Members who are part of our history--Harold M

C & L, the club at Columbia and Linwood, "was his home."  (Steve C)

He was married to Glo M.

Sayings of his: 

"I'm one drink away from a drunk, disaster and death."
"Young man, do you have a sponsor?"
"2-fisted drinker" (he called himself that, because he'd get 2 cups of coffee).
"If you think that you and God are farther apart, guess who moved."

Groups that are part of our history--the Columbia Linwood Group

In an e-mail from GSO Archives, sent June of 2017:

Columbia Linwood Group: Evansville, IN

Service # 105078

In researching the documents for the Columbia Linwood Group, I found that it was originally called the Alacon Group.  The earliest correspondence we have with this group is November 12, 1959.  Written on one of these correspondence is a note that says “Combined Alacon Group, Saturday Night Group, and 700 Group.” The Saturday Night Group’s earliest correspondence is dated February 4, 1949. 

Saturday Night Group

The earliest correspondence from the group is a letter received February 4, 1949.  Casey W., secretary of the group, wrote saying:

This letter is to inform you that another group has been established in Evansville, Indiana with the courteous co-operation of our 2 Bro. Group, Tamasco & Tri-State. We have established a haven for alcoholics which will serve very conveniently to alcoholics who work night shifts in our factories.  This group was formed from small groups, meeting in private homes on Saturday nights until we decided and voted to start a Saturday Night Group. As a whole we decided on the Community Center which houses the Tuesday Nite Tri State Group, same time 8pm. I was elected secretary of the group to serve until July 949.

Bobbie B., secretary at the Alcoholic Foundation Office replied and welcomed the group. 

The only other correspondence we have with the group is another letter from Casey W. This one is dated March 3, 1949.  In it Casey says the group is growing slowly.  The number of members was not listed. 

Alacon Group

The earlies correspondence is a group information card dated November 11, 1959. Sid W. was listed as the contact person for the group.

The next correspondence is also a group information card. This one is dated January 30, 1961. Sid W. and Earl P. were listed as the contact people for the group. They had 15 members who met Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

The G.S.O. received a contribution from the Alacon Group in October 1981.  The group could not be found in our database and we wrote for explanation.  A letter from Kenny B., member of the group was received on November 13, 1981.  It says

In the past we have been listed as seven different groups with seven different G.S.Rs. In September 1981 we decided to elect only one G.S.R. for the Alacon Group which now has ten meetings each week. All these groups meet at the Alacon Club and are the sole support of the Alacon Group. The G.S.R. who now represents the Alacon Group is Rodger McA.

The letter lists the groups that are part of the Alacon Group and the Saturday Night Group is listed as one of these groups. 

The next correspondence is dated December 12, 1983.  A group information sheet lists Kenneth B. and Mark W. as the contact people for the group.  They had 30 members who met daily.

On November 21, 1985 David T., G.S.R. for a group, wrote saying he had been elected.  As he did not include the name of the group, the records department at the G.S.O. wrote asking for the group. On December 8, 1985 he replied with:

The name of my group is the Columbia & Linwood Group.

The Saturday Night Group was first listed in the 1950 print directory. 

Our print directories provide the following information for the first few years the group was listed: 

Year	Name of Contact person	Number of members	Day of Meeting
1950	John C.	15	Not listed
1951	Ivan L.	15	Not listed
1952	Jack G.	10	Not listed
1953	Gil O’G.	15	Not listed
1954	No name listed	10	Not listed
1955	No name listed	15	Not listed

The Alacon Group was first listed in the 1960 print directory.

Our print directories provide the following information for the first few years the group was listed: 

Year	Name of Contact person	Number of members	Day of Meeting
1960	Kenneth S. and Sid W.	65	Monday, Thursday, and Saturday
1961	Sid W. and Earl P.	15	Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
1962	Lee B.	5	Saturday
1963	Group not listed
1964	No contact name listed	Not listed	Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
1965	Everett M.	Not listed	Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday

Columbia Linwood Group was first listed in the 1996-1997 print directory.

Our print directories provide the following information for the first few years the group was listed: 

Year	Name of Contact person	Number of members	Day of Meeting
1996-1997	Tim D. and Tom W.	Not listed	Daily
1997-1998	Tim D. and Tom W.	Not listed	Daily
1998-1999	Tim D. and Tom W.	Not listed	Daily
1999-2000	Chris E.	Not listed	Daily
2000-2001	Chris E.	Not listed	Daily

Our electronic directory lists the group with 125 members who meet daily.  Jeremey F. is listed as the current contact person for the group. 

Members who are part of our history--Mike W

When he'd been diagnosed with brain cancer, he said the doctor had given him a certain length of time to live, but he wasn't on the doctor's timeline.  He also said it was a "win win," because dying would take him home to God, or he'd get to keep on living.

--drawn from a conversation with Therese B-A