Timeline for District 14 History

Information comes from sources in parentheses, or from a number of sources.

1936--James D. ("J.D.") H got sober in Akron, Ohio, as A.A. No. 10 (handout found in archives)

1938--J.D. H and his wife came from Akron to this area, two years into his sobriety. (Bob E)

1939--J.D. visited Dr. Joe W, copy of the new book "Alcoholics Anonymous" in hand, but the doctor wasn't interested.  (Bob E)

1940--he made a second visit to the doctor, who was more willing, this time in jail.  (Bob E)
       --4/23, the first meeting of what became the Tristate Group, oldest meeting in Indiana.
          (http://www.aamuncie.org/Significant_April_Dates_.html)  They would meet in J.D. and      
          Rhoda's home, 420 S. Denby (the house used as the background picture for this blog), on                    Tuesdays, the same day the group still meets.  (handout found in archives)
       --8/18, Dr. Joe died, leaving Dr. Clifford R., his partner who had also gotten sober       
          in A.A., and J.D. as "the key A.A. Leaders in Evansville" (handout found in archives)
       --10/28, "The first A.A. group in Indianapolis was founded by Doherty S. after
          contact with J.D. H in Evansville."  (handout found in archives)

1941--visit to Evansville by a doctor from Akron, probably Dr. Bob, written about in the Evansville               Press, 10/27

1950--Dr. R died 9/8 (handout found in archives)

1951--J.D. H returned to Akron (handout found in archives)

1956--Eastside Group registered 1/23 (GSO)

1960--Joe H. got sober.  (Bob M)
        --Tristate Convention started.  (Bill S)

1961--Tri-State Group registered 1/30 (GSO)
        --J.D. H, co-founder of AA in Evansville, passed 5/27 (Akron Beacon-Journal)

1966--Joe H. bought the building at Columbia and Linwood, and started the clubhouse.  (Bob M)

1967--Bob M. got sober.  (Bob M)

1973--We Are Not Saints Group registered 6/4 (GSO)

1974--Regina Group registered 8/13 (GSO)

1978--Jimmy D. and others helped start the Central Office.  (Bob M, Pat R?)
        --Sunday Morning Step Group registered 7/6 (GSO)
        --First Edition Group registered 8/2 (GSO)
        --Stone House Group registered 12/22 (GSO)

1979--New Hope East Group registered 10/29 (GSO)

1980--INCYPAA started by Chuck A and Tony C, of southern Indiana AA (Tony C)

1981--Saturday Morning Group (St. Boniface) registered 10/1 (GSO, Tom R)

1984--Breakfast Discussion Group registered 6/6 (GSO)
        --Wansford Group registered 11/26 (GSO)

1985--Women's Resource Group registered 12/4 (GSO)

1986--The Smile City group was started in Mt. Vernon by Jerry H. and Malcolm W, registered 5/6.                (Bill S, Jerry H, GSO)

1987--C & L Noon Group registered 4/23 (GSO)
        --Safeway Group registered 6/29 (GSO)
        --Johnson Hall Group registered 9/1 (GSO)
        --Harmony Way Group registered 10/19 (GSO)

1988--Women's Anonymous Group registered 6/17 (GSO)

1989--The first Old Stone club started.  (newsletter?)
        --Friday Night McCurdy Group registered 1/10 (GSO)
        --Thursday Grapevine Group registered 7/18 (GSO)

1990--Way of Life Group registered 2/20 (GSO)
        --Thursday Night Step and Traditions Group registered 7/18 (GSO)
        --Old Stone Speaker Group registered 12/7 (GSO)
        --C&L Sunday 7am meeting started (Donnie S)
        --Chuck A carried flag in International Convention, in Seattle (Chuck A)

1991--Saturday Morning Group registered 2/1 (GSO)
        --Monday Night Women's A.A. Group registered 4/10 (GSO)
        --Sun Night Old Stone Club Group registered 6/10 (GSO)
        --Big Book Study Group registered 6/28 (GSO)
        --Sunday Morning Gratitude Group registered 9/30 (GSO)

1992--Rule 62 Group registered 1/15 (GSO)

1993--Young People for Freedom Group registered 1/22 (GSO)
        --There is a Solution Group registered 3/24 (GSO)
        --Monday Through Saturday Noon Group registered 5/20 (GSO)
        --Primary Purpose Group registered 8/9 (GSO)

1994--Old Stone 2 opened (Mike H)
        --Rebos Group registered 2/3 (GSO)
        --Friday Night B/B Nomads Group registered 2/23 (GSO).
        --K.I.S.S. Group registered 7/1 (GSO)
        --Fairway Group registered 11/10 (GSO)

1995--Step Sisters Group registered 1/1 (GSO)
        --Health Matters A.A. Group registered 3/7 (GSO)
        --Men's Works Group II registered 3/14 (GSO)
        --Step Climbers Group registered 4/3 (GSO)
        --Young Peoples Rule 62 Group registered 8/1 (GSO)
        --Breaking Group registered 9/19 (GSO)

1996--Oasis Group registered 1/31 (GSO)
        --Noon Saturday Beginners Group registered 12/6 (GSO)

1997--Poseyville Big Book Study Group registered 11/5 (GSO)

1998--Jim C went on to "the meeting in the sky"
        --The Big Book Comes Alive Group registered 6/16 (GSO)
        --101 Group registered 7/21 (GSO)
        --4th Dimension Group registered 9/1 (GSO)
        --Recovering Support Group registered 9/26 (GSO)
   
1999--Old Stone 3 opened (Mike H)
        --Unity Group registered 1/7 (GSO)
        --Challengers Group registered 1/10 (GSO)
        --Men's Pocket of Enthusiasm Group (MPEG) registered 2/18 (GSO)
        --Cross Pointe Group registered 7/7 (GSO)
        --New Harmony Group registered 7/7 (GSO)

2000--Annual Hog Roast registered (Chris K)

2001--Unity Recovery Group registered 5/4 (GSO)
        --Tuesday Lunch Group registered 6/20 (GSO)
        --Cross Street 12 and 12 Study Group registered 7/31 (GSO)
        --New Saturday Beginners Group registered 12/6 (GSO)

2002--Third Tradition Group registered 1/2 (GSO)
        --R.A.W. Group registered 8/16 (GSO)

2003--Grupo La Fe Group registered 1/4 (GSO)
        --Sisters of Sobriety Group registered 1/14 (GSO)

2004--Sober Cafe opened (Trey C, Jim N)
        --Focus on Sobriety Group registered 1/4 (GSO)
        --Angels of the Round Table Group registered 3/19 (GSO)
        --Beginner Orientation Group registered 9/5 (GSO)
        --Weds Night Closed AA Group registered 10/13 (GSO)

2005--Lunch Bunch Group registered 4/19 (GSO)
        --Thumpers Group registered 6/12 (GSO)
        --Newcomers in Sobriety Group registered 11/4 (GSO)

2006--Monday Night Get it Right Group registered 2/20 (GSO)
        --Sunday Noon Group registered 4/23 (GSO)
        --Hope and Healing Group registered 5/2 (GSO)

2007--Go to Any Length II Group registered 1/1 (GSO)
        --Founders Group registered 7/1 (GSO)
        --Women in Sobriety Group registered 8/7 (GSO)
        --Pass It On Group registered 10/20 (GSO)
        --East Side Discussion Group registered 11/6 (GSO)

2008--Evansville Northside Group registered 8/25 (GSO)

2009--Sobriety on Saturday Group registered 5/2 (GSO)
        --G.R.O.W. (Grateful Recovering Outstanding Women) Group registered 5/5 (GSO)
        --By the Book Group registered 11/4 (GSO)

2010--TGIS (Thank God I'm Sober) Group registered 11/1 (GSO)

2012--Women's Happy Hour Group registered 7/9 (GSO)
        --LGBT and Allied Group registered 10/23 (GSO)

2015--John G. passed

2017--Bob M. celebrated 50 years of sobriety

2018--Bob M. celebrated 51 years of sobriety

Oral history interviews: Bob M on C&L and more

(conducted at C&L in the second floor meeting room, I believe in November 2016.  Bob celebrated 50 years of sobriety in the room downstairs about 11 months later--October 2017!)

I heard that they had an AA meeting at the community center, and I needed it then.  But, you know, I had no idea.  But I was curious about it.  I remember being curious about it, but I was afraid to check it out.  I was only 17, 18 years old--my senior year.  I was already having trouble. already was into major trouble.

Anyway, I’m not sure how long they continued to meet at the community center.  I think the group split, and the original group went down to the little building right next to the Bell telephone building,  down at the corner of 5^th and Court.  I think the original group met there, and the group split off around the time Joe came in.

And they started meeting at Harpo's tavern, down on Division Street.  There were two doors to Harpo's.  I knew Harpo's well.  As you faced it, the door to the right took you into the bar downstairs.   The door to the left took you up some enclosed stairs, and they had an AA meeting upstairs.  It was a pretty good-sized hall. 

AA used to be so hard to find.  It was really anonymous.  They kept it anonymous, and you can understand why:  the stigma was something else.  And even after a person would get sober, a lot of times they’d lose their job.  If the lawyer found out they were in AA, they’d fire them--couldn’t have "drunks" working for them.

But anyway, they used to have dinners, I think once a month they had a dinner above Harpo's, and then in 66, Joe bought this place, and it was a mess.  He was a carpenter, and a darn good one, and he started working on it, and they started having meetings here.

Finally, at the tail end of my drinking, I was so ashamed that I wouldn’t go home, and I was out there.  This friend finally told my wife that her mother had been sober for 15 or 20 years.   She was one of the first women in Evansville. This was quite a wealthy family.  She finally told her, and she gave her Joe H’s telephone number--not her mother’s, Joe Hayden’s telephone number.  But she got it from her mother.  

Shortly after that happened, I finally hit bottom.  I had called her and said "I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but I gotta try something; I’m dying out here."  Winter was coming on.  It was October.  I'd been on the street once before, and I knew I wasn’t strong enough to make it.  I had acute alcohol poisoning,  and I was close.  I almost died.

Anyway, I called her and told her I had to try something.  She said, "You really mean that?"   And I said, "Yeah, I’m dying out here."  And she said, "If you really mean that, come on home."  I hadn’t seen her in 5 or 6 months, and she said, "However, there’s gonna be two guys from AA."  She called Joe, and Joe said, "Are you calling for help, or is he?"  And he said, "If he ever calls for help, I’ll be there.  Call me any time, day or night."  

As it turned out, he couldn’t come that morning.  It was a Sunday morning.  He was a devout Catholic, very active in the Catholic Church, and he couldn’t come.  But two guys came who couldn’t have been two better guys for me.

That’s the way I found it.  You couldn’t find it.  They did have a number in the phone book, but how many drunks do you know who are gonna look in the phone book for AA?  We had an answering service, and that's the way we tried to carry the message.  Some people, usually families, would call, and we would tell them, "Well, if this person calls and expresses a desire, call and we’ll come," and we'd make 12th Step calls through that.  That was about the only way to carry the message.

Joe was very interested in trying to carry the message, trying to get the word out, and we had all kinds of projects that we would do.  Half this group took doctors, and another half took preachers.  We’d call on them.  Joe was very active in trying to get the message out, and consequently, he was not popular.  

That was the split.  They wanted to keep it anonymous.  They did keep it anonymous for a lot of years.  When I started, there were three meetings here a week:  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night.  Monday night was closed, and they had an Al-Anon meeting upstairs here.  It had been two bedrooms up here, two little old bedrooms, and that’s where they had it.  But eventually, they tore the wall out and made it one room.  But Al-Anon would meet on Monday night, and they met on Wednesday morning at 11 o'clock. 

Kenny B and I started a meeting on Wednesday morning, at 11 o'clock, at the same time the Al-Anons met, for people working nights.  But there were only about four of us that attended that meeting.  Kenny and I, and a man named Gene C was a great guy.  He was unemployed at the time.  He lived on Pigeon Creek in a houseboat, or he had, and they’d run everybody off of Pigeon Creek.  Gene--he had no education, hardly, but boy, he was a skilled carpenter and a great guy.  

And a guy named Eddie--Eddie’s still around, and I can’t think of Eddie’s last name, but Eddie comes to this meeting occasionally.  He’s been sober a good while.  He had a slip, but he’s been sober a good while.  He’s one of the few guys I’ve ever known that had a slip with a lot of sobriety, and was able to make it back and stay sober.  

Most of the people--if they had any length of sobriety and then slip, it takes them.  Quick.  I had a friend up in Tell City who'd been sober maybe 28 years.  He went back out, and he was dead within 14 months.  Unbelievable.  

The ones who slip--mostly they quit going to meetings.  They forget a day at at time.  This is the only place I ever heard of a day at a time.  And that’s all you got, really.  In my opinion, once you quit working a daily program, you’re in trouble.  It’s just a matter of time.  At least that’s the way I feel about it.  That's one of the main reasons I keep coming back--for my own sobriety.  However, I do feel a debt of gratitude, too.  Someone was here when I got here.  

A lot of people have gotten sober, and they’ve left.  Most of them leave and go to church, get real active in church, and get holier than thou, and they forget where they came from, in my opinion.  Some of them died sober, but most people, if they quit a daily program, it's just a matter of time--they’re gonna relapse.  At least, that’s been my experience.  

I was really active in service work when I first got sober, and anything Joe asked me to do, I’d do.  I started a meeting out at old Clearview Mental Hospital.  It didn't last very long--they shut the hospital down.  And I’d been locked up in that darn place--that’s why Joe asked me to start a meeting out there.  The year before I got sober, I got locked up out there.  I was there two weeks and conned my way out.  Supposed to be there a month.  

But anyway, the next meeting that I know of was on Sunday night here.  We started a Wednesday morning meeting, then we started a Sunday night meeting, and it was a 12 and 12 meeting.   It was a small meeting.  At one point we had a good group coming to that.

And then we just slowly added meetings every night.  From a period of '67 until about '72, '73, I believe it was '72 that this group split.  This group was humongous by then.  We were meeting every night, and the only closed meetings were Monday and Wednesday.  Monday was a speaker meeting.  Well, so was Wednesday and Friday.  And they were all speaker meetings.  Wednesday and Friday were open speaker meetings. 

At that time the neighbors didn’t want us here.  The neighbors were upset that we were here.  You know alcoholics, especially recovering alcoholics, are loud, laughing, carrying on.  And we’re meeting here three nights a week!

And to have a key to this place was really an honor.  There were just a few of us that had a key.  So I think we’ve lost some things.  But I also think we’ve gained a lot of things.  And I think as long as we stick with the Traditions, we'll be okay.