AA prepares for 57th annual local conference

Alcoholics Anonymous helps people deal with alcohol addiction

Peterborough celebrates 70 years of Alcoholics Anonymous at the organization’s 57 the annual Kawartha District Conference, to held at the Evinrude Centre on June 22 and 23.

“The conference will consist of a number of A.A. meetings. There are two speakers on Friday night and eight speakers on Saturday,” explained Gary, Peterborough conference chairman.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) operates on anonymity and last names are not used.

Al-Anon will be featured this year at the conference. It is a separate program to help family and friends of alcoholics.

The public is opened to attend the speaker meetings.

The conference agenda will be posted online on Peterborough AA’s website a week prior to the conference, which can be found here.

Registration for the conference will start at 4:30 p.m. on the Friday and again at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

AA’s first Peterborough group formed in 1948, with meetings initially held in members’ homes.

The first group was known as the Life Lock Group and met at the Dixon house for nine years before moving locations.

In 2018, the city now has 22 groups available for members to join.

The average number of members per group is about 15 at any one time, however the numbers can sometimes range from 15 to about 30, explained Gary.

Since AA does not keep membership records, there is no exact percentage as to how many people find success through the program.

Gary opened up about the program and said he had over 40 years with AA and that he believed it saved his life.

“I knew a member who was in the program and I phoned that individual when I realized I couldn’t control my drinking on my own,” he said. “He took to me to a meeting and I stayed.”

There is a central office in Peterborough on 625 Cameron St. and volunteers’ cover the phones seven days a week from 9 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.

“Sometimes member relapse but our doors are always open to help those with the addiction of alcoholism,” said Gary.

The first ever AA Conference in Peterborough was held at the Empress Hotel in June of 1962. The groups that were involved in helping host were Lindsay, Havelock, Bowmanville, Oshawa, Whitby and Ajax.

Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements.