HISTORY OF AL-ANON IN WINDSOR

In 1949, wives of alcoholics met in a room at the back of the A.A. meeting held at Westminster United Church . They were called the Auxiliary. In 1950, they moved to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church at Park and Victoria Avenues where a meeting was held once a month. The Triple A Book was used before the introduction of the 12 and 12’s. For a short period of time when they left St. Andrews they met at members’ homes gathering around the dining room table. When numbers grew beyond 15 members in 1951, the meeting returned to a church, this time St. Barnabas on Tecumseh R. Windsor.

In 1957, the minister at Emmanuel United Church on Lincoln Rd. , invited Al-Anon to hold their meetings at his church. This became the home of Windsor ‘s first Al-Anon meeting – Eastside Al-Anon. By this time groups were beginning to form in the county and as numbers continued to increase other groups began forming in the city. Members of both the city and county groups visited back and forth as guest speakers and panelists. In 1961, there were approximately 83 Al-Anon members in this area.

Groups have opened and closed over the years. For example, in 1980 there was one morning meeting, three day time meetings, a French speaking group and three Alateen groups. In 1985, the first Al-Anon Adult Children group was formed. Today there are 14 Al-Anon, 2 Adult Children and 2 Alateen groups in District 8.

In 1977 Telephone Answering Service was started. Before that Germaine B. had the TAS in her home until 1973. In l980, the first District Service Workshop was held. In 1988, the Public Information Committee organized the first Al-Anon Day. Also, in 1988, the District opened its Bookstore.

This District has certainly grown from the original 15-16 members back in 1950 and the 83 members in 1961. Today it is estimated that the membership of our district is 205. Today we can attend an Al-Anon meeting any night of the week. What would we do today if we only had one meeting a month?

Audrey P. – Archivist, District 8