This section describes club activities in the area which are not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous, but which provide meeting room facilities and fellowship for the recovering alcoholic.
Clubs and other fellowship-type activities have long been recognized as valuable supplements to the recovery process. In addition, these activities provide for the ownership of necessary property not normally purchased by AA groups.
Panama City, Florida
In October, 1974, a group of some twenty-four local AA members began meeting in an effort to establish a club for the recovering alcoholic.
This club was to be called "Serenity Junction," and was not to be affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous in any way,
however, it was to abide by
AA Guidelines for Clubs and AA Traditions.
On December 23, 1974, "Serenity Junction" became a reality when it was incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida as a non-profit organization.
The primary purpose of "Serenity Junction" is twofold. First, it provides meeting room facilities for
AA groups. There is no fixed rental fee, however, a percentage of meeting contributions is donated by these groups to help defray costs, including coffee, sugar, cream, coffee maker, etc.
Second, "Serenity Junction" provides a point of contact in downtown Panama City for the alcoholic who is looking for help, as well as providing an 'understanding' gathering place for the AA member who finds it hard to survive long hours between meetings.
Like many other recovering alcoholic activities, "Serenity Junction" had to relocate many times for many reasons. Some of its previous locations were: East 6th.Street. East 9th Street, Jenks Avenue, West 15th Street, Grace Avenue, and East 24th
Plaza. Since April 15, 1988, "Serenity Junction" has been located at 922 Jenks Avenue in Panama City.
Average active membership on the rolls of "Serenity Junction" totals thirty-five.
Currently, there are some ten regularly-scheduled AA meetings held each week at "Serenity Junction."
Panama City, Florida
With an eye toward helping newly sobered-up alcoholics to attain and maintain a healthy sobriety, a second club in District 15 was formed on April 15, 1987. Named the "Serenity House" and located at 1008 East 24th Plaza, Panama City, this new club was founded by Ray H.
Like the other Panama City club, the Serenity House is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous in any way. It operates by AA Guidelines for Clubs and AA Traditions.
Early active members of the Serenity House included Ray H.., George B., Don N., Al A., and Homer D.
A main objective of the Serenity House is the taking in of people from jails, the Detox center, and the halfway house, and giving them a start in the recovery program
of AA. Providing temporary shelter and lodging, the Serenity House offers the newly-recovered alcoholic an opportunity to help himself become a valuable asset in the community.
In addition, the Serenity House offers a hospitable gathering place for the recovering alcoholic to share fellowship at all times.
The Serenity House is open seven days a week and provides meeting facilities for several Panama City AA groups. There are three AA meetings each day: 12:00 noon, 5:30 p.m., and again at 8:00 p.m.
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UPDATE! as of February 2007: |
Panama City Beach, FL
The Beach YANA Club, Inc. was a vision in Ray S’s mind when he had a notion that the alcoholics on Panama City Beach would benefit from a recovery club. YANA stands for You Are Not Alone. Ray S saw through the musty facade of an old welding shop on Laird Street to see its potential. Before that, there were horses kept in the building (it was almost called The Barn). A small group of alcoholics that Ray and his wife Joann S knew as friends, would meet and talk about the possibility of a Clubhouse. Many folks thought the idea was nice but thought Ray S was indulging in delusional thinking. A few thought how will we afford such an undertaking? However, he persisted and soon bought the property from a well-known local couple (the Pepmillers) in late 1990. From memory accounts, Ray S and Joann S (the founders of the Beach YANA Club), got some financial backing from hopeful members who believed in the project (including Charlie W, Joe G, and others). Another friend, Brian H from New York came down on a visit and helped Ray S draft the official paperwork to incorporate.
The premises include a Club on Laird Street and a small House on Dorothy Avenue. Location for the Beach YANA Club is 8715 Laird Street, Panama City Beach, FL 32408. The House on Dorothy Avenue is for the caretaker of the property to live in while maintaining the grounds and opening the Club each day. The phone in the Club lobby can be called (850) 230-1821, any time to ask directions or talk to an alcoholic. There was a lot of work to be done before the Club could be used as a meeting place. In the very beginning, the concrete floor was covered with oil and dirt and it was a damp shell of a building. A core group of hard working volunteers cleaned up the dirt, painted, repaired, and applied stucco to the outside of the Club. During the 1990s, members volunteered their labor and built on the Kitchen and Back Room. A team also revamped the house by putting up sheetrock and painting. Early on, it was determined that a caretaker should be on the premises to open the Club and watch over things. (Hank M and Jerry B are the most noteworthy). Some notable characters that helped in the original preparations are as follows: Ray S and Joann S, Joe G and Jane G, Charlie W, Brian H, Mike D, Bob W, Janelle S, Fred B, Robert H, Dan P, Hank M, Bo S and Juanita S, Brian G, Jimmie C (Wormy), Andy T, Kerry E, Beth L, and Frank M! Many people who were members of the Frantic Serenity Group (at the time) were supportive of this new Club.
As of this writing, February 18, 2006, the Club is managed by a Board of Directors that are volunteer AA members who share a keen interest in keeping the Club open and in good condition. The Club also has a Board of Trustees to guide the decision process whenever requested by the Board of Directors. The year of 2005 was an exciting time for the Club with renovation of the grounds and sprucing up the place to attract more members and be ready to host more activities. The Board of Directors and some of the Trustees coordinated to have the old septic tank condemned and filled in. A local plumber ran the sewer lines and installed a pump to hook into city sewer services. We created a better gravel driveway with ample parking in the back lot area. Painting was done inside the Club and a beautiful underwater mural was donated by one of our AA members. The mural is framed nicely (by a member) which makes the whole wall stand out to all who enter the meeting room. After all the work, we have a nice Club to do what we want to do and have fun in sobriety! The year of 2006 will be a time of growth and more renovation, mainly to get the House on Dorothy Avenue in better shape and maintain the integrity of the structure and consider internal renovations.
The YANA Club was the last building that we know of to allow smoking meetings (since Florida Statute has banned smoking in public buildings). With a tie-breaker vote, the Club became Non-Smoking on 15 January 2006 and is now even more inviting to the general population. It feels good to know that our hard work to clean up the inside of the Club will last longer and attract people back that cannot tolerate the smoky atmosphere that once was commonplace here. There are many new members and hope for the future of this Club. With many developers buying real estate all over the Beach, it is in our best interest as recovering alcoholics to keep the property as long as possible. God willing, we will have a Beach YANA Club for many more years! Our membership has grown over the years and we hope to welcome many more people looking for a place to recover and enjoy the fellowship that goes along with having a nice Club.
The YANA Club has AA Big Books for sale and many related recovery books, plus pamphlets and AA meeting schedules in the lobby. The Beach Unity Group holds their meetings every day at 5:30 p.m. and other meetings are held at various times. The Club hosts activities like Bingo, Holiday Dances, Saturday night dinners, recovery workshops, yard sales, work parties, and cookouts to encourage members to have fun and Keep Coming Back!
Whenever AA members gather, sobriety is always uppermost in everyone's mind. It is the main topic of discussion at any gathering, whether between two or two hundred members. Sharing experiences, strengths and hopes has, and still is, the backbone of every AA member's continued and successful recovery program.
Yet, seldom does an AA get-together result without talk of food, and fellowship. Somehow,
AAs do not seem to be able to function without these things. Like the ideal family gathering for a meal with fellowship at the dinner table, recovering alcoholics derive tremendous support and a sense of well being when gathering together for food and fellowship.
Listening to the experiences of recovering alcoholics from other cities and groups provides keen insights to one's own problems. Identification always results in a positive push in the right direction for each other. It is this kind of human closeness; this kind of sharing; this awareness, that has made Alcoholics Anonymous so successful.
With these things in mind, two separate activities were founded in District15: the "Alkathon" and the "Gulf Coast Roundup." Each has become a tradition in its own right and each continues to serve the AA community in a most beneficial manner. Their histories follow on the next two pages.
In December, 1967, when District 15 was formerly included in
District 12 of the Alabama/NW Florida Area, Jim W. and Henry B. of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, formed an "eatin' meetin'" function
which was to become known as the Alkathon. Early member groups were the Ocean City Group of Ft. Walton Beach and the
Panama City Group.
The idea behind the Alkathon was to have a monthly AA gathering (on the 4th Saturday of each month) with food,
speakers, and fellowship. The first Alkathon was held in December 1967, at the St. Simon By The Sea Episcopal Church in Ft. Walton Beach. The first speakers were Warren K., and Nancy K., from Mobile, Alabama.
Format for the Alkathon included Setup at 4:30 p.m., Fellowship at 6:00 p.m., Eating at 7:00 p.m., and Speakers at 8:00 p.m. Financing for the
Alkathon was to be made by donations at each Alkathon. Food was to be brought by individual members.
By May, 1973, after the establishment of District 15,
attendance at the Alkathon had grown considerably and other groups became involved. Visiting groups were no longer expected to bring food.
Expanding to a rotational approach, the first Alkathon held in Panama City Beach was on Saturday, December 25, 1973. Jack H. had contacted the Panama City Beach Civic Center and obtained
permission to use its facilities. Jim R., and Mike R., of Ft. Walton Beach were highly instrumental in setting up this first meeting in Panama City Beach. The Civic Center continues to be the site for Alkathons held in the Panama City area.
By May 1981, as the number of AA groups grew and monies became more difficult to account for, the District 15 Intergroup assumed accounting responsibilities.
Alkathon meeting dates sometimes interfered with the Gulf Coast Roundup dates and with holidays throughout the year. 1989
found the Alkathon changing its meeting date to the 2nd Saturday of each
month. An Alkathon Committee was also formed in an effort to help new groups, as well as old ones, in hosting future
Alkathons.
Alkathons currently rotate meeting places between Panama City Beach, Ft. Walton Beach, and Pensacola, Florida.
The Gulf Coast Roundup was born as the result of a group of AAs joining together in the interest of sobriety.
In 1968, at the AA Club in Montgomery, Alabama, Joe D., and Warren K., from Mobile, Alabama; Jack C., from Montgomery, Alabama; Bill A., from Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and Henry B., and Jim W., from Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, gathered together as a group of
AAs (not an AA group) and planned the first Gulf Coast Roundup.
Originally planned to be held in Mobile, Alabama, the actual location for this first Gulf Coast Roundup was at a "Dude Ranch" in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The year was 1969, and there were some ninety-five people in attendance. The second Gulf Coast Roundup was also held in Ocean Springs in 1970.
At an Alkathon in 1971, Bill A., asked that the Roundup be moved to the Ft. Walton Beach
area. Unfortunately in 1971, there was no facility in Ft. Walton Beach that was large enough to host the Roundup.
Jim R. agreed to work with the board and helped make arrangements to hold the third Roundup at the Sands Inn in Panama City Beach.
The Gulf Coast Roundup location, in Panama City Beach, was later moved to the Barefoot Motel, and then again to the Howard Johnson Motel (later renamed the Gulfside Inn.)
During many pleasant years in Panama City Beach, the Roundup continued to grow, and the Gulfside Inn facility continued to age. In response to attendee requests, the board evaluated alternate locations and considered the pros and cons of each.
Following the 1988 Gulf Coast Roundup, the majority of the Board voted to move the Roundup to the Ramada Beach Resort in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. This is the current location.
Beginning on a Thursday evening at 8:00 p.m., and lasting until noon on the following Sunday, each Roundup features some eight main speakers (along with their chairmen); and a "Love In," all of which is solid AA.
Presented below are some noteworthy items about District 15 of the Alabama/NW Florida Area:
On March 6, 1971, June W. became the first woman on record to enter AA in this area.
On November 20, 1974, Joe E. was the first man to recover in the local detox center and then enter
AA and then stay sober. .
In September, 1978, Vivian C. was the first black woman to
recover in the local detox center and then enter AA and then stay sober.
In August, 1978, Eddie C. was the first black man to recover in the local detox center and then enter
AA and then stay sober.
The first woman to be elected DCM for District 15 was Jane G., who was elected in September, 1984 and served from January 1, 1985 to December 31, 1986.
Past DCMs for District 15 include: Ivan S., Jack H., Bill J., Stan S., Chuck G., Jimmie C., "Shakey" Jake B.,
Jane G., Peter R., and Al L.
Present DCM (1989-90) for District 15 is "T.J." C. She is the second woman to ever be elected as DCM
in District 15.
A 24-hour telephone answering service for Bay County and for Gulf County has long been provided by the District 15 Intergroup for alcoholics seeking help and for transient AAs seeking meeting times and other information.
Telephone numbers for this service follow:
BAY COUNTY (904) 784-7431
GULF COUNTY (904) 648-8121
The introduction of AA Big Books and AA literature into both Bay and Gulf County public schools in 1984, was accomplished through the commendable efforts of a member of District15, namely, Juanita S. In March, 1985,
Juanita was also responsible for the placement of AA literature in all of the Bay Medical Center waiting rooms. Juanita helped Canadian snowbirds to get Big Books into Canadian schools. She has held District 15 PI-CPC and secretary offices since October, 1983.
Appointed as the first Alabama/NW Florida Area Archives Chairman on January 1, 1986, and then elected to that same office on January 1, 1988, Bo S. established the largest portable archive display in
AA history. Through his efforts, the self-supporting Archives Committee will be the first area committee in
AA history to put on an archives display at a regional forum outside of, and independent from the GSO. Archives in New York. This forum will be held December 7-8-9, 1990 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Bo S. has held DCM, GSR, and PI offices since December, 1983.
The following is a listing of AA meetings which are held in various hospitals, treatment centers and institutions within District 15:
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TREATMENT CENTERS: |
HOSPITALS: |
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A.W.A.R.E |
Bay Medical Center |
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CARE |
Rivendell Family Center |
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SOS |
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INSTITUTIONS: |
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Bay County Jail |
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CCA Work Camp, Men's and Women's Program |
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Panama City Community Correctional Center |
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Gulf county Work Camp, Howard's Creek |
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Tyndall Federal Prison |
NOTE: Consult schedule for meeting times and locations