Ron W. had been exposed to the program sometime in 1963, and had erratically attended meetings in Portland, hoping that a meeting closer to home would be the key to permanent sobriety.  Ron’s mother in law Evelyn, persuaded the Gray Congregational Church Council to allow the use of their facilities for AA Meetings.

The first meeting was held on February 22, 1966, and according to Ron B., “IT WAS SNOWING LIKE HELL”.  There were 6 or 7 in attendance Carmen and her husband Walter, Ernie T., Andy and Dotty, Ron and one or two others from the mother group in Portland. 

At this time, no other meeting in the Greater Portland area was scheduled on Thursday night.  Andy recalled, “WE COULD ALWAYS COUNT ON THE SUPPORT FROM OTHER GROUPS, SI AND CHARLOTTE OF THE BATH GROUP BECAME REGULARS AS DID O’NEILL FROM NORWAY AND MORRIS FROM BRIDGTON”

The Gray Village Group built a reputation for sending a strong straight up AA message.  Andy attributes this to the regular attendance of solid AA members such as Jimmy D. and Ernie T. Pounding and Dotty kept everyone fed with her delicious cakes.  “THE GRAY GROUP CONTINUED TO REMAIN FOCUSED ON OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE”, continued Andy, “WHEN WE HAD RAFFLES, WE DIDN’T GIVE AWAY CLOCKS LIKE SOME OTHER GROUPS HAD STARTED TO DO, WE RAFFLED OFF SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE GRAPEVINE.  THIS WAY, EVEN IF THE PRIZE WINNER WENT BACK TO THE DRINK, HE’D GET A DOSE OF AA MESSAGE FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS WHETHER HE WANTED IT OR NOT”. 

Our sense of responsibility was very strong.  AA wasn’t popular back then.  We always made sure we left the church hall in better condition after each meeting than it was when we arrived, so we were a bit surprised and hurt when we were notified that the church council had voted that AA could no longer use their hall.  Fortunately the Pastor at St. Gregory’s Church, Father Roach, was eager to welcome AA meetings. 

Ron recalled that Father Roach was quite sure that several of his parishioners would do well to attend AA.  ‘WE DIDN’T MISS A WEEK, I DON’T REMEMBER THE DATE, BUT SOMETIME IN 1972, THE GRAY VILLAGE GROUP MOVED TO IT’S CURRENT HOME IN SAINT GREGORY’S PARISH HALL”. 

After the move, the Group continued to grow with approximately 50 regular members.  The Group put on well attended dances and socials.  These were usually organized by Cathy S.  Once Cathy moved however, no one seemed to want to pick up the ball and run with the job of putting together these events.

“THE GRAY GROUP HAD IT’S PROBLEMS” Recalled Andy, “I HAD BEEN OPENING AND CLOSING THE MEETING SINCE THE START, NO ONE ASKED ME TO I JUST ALWAYS DID IT, UNTIL SOMEONE CAME UP TO ME AND SAID, “BOY YOU JUST THINK YOUR DOING IT ALL”  I WAS PRETTY MAD AND HURT, BUT WE CALLED A BUSINESS MEETING AND ELECTED ALL NEW OFFICERS AND ROTATED TERMS ACCORDING TO AA’S SUGGESTED TRADITIONS”  Andy left the Gray Group for a short while, attending other area meetings and joining Loners International.

Over the years, the attendance at the Gray Village Group has waned and then grown again.  The Group hosts a Monday 10:30 AM Discussion meeting along with the original 8:00 PM Thursday night meeting, which is formatted as a Speaker’s Meeting.  The Gray Village is active in service and regularly participates in speaker commitments as well as booking speakers for the Thursday Night meeting.

* Prepared by Peg W. - September, 1992 *