April 2014

No Roads to Bethel

A GSR stays sober airlifting Big Books for a remote Alaska town

I got sober in the mid-1980s, in Anchorage, Alaska, an urban community of around 250,000 with many meetings at all times of the day and all days of the week. After several years of sobriety, I completed my college degree and became the GSR for my home group. I applied for a better job, got hired, and moved to Bethel, a small, remote community located about 400 air miles west of Anchorage. Back in the 1990s, Bethel had a population of about 5000. To this day, there are still no roads to Bethel. It’s accessible only by air, except for the summer months when barges loaded with goods can navigate the river because it’s not frozen.

WANT TO CONTINUE READING?

You must have an active online AA Grapevine subscription to access full stories and audio.

Login Renew Subscribe

Need help with customer service?

Call 800 631-6025 (English), 800 640-8781 (Spanish), 212-870-3456 (French) or email: [email protected]
or [email protected]

Have Something You Want To Share?

We want to hear your story! Submit your story and it could be published in a future issue of AA Grapevine!

Submit your Story