July 13 in A.A. History

In 1972, at the 30th anniversary banquet of the Summer School of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University Commons, the E. M. Jellinek Memorial Fund Award—a bronze bust [left] of E. M. “Bunky” Jellinek—was presented posthumously to Bill W. for his contributions as co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Bill’s widow, Lois Burnham W. [above right], accepted the award on his behalf. This marked the first time the award was given to a non-scientist. About 500 people attended the banquet [left: article from The Courier-News of Bridgewater, New Jersey].

Today in A.A. History—July 13–14

In 2019, the General Service Office of A.A., along with the Southern California Area Assembly (SCAA, Area 05), San Diego-Imperial Area Assembly (SDIAA, Area 08), Mid-Southern California Area (MSCA, Area 09), and Central California Area Assembly (Area 93), hosted a bilingual Forum [right: flyer; bottom of post: event logo], calling it a Unity Forum (El foro de Unity), at the Westminster Presbyterian Church [below left] in Pasadena, California. 

    Like all Local Forums, this was a unique event. The purpose  of which was…

    bringing together A.A. members, volunteers, and staff from all A.A. service organizations in our area to connect, strengthen unity, share valuable ideas and experiences, and explore ways to further support and collaborate with one another in our mission to assist still-suffering alcoholics.

    Over the weekend, more than 400 people attended.
    The motivation for this Forum was described by Ted C., Chair of the 2019 Area 05 A.A. Unity Forum Planning Committee, in the Spring 2019 issue of SCAA’s newsletter, SCAAN:

    In Los Angeles, observing Tradition 9 (organizing minimally) and Tradition 4 (intentionally lacking a centralized authority—favoring autonomy instead) has led to “service communities” that often operate independently, with limited interaction and collaboration between them, low overlap in membership, and at times a surprising lack of awareness of each other’s purposes and activities.
    We would like to counteract this separation with a great celebration of all of AA’s service entities, the valuable services they perform, and the wonderful trusted servants that serve them. This is the idea behind the 2019 AA Unity Forum in which we invite you to participate. We are extending this invitation to participate and collaborate to all AA service organizations in the Greater Los Angeles Area and surrounding communities. This includes Young People’s and Seniors’ organizations, Central Offices, Hospitals and Institutions Committees, local Roundups and Conventions, General Service Areas and Districts, and any other organization that has been formed under Tradition 9. We are also inviting all linguistic organizations to fully participate and collaborate, and will be providing Spanish and ASL interpretation at the event.