member cannot be a current IG board member. Once roll is called, and we approve the slate, new trusted servants' tenure will begin. Keep in mind that, even if you don't feel this is the right time to chair a committee, you can still come to IG and still be involved in committees. Hope to see you there!! Paula Webmaster In a few months, elections will be held.
In our particular area, we have a small enough Intergroup to allow each person who is willing to work the opportunity to really make an impact. Last year, we needed a Public Information chair, help with 12th step within, a vice chair, and every now and then we also needed a secretary. Chair, Vice-chair, Treasurer and Secretary positions require 30 days of back to back abstinence. The other service positions just require a willingness to help and some dedication to the Fellowship in general. I personally need to thank the Intergroup for the loving reaction I received when I stepped down from the Chair position during the early Spring. Sometimes you need to step back to focus on your own recovery. My own ego and possibly a slight lack of fulfillment in my professional life -- which, come to think of it, I may have more power to change than I give myself credit for -- got in my way. While I was surprised by the concern the group had for me, in explicitly stating that I should probably take the website in order to still continue to do service, perhaps I shouldn't have been. Service is a key component of the program. We can only keep what we are willing to give away, after all. Maxine has been gracious about filling the void in the interim, and I'm sure many others are stepping up to do what is necessary. Consider giving service at the Intergroup level. It's a new way to practice love and tolerance, as well as a great opportunity to learn more about the Traditions, the structure of the Fellowship, and a way to witness how an organization that says it "ought never be organized" manages to keep us all together. Like it says in the formats, it's an opportunity to give back to OA some of which you have received. Come to a meeting (after the first Saturday of the |
