Panama City, Florida
The oldest of Panama City's AA groups, the "Panama City Group," was formed in 1941. Two AA members from Akron, Ohio, were then working at the Wainwright Shipyard, an area presently known as Port Panama City. A desire and need to continue in their sobriety led these men to form the first AA group in Panama City. AA w
as then only six years old and the first publication of the Big Book had come out a mere two years earlier.Although it is generally discouraged, the meeting place of this new group was to be found in the private homes of its members. The first meeting outside of a home was held in 1958 at Carpenters Hall on 4th Street. Story has it that the members of
AA complained about beer being left in the hall by others. This complaint resulted in
AA being asked to leave. The group then moved to the old City Hall. Membership was growing.
The next meeting place for the Panama City Group was at the Presbyterian Church Sunday School room at 7th and Magnolia Streets with about nine members.
About 1964, the group moved to 39 East Beach Drive and had grown to about 15 members. This location was a vacant, very old and a very "Gulf Coast" type large home which has fondly remained in the memory of many "sobered-up" alcoholics. The group was to use this meeting place for about nine years.
In the fall of 1973, the meeting place of the Panama City Group changed from 39 East Beach Drive to the Fellowship Hall of the First United Methodist Church on 4th Street. This location was utilized for about a year, after which the group moved to the Trinity Lutheran Church at 11th and Balboa streets where it continued to meet for the next ten years.
On May 10, 1979, the Panama City Group of AA was
formally registered by the General Service Office of AA.
Late in 1983, the group moved its meeting place from the Trinity Lutheran Church to the Oakland Terrace Club House and continued to meet there until 1986. It was at this time that other users of the club house complained about smoking. Since state smoking laws had just been changed, the group was told that the meetings had to be non-smoking meetings or else the group would have to change its meeting place. The group elected to move.
Since 1986, meetings of the Panama city Group have been held at the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church at 14th street and Beck Avenue. There are three meetings held each week at this location, all of which begin at 8:00 p.m.
TUESDAY meetings consist of a closed discussion meeting; a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Step meeting in the kitchen; a non-
smoking meeting in another room; an Al-Anon meeting; an Al-Ateen, and an Al-Atots meeting.
THURSDAY meetings are always Open Speaker meetings.
SATURDAY meetings are Open Discussion Candlelight meetings (Saturday Night Alive meeting). This meeting can be
open-ended if the chairman is so inclined and others wish to continue.
Port St. Joe, Florida
As was the case in most outlying areas of District 15, AA members in the Pt.
St. Joe vicinity found it more and more difficult to travel long distances for their "AA".
The exact month cannot be determined, but in the year of 1962 John W. and Doris s. decided that Port
St. Joe needed its own AA group to better help members maintain their sobriety. And so it was that the Port
St. Joe Serenity Group was formed by John and Doris. The first meetings were held in the Port
St. Joe High School. Early members of this group were John W., Doris S., Luther C., Minnie, and Jason.
The Port St. Joe serenity Group had several meeting location changes since its beginning. In 1965 the group moved from the Port
St. Joe High School to St. James Episcopal Church on 6th Street in Port St. Joe. Between 1974-75, the group moved to
St. Joseph's Catholic Church at 20th and Monument Streets. The group later moved back to
St. James Episcopal Church where it continues to meet.
On November 22, 1974, the Port St. Joe serenity Group of AA was formally registered by the General Service Office of AA.
The Port St. Joe Serenity Group experienced growing pains during the first few years of its formation. Attendance was up and down periodically and the group almost ceased, but then some good AA's would arrive on the scene and attendance would pick up. In 1981, Chester and Mary G. were highly instrumental in putting life back into the group and membership grew quite well. Current membership now totals 20 active members.
On July 1, 1987, the Port St. Joe Serenity Group instituted an AA meeting to be held each Tuesday in the Gulf County Jail. The meeting time was later changed to Thursdays and then in 1989 the location was changed to the Howard's Creek Work Camp. The work camp meeting is now held on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).
Noteworthy in 1989 was the passing away of one of the original founders of the Port
St. Joe Serenity Group -John W. -who could lay claim to 29 years of sobriety.
Current meeting times of the Port St. Joe Serenity Group follow:
SUNDAY, 4:00 p.m. (Eastern) -Open Discussion & Al-Anon
TUESDAY, 8:00 p.m. (Eastern) -Open Discussion & Al-Anon
THURSDAY, 8:00 p.m. (Eastern) -Closed step
Panama City, Florida
Sometime in the mid-1960s (the exact date is unknown), it was recognized that there was a group of alcoholics in dire need of an introduction to a better, sober way of life if they were to become useful assets to their community in the future.
This group was the incarcerated population of the Community Correctional Center on Highway 390 in Panama City, Florida. A well-known Panama City lawyer, by the name of E. Ward H., received permission from the Florida Department of Corrections to form an
AA group for the Community Correctional Center. Paul A. soon became the guiding force of this fledgling group.
For the first several years, inmates attended weekly outside AA meetings in the Panama Area. These meeting locations were later changed to inside meetings in the Community Correctional Center itself.
The concept behind these meetings was to get inmates introduced to the AA way of life and to the outside world of
freedom. Many former inmates remain sober today and are active in the
AA way of life.
On January 24, 1978, the Freedom Group of AA was formally
registered by the General Service Office of AA
Current meetings of the Freedom Group follow:
MONDAY, 8:00 p.m. -Closed Meeting (Meets at the
Community Corrections Center)
WEDNESDAY, 8:00 p.m. -Open Speaker Meeting (Meets out-
side at the Serenity House,
1008 East 24th Plaza, Panama City, Florida