GROUP HISTORY
The first organizational meeting of the Frisco Group of Alcoholics Anonymous was held December 16, 1999 at the home of Paul and Laura W. Attending were Terry P., Randy and Kelly L., Kelly McK., Stoney G., Freda W. and Bill W. Other original members were unable to attend that night but those who did, felt we had enough support for a new group to proceed.

During the first meeting, the Frisco Group was established as a non-smoking group which would remain non-smoking throughout its’ existence. Acting as the Group Conscience for the new organization, initial decisions were made and implemented. These included the meeting times and formats. We decided to have closed discussion meetings on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7:30-8:30 p.m. One night would be literature study from the Big Book and Twelve and Twelve, and the other would be discussion based on topics from AA literature. Chip night was established on Tuesday nights.

We all agreed that the meeting Chair people should always make sure that introductions are made and sobriety dates are stated (if the person desires to give it). This was to ensure that we would always be aware of newcomers, and also so we could direct non-alcoholics to groups that address their common problem.

The Group also agreed that we should all be “greeters” but that we should have designated greeters assigned by the Chairperson for the meeting.

The Group agreed to practice the 7th Tradition only at the close of the meeting as a courtesy, to prevent disruption when an AA member is sharing with the group.

Group Conscience was established as the last Thursday of the month, following the regular AA meeting. This was later changed to Tuesday night.

We “elected” our first slate of Trusted Servants. Actually, it was more of a volunteer effort than an election. Paul was the first Chairperson. Laura W. was Intergroup Rep, Stoney G. treasurer. Freda W. was secretary and literature, Terry P. GSR and Paul W. Alternate GSR. A collection of $70.00 was given to Freda to purchase books, literature, chips and a table-top Steps and Traditions display. Terry P. was to register our new group with the GSO as soon as we knew our permanent meeting room.

Laura W. had investigated meeting places and we had two potentials. One was the Preston Ridge Campus of the Collin County Community College District which charged rent, and the other was the First United Methodist Church which would offer a room at no charge. The church board, however, met in January and we needed their approval. We decided to accept the church’s offer but to donate a percentage of the basket to the church to fulfill our tradition that AA should be self-supporting. In the meantime, Laura contacted the college to arrange the rental of temporary meeting space.

On the 11th of January, 2000, the Frisco AA Group had its’ first meeting in the Heritage Hall conference room at Preston Ridge College. Paul W. chaired. We gave out our first desire chip at that meeting.

Flyers announcing the new group and meeting schedule were distributed at InterGroup meetings and by our members to other groups they attended. Volunteers at the InterGroup office were informed about the new group, so they could direct inquiries to us. Paul and Laura’s home phone was the initial contact number until we began using a telephone answering service in the fall of the year. The Frisco Group was added to the Dallas-AA web site as well.

The Board of Trustees of the First United Methodist church approved our meetings and made us welcome. In February of 2000, we began meeting in Room 6, a small room that provided a little storage space. It was great to not have to bring in all the literature and coffee supplies from our cars each night!

We started getting visitors from other groups as well as newcomers to Frisco and to AA. Within two months, we had outgrown the first room and the church offered us the use of the larger Wesley Room. We were occasionally bounced due to a church meeting or a wedding, but that room was our home until we moved to our new meeting place at Stonebriar Community Church.

As our membership grew, so did our service opportunities within the Group. We had a number of changes in the secretary’s, treasurer’s and literature chairperson’s positions due to the changing schedules of our original trusted servants. We added an alternate Intergroup Representative position, Public Information position, and a Supplies chairperson .

In the spring of 2000, we considered adding another meeting to our schedule. We surveyed the Group to see what kind of meeting and which night would be most supported by our members. After talking to the church about scheduling options, we decided to add an open speaker meeting on Saturday nights, with a birthday celebration on the first Saturday of the month for the prior month’s birthdays. We started our new schedule on June 3rd.

Our first Saturday night birthday celebrant was Sharon O., and we also recognized birthdays from earlier in the year. Freda was our first Saturday night chairperson and arranged for our first speaker, Gene Spivey. At the time, Gene was terminally ill and we knew AA was soon to lose him. Gene, his family and friends, the Frisco Group and visitors held the meeting in the church sanctuary due to the number of people attending.

In the fall, we voted to subscribe to a telephone answering service which would provide information about our meetings and allow alcoholics looking for help to be contacted by a Frisco Group member.

In December of 2000, we decided to survey the membership about adding a new meeting. Again, the church discouraged a Sunday night meeting due to their ongoing activities. We were approved for a Monday night meeting.

On December 8, 2000, we had the Frisco Group’s First Annual Holiday Party at Julia and David C.’s home. The place was packed and we had a great time.

In December, we discussed having an anniversary party. We needed to catch our breath after the holidays, so decided to have it in February.

January 2001 brought changes to our roster of Trusted Servants: Sean O. became the Chairperson for the Group, and the other service positions were rotated as well.

We began planning our first anniversary party, which was held Feb.24, 2001. At our First Anniversary Party, Randy L. was our chairperson. Our speaker was Jim W. from the Addison Group. Contributing to the festivities in service work were Debbie S., in charge of food; Tracy D., decorating; Edna O., clean-up chair. We had a sit-down dinner in the Wesley Room, and held our open speaker meeting in the sanctuary. Almost the entire group showed up early in the day to help set up and get ready.

Also in February, the men of the Frisco Group began our Group’s first Step Study.

The Frisco Group’s growth brought about many challenges in 2001. We discovered that Group members had differing interpretations of the Traditions and how to apply them. Our differences became apparent over practice of the Third Tradition and the format of an Open Discussion Newcomer Meeting was extremely controversial. The Frisco Group lost members on both sides of controversial issues while the remaining members practiced unity and principles before personalities to the best of their abilities. To assist the group during this time, a workshop was held on May 12, facilitated by representatives from General Services, on running a group and chairing meetings.

We were outgrowing the available space at the Methodist Church, so Kent H. and Laura W. headed a search committee to find relocation possibilities. Stonebriar Community Church had built a building which opened in March, and a former group member who is on staff at the church, told us that Stonebriar was interested in hosting us. Because the church had to develop policies for outside groups, we were “on hold” until June. No other sites were found which would be appropriate and in June, the Group Conscience voted to move, and off we went to our new home Rooms 243 and 244 in July 2001.

Other mid-year changes came about in the Trusted Servant area. Zeke C. replaced Terry P. as GSR. In addition to her duties as Treasurer, Debbie M. acted as Alternate GSR. Melissa L. added the duties of Public Information and Cooperation with the Professional Community to her service activities. Vacant alternate positions for secretary, PI/CPC and Literature were filled by Laura W., David C. and Renee E. respectively

The Frisco Group decided to develop set of written principles and a By-Laws committee was formed. Tim L. chaired this committee which met frequently until it had a document to present to the Group Conscience. Our new by-laws were adopted at the Group Conscience meeting in September.

As part of the by-laws dealt with the elections of Group officers, we held formal elections at the Group Conscience meeting in October, electing representatives to serve in 2002. Tim L. was elected chairperson for the coming year, Midge as secretary. Barry and Jack shared Intergroup duties while Zeke remained our GSR. David C. took over Treasurer duties while Melissa continued as PI rep. Kelly L. with literature and Tracy D with supplies service rounded out our roster of Trusted Servants for the next year.

Our Christmas party was held at the clubhouse in Plantation Villas. Good food and fellowship abounded and the White Elephant gifts were great, even though some of them were baffling. Thanks to Melissa and the volunteers who organized the party.

During the year, our Group shared the sorrow of losing a friend to death, the joy of a couple marrying, and the thrill of a new baby being born. Steve Brown, who attended the Frisco and Colony Groups, died of emphysema in June. Prior to his death, Steve achieved 6 months of continuous sobriety and had found the God of his understanding and some peace through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous and working the Steps.

Debbie S. and Barry M. were married in an out-of-state ceremony in September. Zeke C., his wife Suzy and daughter Ellie welcomed baby Max to the family on December 18th. By the anniversary party, Max had already attended several AA meetings.

2002 was tranquil compared with the growing pains of 2001. Our main challenge was a decision about the meeting room. Some members wanted to return to our former meeting rooms which we left because we no longer had access to storage in the room. We realized that we could provide our own storage cabinet for our supplies. A miscommunication arose between the church facilities and scheduling people and the Frisco Group regarding the true availability of the former space. Finally, when we realized that the room would not be available to us and that other available rooms would not suit our needs, we decided to stay in our current room, #231.

In 2002, The Frisco Group carried the AA message in a number of ways. Our meetings grew in number with the addition of a Friday noon meeting. Many of the women of the Frisco Group worked the Steps together at a Step Study which met at Debbie and Barry’s home – even when they weren’t in town!

Members who achieved six months of continuous sobriety began to chair meetings. Frisco Group members are also active in Salvation Army and jail meetings, and in taking meetings to those in treatment at Baylor Richardson. We also have members working with Nightwatch, which answers phone calls to AA when InterGroup offices are closed.
Frisco Group members started participating in the Bridge the Gap program, which is an effort to help people from treatment facilities find their home in AA.

Frisco Group people enjoy traveling to conferences in the area – and taking the newcomers along with them. As we are not a glum lot, many took advantage of AA social events such as the Unity Picnic which was sponsored by Dallas Intergroup. And our third Christmas party was a huge success. The food was great, and the white elephant gifting a success. Many participants said next year we should implement a suggestion that we take a year off candles and candleholders as gifts as we sure had a lot of them going around.

Happy events included the birth of the newest Chalker baby.

The Frisco Group ended it’s third year with a solid foundation built on Unity, Service and Recovery. MORE WILL BE REVEALED SO KEEP COMING BACK – to this web page, where the fourth year “do-ins” will eventually be added.