Support for and Subjects of our Vermont AA Workshops

Your Worthwhile Support of

the A.A. History Workshops This September in Vermont

By Dick B.

© 2012 Anonymous. All rights reserved

Ken and I will be in Vermont during early September this year: (1) to dedicate formally the “Dr. Bob Core Library” at North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury; (2) to present workshops in St. Johnsbury and Manchester about the Christian upbringings and biblical training of Bill W. and Dr. Bob in Vermont; and (3) to do additional research on the Christian upbringings of A.A.’s Vermont-born cofounders. [We may even go down to Northfield, Massachusetts, to spend some time at the birthplace and home (in his later years) of Dwight L. Moody, who (along with Ira Sankey and Henry Moorhouse) directly impacted on Vermont’s Christian revival during the 1870’s.] The trip will enable you to join us in workshops, hear the real history of the Christian upbringing of Alcoholics Anonymous’ cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob, and pass along a history that most AAs and recovery workers just don’t know. And whether you can join us for some or all of our Vermont adventure—and we hope you can!—your support in helping to offset the $6,000.00 or so in expenses involved in this trip will be much appreciated.

Dates:

            Sept. 3 – 6: St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Comfort Inn Suites

            Sept. 6 – 8: Manchester (and East Dorset), Vermont, Avalanche Motel

Subjects:

            St. Johnsbury: A thorough history of Dr. Bob’s Christian upbringing and biblical training

Manchester: The many threads of Christian people and places that make up the Christian upbringing of Bill W.—Bill’s friend Ebby Thacher and Burr and Burton Seminary with its daily chapel, four-year Bible study, morning prayers, and regular church attendance; Ebby’s boarding there with the Congregational pastor Rev. Perkins; the summering there of Ebby’s Oxford Group mentor Shep Cornell; the proximity and interrelationship of his other mentors—Rowland Hazard and Cebra Graves; the friendship of Lois Wilson’s family and the Thacher family; the transition to chapel, Bible study, and church services at the military academy Bill and Ebby attended together in Northfield, Vermont (Norwich University); and the family of Bill’s love Bertha Bamford;

           

East Dorset and nearby Emerald Lake where Bill was so much involved with Lois, Ebby, Mark Whalon, and the East Dorset Congregational Church’s creed, confession, sermons, services, Sunday school, tent meetings, revival and conversion meetings, and Temperance meetings. Also Bill’s Bible studies with his maternal grandfather Fayette Griffith and with his friend Mark Whalon. And the unusual story of Bill’s paternal grandfather Willie Wilson’s conversion experience and cure of alcoholism at the top of nearby Mount Aeolus.

We will give a broad picture of the Christian upbringing and biblical training of Bill W. and Dr. Bob:

            After years of research, travel, interviews, visits to libraries and archives, and

collection of documents, we can now provide a very detailed picture for those willing to learn about Vermont, its leaders, organizations, churches, and people who impacted A.A. founders:

Christian ministers, leaders, and members of the Smith and Wilson families in Vermont; Vermont Congregational church contributions; Bible studies; conversions; prayer meetings, Young Men’s Christian Association influences; United Society of Christian Endeavor influences (on Dr. Bob); and the daily chapel, sermons, church attendance, and prayers at every turn—St. Johnsbury, East Dorset, possibly Rutland, Manchester, and Norwich University at Northfield; and the specific Christian suggestions given to Ebby Thacher by the three Oxford Group men (Rowland Hazard, Shep Cornell, and Cebra Graves) that were then passed on to Bill W.

The “Dr. Bob Core Library” in St. Johnsbury which we will formally dedicate in September, and the library at The Griffith House in East Dorset (which was built specifically to house many of the historical materials Dick B. accumulated over the years), already have thousands of these materials; and our new findings on this trip will be added as well.

If you are a Christian leader or worker in the recovery arena, or are otherwise a fan of A.A. history and the Christian Recovery Movement, please consider joining us for one or more days during our adventure in learning more about the two Green Mountain boys of Vermont who cofounded A.A.

Whether or not you can join us this time, please consider supporting our work by making a donation to help offset the expenses involved in this trip. If you would like to make a donation, please make your check or money order payable to “Dick B.” and mail it to: Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837. Or please contact me at (808) 874-4876 if you would like to make a donation by credit card or debit card.

If you would like to have your donation be tax deductible, please give me a call at (808) 874-4876 for details on how to do that.

God Bless,

Dick B.

August 2, 2012

Gloria Deo