The first AA meeting in Ontario, Canada was held at the Little Denmark Restaurant on January 13th, 1943. Present were Reverends George Little and Percy Price, accompanied by six alcoholics. From "50 Years The History of AA in Ontario" first printing June 1993. YIS, bernadette m. king city group ontario - - - - From G.C. the moderator, see: http://www.aatoronto.org/webapp/app/webroot/index.php/pages/committees/archives "Alcoholics Anonymous quietly arrived in Canada, Toronto, Ontario, to be exact, on January 13th, 1943. The first meeting was held without fanfare at the Little Denmark Restaurant, located on the west side of Bay Street between Gerrard and College Streets. Present were Reverends George Little and Percy Price (see below), accompanied by six alcoholics. Enough interest was shown in the initial meeting that a second meeting was scheduled and held one week later. And so, Alcoholics Anonymous in Ontario was born." Harry Emerson Fosdick's very positive review of the newly published Big Book "stirred an interest in Dr. George A. Little, D.D., then a fifty-six year old Minister of the United Church of Toronto. Dr. Little had been a caring man who had unsuccessfully attempted to help alcoholics gain sobriety. Fosdick's review led him first to make copies of the book, then to order a personal copy of the Big Book for himself. Having read the book, he began in earnest mimeographing portions of it which he distributed to anyone he felt could further the cause or more importantly, to those he felt might be helped themselves. With his good intentions and tireless effort, people started to want more, and as a result, he ordered five copies of the Big Book in June, 1941. As an enthusiastic supporter of A.A., Dr. Little continued to be the alcoholics' friend - so much so that he enrolled at the Yale University School of Alcoholic Studies from which he graduated in 1941." FOR A COPY OF GEORGE LITTLE'S ARTICLE ON GOD IN A.A., which is well worth reading, see: See http://www.barefootsworld.net/aagodconcept.html THE GOD CONCEPT IN ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS From Religion in Life, Vol. 18(1): 25-33, 1948 By Rev. George A. Little, D.D. Little's article is a really excellent summary of what most early A.A.'s believed about God. It is completely in line with what the Big Book says, and may be helpful to modern folks in reading and understanding the Big Book. The Rev. Little was influenced by and strongly supportive of the position held by Harry Emerson Fosdick, who taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York City along with Reinhold Niebuhr. Fosdick was famous all across the country because of a sermon he wrote entitled "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" This is also worth reading, to understand the position held by most early A.A. people. This was also the underlying position held by the people who edited The Upper Room (the chief A.A. meditational book from 1935 to 1948). Copies of Fosdick's "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" may be found in a number of places online, including: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5070/ http://baptiststudiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/shall-the-fundamental\ ists-win.pdf http://books.google.com/books?id=2bRx12uApGIC&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=%22Harry+Eme\ rson+Fosdick%22+%22Shall+the+Fundamentalists+Win%3F%22&source=bl&ots=YKN_8jj4C-&\ sig=-hUtvAY_HRYUrDFvErL1hzYLtlI&hl=en&ei=jORYSuaMCpDwlAeTmKTjBA&sa=X&oi=book_res\ ult&ct=result&resnum=8