TIMELINE OF NERAASA HISTORY

March 4-6, 1988

John S. (NNJ), Jimmy S. (SENY) and Tom L. (NNJ) went to the Pacific Regional Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly (PRAASA) in Salt Lake City, UT, to gain experience on hosting a Northeast Regional A.A. Service Assembly at the recommendation of the General Service Board Chair, Gordon Patrick.

Fall, 1989

At the Northeast Regional Convention (NERC), John S. invited past and present area delegates from the Northeast to meet in January, 1990 at the Northern NJ area office to discuss having a regional service assembly for the Northeast Region (NERAASA).

January 14, 1990

The first planning meeting was held at the Area 44 Office in Northern NJ. Seven people were in attendance: Jimmy S. - P27/A49, Past General Service Trustee; John S. - P33/A44, then serving as Northeast Regional Trustee; Annemarie M. - P39/A30; Jake H. - P38/A28; Tom L. - P37/A44; Carol C. - P39/A44; John H. - Alt. Delegate/A44. Jimmy S. was elected chair of the committee; minutes were taken by Annemarie. A letter was sent to the Panel 37, 38, 39 and 40 delegates, asking them to please distribute copies of the letter to all past delegates in their respective areas. The sense of the meeting was that NERAASA must be a "low-key, working weekend", not a convention. There should be a modest dinner offered for Saturday night, made affordable to all GSR's and DCM's.

March, 1990

Current and past delegates went back to PRAASA to get more information.

June, 1990

The second meeting was held at the area office in Northern NJ. Twelve of the eighteen delegate areas were represented, constituting substantial unanimity for the Northeast Region. A motion was made, seconded and passed to hold the first Northeast Regional A.A. Service Assembly, which was to be hosted by Area 30, Eastern MA. It was also tentatively decided to hold the second NERAASA in Wilmington, DE. Minutes were taken.

Sept. 21, 1990

The NERAASA concept was presented to the Delaware Area Assembly by the Northeast Regional Trustee, John S. It was favorably received and endorsed by the Delaware area.

October, 1990

At the Northeast Regional Convention (NERC) in Hagerstown, MD., an informal meeting was held to further discuss plans. No minutes were taken.

Fall, 1990

The NERAASA Committee received seed money from certain delegate areas.

January 12, 1991

A third meeting was held at the area office in Northern, NJ. Twenty-five people were in attendance. The committee voted to have NERAASA the end of February, being that the "Women in A.A. Convention" was held the second weekend of February, and PRAASA was held the first weekend of March. The committee also confirmed the bid for the Delaware Radisson Hotel for the second NERAASA. Minutes were taken.

1991

Many planning meetings were held in host Area 30, Eastern MA, chaired by Annemarie M. The committee was regional in nature and not a specific function of Area 30. March, 1991 The first NERAASA announcement flyers were distributed at the Northeast Regional Delegates reunion (NERD) in Eastern PA.

April 15, 1991

A letter was sent by the NERAASA '92 Host Committee to the Northeast Regional Panel 40 and 41 Delegates, Alt. Delegates, and Area Chairs clarifying the purpose of NERAASA, seed money contributions, registration, etc. June, 1991 Registration forms were made available for the first time at the Northeast Regional Forum (NERF) in Bethesda, MD. Each area received 500. The registration fee was $12.00.

August, 1991

A letter was sent by the NERAASA '92 Chairperson to the Panel 40 and 41 Northeast Regional Delegates, Alt. Delegates and Area Chairs, passing on more information and requesting input on Conference topics. At that point in time, five Northeast delegate areas had forwarded voluntary seed money.

Sept. 28, 1991

Requested and received an advance from the Delaware Area Assembly in the amount of $250.00, payable to John H. and daughters, as a deposit for printing the registration forms.

October 18, 1991

An informal meeting was again held during NERC that year in Waterville Valley, NH, with the NERAASA '92 and '93 committees. Annemarie briefly recounted the historical high points of how NERAASA began and brought the committees up to date on how registrations were going at that time for the first NERAASA.

Nov. 20, 1991

A memo was sent to all Northeast Regional Delegates, Alt. Delegates and Area Chairs, again inviting their respective areas to submit agenda topics.

Dec. 10, 1991

A letter was sent by the NERAASA '92 Chair to the General Service Board and GSO Staff extending an invitation and reminding them of the hotel cutoff date of 1/15/92.

Dec. 16, 1991

A letter was sent by the NERAASA '92 Chair to the Central Offices and Intergroups of the Northeast Region reminding them about the event and giving information.

Feb. 14-16, 1992

The first Northeast Regional A.A. Assembly was held at the Tara Ferncroft Hotel in Danvers, MA., Area 30. To everyone's delight, 385 people attended, of which 205 were GSR's, DCM's and alternates. The entire 1993 NERAASA Committee was there as well. Although not all 18 delegate areas had yet voted to participate officially, all 18 areas were represented by A.A. members at the event. There were two Saturday Night speakers for that first NERAASA: Ruth J., immediate past Pacific Regional Trustee, and Michael Alexander, General Service Board Chair. The Northeast was the fifth of the eight regions in A.A. to host a Regional Service Assembly.

March 21, 1992

The 1993 committee met in Wilmington, DE, along with Annemarie and several others. Annemarie shared that there was no overage from the first NERAASA with which to provide '93 with seed money, due to $1,000.00 in checks having been stolen along with the motor home in which they had been placed. The vehicle was recovered but the checks were never found.

April 3, 1992

The NERAASA '93 Chair informed the DE Area Assembly of the need for seed money. The current delegate, Doug T., suggested advance registrations from those attending the assembly. Almost $700.00 was raised that day to help with the mailing costs.

June 27, 1992

A group of people met in Toms River, NJ, at the printing shop of John H., to distribute registration forms to delegates (500 to each area, except 1,000 each to SENY, Eastern PA, and Northern NJ). Individual forms were also given to NERAASA '92 attendees, area chairs and alternate delegates.

Feb. 26-28, 1993

The second NERAASA was hosted by Area 12 in Wilmington, Delaware, chaired by Pat H., Panel 40 Past Delegate.

Final Note:

$1,000.00 was sent to the NERAASA '94 committee soon after the close of NERAASA '93. Because the expenses were significantly less than budgeted for '93, the committee was able to pay the balance owed for NERAASA '92 to the Tara Sheraton Ferncroft in Danvers, MA, and to pay for personal expenses incurred by the '92 Chairperson which had not been reimbursed. This was made possible by a decision of the Northeast Regional Delegates at the 1993 General Service Conference, reported in a letter dated April 30, 1993 to the NERAASA '93 Chairperson from the Northeast Regional Trustee. As a result, there was no contribution to GSO

NERAASA LOCATION HISTORY

NERAASA has been held annually since 1992. In the years leading up to the first NERAASA, several representatives from the Northeast Region had attended an event on the west coast called PRAASA. These members were impressed with what they had seen and decided to see if it would be possible to start a similar service assembly in the Northeast.

YearArea
199230 Eastern Mass. (Danvers)
199312 Delaware (Wilmington)
199450 Western NY (Niagara Falls)
199528 Maine (Portland)
199645 Southern NJ (Cherry Hill)
199729 Maryland (Hagerstown)
199844 Northern NJ (Secaucus)
199959 Eastern PA (Carlisle)
200013 DC (Greenbelt)
200111 Connecticut (Hartford)
200260 Western PA (Pittsburgh)
200348 HMB (Albany)
200443 New Hampshire (Nashua)
200530 Eastern Mass. (Newton)
200670 Vermont (Burlington)
200729 Maryland (Hunt Valley)
200845 Southern NJ (West Atlantic City)
200928 Maine (Portland)
201050 Western NY (Niagara Falls)
201149 Southeastern NY (Tarrytown)
201248 HMB (Albany)
201359 Eastern PA (Lancaster)
201461 Rhode Island (Warwick)
201544 Northern NJ (Somerset)
201631 Western Mass. (Springfield)
201730 Eastern Mass. (Framingham)
201811 Connecticut (Cromwell)
201929 Maryland (Hunt Valley)
202043 New Hampshire (Nashua)