ALCOHOLICS Anonymous (AA) will cele-brate its Jubilee Anniversary Convention with two days of activi-ties at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre, Couva, from June 15.

Theme of the Convention is, “Trusting our Future to AA’s Principles,” which would reflect AA’s history and how members achieved their sobriety and personal recovery from alcoholism by sharing their experience, strength and hope -- the joy of sobriety.

Hundreds, if not thousands, from across this nation including visitors from as far north as United States and Canada, will converge at the Resource Centre from the Corpus Christi holiday to celebrate with AA.

More than ever before, the convention is expected to reflect the Caribbean membership AA.

Contingents from Barbados, Antigua and St. Vincent will also attend.

A representative from the General Service Office in New York will be present and is carded to address the gathering each day on various topics including “AA Around the World”.

The festivities and gala opening will be kicked off by the Minister of Social Development and Delivery Services, Anthony Roberts who will deliver the feature address and declare the convention, open.

Other addresses will be delivered by Dr. Fidel Rampersad, chairman of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous and Ainsley Nichols, retired general manager of the Co-operative Citrus Growers’ Association and trustee emeritus of the Board.

There will be two big meetings at the opening and closing, along with a bevy of activities, including, workshops, talkathon meetings, entertainment by popular artistes, dance as well as humour by popular comedian John Agitation.

A special old-timers’ meeting will be held at St. Mary’s College, Port of Spain where the AA seed was planted on April 20, 1956 from which this vast, life-saving and life-giving fellowship mushroomed into 112 AA groups in urban and rural communities in Trinidad and Tobago.

Not all the participants in the three-day gala will be AA members.

Al-Anon Family Groups, a fellowship for friends and relatives of alcoholics, will be hosting their own programme of activities. While the two fellowships often co-operate, they are not affiliated, hence the reason for separate programmes of activities.

Among those AAs attending, a sizeable number has been sober between four and 10 years; another group falls between 11 and 20 years and the old-timers range are those that haven’t taken a drink for 25 years.

Grateful tribute will be paid to those who have pioneered the way for AA in this part of the globe.

The theme of the Convention reflects AA’s history and how AA members achieve their sobriety and personal recovery from alcoholism by sharing their experience, strength and hope -- the joy of sobriety.