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Since 1888!

Since 1888!

Orange, California, is known for the quaint ambiance of Old Towne Orange, with historic houses dating from Victorian to bungalow style, stores, restaurants and nightclubs that look like they are straight out of mid-century small town America. It’s also home to Chapman University, which is walking distance from the Old Towne Circle. The Old Towne historic district is about a mile square, making it the biggest historic district in California.

The bars and nightclubs in Old Towne look like the kind of joints where dandies from days gone by sporting suits and fedoras might be standing at the bar inside, smoking. It isn’t hard to picture Bill Wilson dressed like that as he stepped into a phone booth in the Akron hotel lobby where he called around looking for another drunk and got Dr. Bob’s name from a local clergyman. There are plenty of Orange AA meetings and many of them are within walking distance of Old Towne Circle.

Orange AA Meetings Start Early Seven Days a Week with the Early Birds Group

The Early Birds Group meets seven days a week in an office park at 812 W. Town and Country Road. Early Birds is an open AA meeting, and it is not unusual to see people leaving the meeting early to get to work. For this group, leaving early is considered the norm. It’s an interesting mix of old-timers with years in the program and newbies who are just coming into the rooms. They always have a big coffee urn going and somebody usually brings donuts.

The location is itself one of the hidden jewels of Orange County. Though not apparent from the street, the office park has a Japanese style garden winding through the length of it with trees, a stream, waterfalls, water lilies and other vegetation, ducks and koi. Best of all is the experience, strength and hope you can connect with in this early morning discussion group to begin your day in the best way possible.

Meetings in the Batavia Woods Medical Center

The Batavia Woods Medical Center has some of the best AA meetings in Orange. The meeting place is upstairs in the complex, so you should get there a few minutes before the meeting starts in order to find the suite easier by seeing where others are headed. Batavia Woods Medical Center is right down the street from Children’s Hospital Orange County at 705 W. La Veta Avenue, Suite 208.

batavia woods medical ctr

Batavia Woods Medical Center – Recovery (and Sponsors) Inside!

Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. there’s the Sunshine Pumpers, an open discussion meeting where newcomers and old-timers mix. Like most AA meetings there’s a core of regulars, with a few people who are visiting from out of town, and also those in on a court card. This meeting is usually very upbeat, with a good sized group most Sundays and there’s plenty of coffee and donuts.

Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. they have another meeting in the same room, “The Other Twelve and Twelve.” This meeting is closed, meaning only people who identify as alcoholics may attend. This meeting is a good way to get to know and understand the Twelve Traditions and The Twelve Concepts for World Service of Alcoholics Anonymous, those rules that govern AA and have allowed Alcoholics Anonymous to grow and to continue helping people all over the world recover for over 70 years.

Monday Night at Batavia Woods they have a lively and crowded newcomers meeting at 7:30 p.m., the Monday Night Beginners Discussion Group. Here you can share your experience with people who are new in recovery, or if you’re a newcomer you can connect with others new to the program and maybe find somebody who has worked the AA 12 steps to sponsor you.

The fourth weekly Orange AA meeting held at Batavia Woods is Saturday night’s “Not A Glum Lot.” This open discussion meeting starts at 7 p.m. It is a very good choice if you’re looking to connect with somebody who has years of sobriety and “works a good program.” Like the other meetings, the “NAGL” group is a mix of people with varying lengths of sobriety. This meeting offers coffee and donuts or cake on the last Saturday of the month to celebrate AA birthdays.

Hart Park Meetings in Orange, California

Another meeting place that’s within walking distance of the Circle in Orange is Hart Park, a big park that is located a few blocks down Glassell Street. Tuesday Nights at 8 p.m. there’s the Hart Park Newcomers Group, located in the Hart Park Clubhouse. This meeting is not for the stodgy because it features a lot of clowning around. Nor is it a good meeting to attend if you’re allergic to dogs because some members do bring their pets. They usually have a drawing here where you buy a ticket and the lucky winner can pick from a selection of AA literature.

The other meeting at Hart Park is held once a month on the last Thursday at 6 p.m. The Enjoying Life Group is held in the picnic area of the park. The Hart Park picnic area has been known to be a favored hangout for people who go there to drink out of paper bags, and this meeting may be a good one for somebody looking to offer a helping hand to somebody who may want to want to quit drinking. It’s probably not a good idea to approach somebody who’s there trying to enjoy their hooch undisturbed, but being present in the park with a group who is sober and “enjoying life” is a great message of hope.

There Are More Than 90 AA Meetings in Orange, California, Every Week

There are so many Orange, California, AA meetings every week that even limiting this blog to AA meetings within walking distance of Old Towne Circle we haven’t covered all of them. When it comes to finding an AA meeting where you feel at home, there’s a large variety to choose from in Orange.

Orange, California, AA features

• Speaker meetings
• Big Book Studies
• Women’s meetings
• Men’s meetings
• Spanish Speaking Meetings
• Newcomers meetings
• Step Studies
• Tradition Studies

There are many variations/combinations of the above. For instance, Spanish speaking Big Book studies, Men’s newcomer meetings, and so on.

You should be able to find a meeting that you like in this town on any day of the week. Happy hunting!

 

MORE INFO ON SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AA