Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Vermont Roots of AA, September Workshops


Alcoholics Anonymous History with Dick B. and Ken B.

 

Vermont Roots Workshop Meetings: September 2-9, 2012

 

Tentative Agenda Items

 

By Dick B.

© 2012 Anonymous. All rights reserved

 

September 2-3: Sheraton Burlington, Burlington, Vermont

 

Sunday evening, September 2

 

·         Get-acquainted gathering for those who will be traveling with us to St. Johnsbury on Monday morning, September 3.

·         Review of resources to be used:

 

o   Dick B. and Ken B., Bill W. and Dr. Bob: Green Mountain Men of Vermont (2012—new!)

o   Dick B. and Ken B., A.A. Literature Frequently Mentioning God, His Son Jesus Christ & the Bible: The Long-Overlooked Big Book Personal Stories (2012—new!);

o   Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont;

o   Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator’s Role in Early A.A.;

o   Alcoholics Anonymous: The Original 1939 Edition (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2011): http://goo.gl/5fPLB; and

o   The Early Manuscripts at Stepping Stones, compiled by Dick B. (Kihei, HI; August 2012).

 

·         Suggestions and questions from participants.

·         Kickoff gathering before leaving for St. Johnsbury.

 

September 3-6: Comfort Inn & Suites, St. Johnsbury, Vermont

 

Monday, September 3

 

·         Get-acquainted gathering for those who will be involved in the St. Johnsbury events.

·         Review of evidence obtained, evidence available, and suggestions from participants

·         Suggested agenda: Discussion of a tour of St. Johnsbury:

o   The St. Johnsbury Academy and its archives;

o   The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum (library);

o   The courthouse in St. Johnsbury;

o   The former location of the St. Johnsbury Young Men’s Christian Association building on Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury

o   North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, and its “Dr. Bob Core Library;”

o   The Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury; and

o   Dr. Bob’s birthplace and boyhood home on Summer Street.

 

Tuesday, September 4:

 

·         Morning gathering.

·         Tour of St. Johnsbury: Noon A.A. meeting at Dr. Bob’s house (optional).

·         Special questions about St. Johnsbury still pending or to be investigated.

·         Panel workshop reviewing:

o   “The Great Awakening” of  1875 in St. Johnsbury;

o   Conversions and transformations;

o   The Fairbanks family;

o   The Smith family;

o   The importance of North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury;

o   The importance of the Young Men’s Christian Association in St. Johnsbury;

o   The importance of the United Society of Christian Endeavor;

o   The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum resources; and

o   The St. Johnsbury Academy library and archives.

·         Evening gathering and review.

 

Wednesday, September 5:

 

·         Morning gathering.

·         Special interests, questions, and desired investigations by participants.

·         Dedication of “Dr. Bob’s Core Library.”


·         Evening gathering and review.

 

Thursday, September 6:

 

·         Special trip to Northfield, Vermont, and then to Northfield, Massachusetts (on the way to Manchester:

o   Norwich Military Academy in Northfield, Vermont (where Bill attended school); and

o   Northfield, Massachusetts: birthplace, boyhood home, and home in later of life of Dwight L. Moody; site of the Moody schools for young girls and boys; home of the Moody Bible conference, and location where the Student Volunteer movement began.

 

September 6-8: Avalanche Motel, Manchester, Vermont

 

[Manchester is the location of: (a) Burr and Burton Seminary (now Burr and Burton Academy), where Bill attended school; (b) First Congregational Church (where Ebby Thacher boarded with its minister, Rev. Sidney K. Perkins), (c) Zion Episcopal Church (where the father of Bill’s girl friend, Bertha Bamford, was Rector); (d) the Thacher family summer home; (e) the Burnham family summer home; (f) the Manchester Courier newspaper; (g) the Manchester Historical Society; and (g) the Manchester libraries.]

 

Friday, September 7:

 

·         Morning gathering to review evidence and hear what’s already been unearthed; decisions on which places various participants are willing to search.

·         Questions about Burr and Burton Seminary, First Congregational Church records, Rev. Perkins records, newspapers and library and archive records. (Neal Britner will have some ideas and reports based on his many years of research in Manchester.)

·         Visits, if desired, to Burr and Burton, the Congregational and Episcopal churches, the libraries, and the Manchester Historical Society.

·         Visits, if desired, to the Rowland Hazard home in Glastenbury, Vermont.

·         Panel workshop with questions, answers, evidence, suggestions on the entire Wilson-Thacher-Hazard-Cornell-Graves-Bamford picture.

·         Evening gathering.

 

Saturday, September 8: Morning gathering to plan agenda.

 

·         Visit, if desired, to The Wilson House, the Griffith House Library (to which Dick B. donated hundreds of his research books and thousands of pages of documents and other historically-important items), and/or the East Dorset Cemetery.

·         Visit planned to Rutland to check out the Grace Congregational Church, data on the time the Gilman and Emily Wilson family spent in Rutland, the city newspaper, the city’s historical society, and library records of the Wilsons: including church and United Society of Christian Endeavor links, if any.

·         Leave for Burlington in the late afternoon.

 

September 8-9: Sheraton Burlington, Burlington, Vermont

 

Saturday evening, September 8:

 

·         Possible evening gathering for preliminary review of Northfield, Manchester, East Dorset, and Rutland lessons.

 

Sunday, September 9:

 

·         Morning gathering to review workshops, evidence, utilization of findings.

·         Trip to University of Vermont Library to scout out additional evidence.

·         [Sunday evening, around 5:00 pm:] Dick B. and Ken B. depart from Burlington Airport Sunday evening.

 

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