Author Topic: Eckers camps and long term effects.  (Read 3646 times)

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Offline GregFL

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Eckers camps and long term effects.
« on: August 23, 2006, 10:48:33 AM »
Jack Eckerd, founder of Eckerd Drugs, was a St Petersburg resident and staunch supporter of the Seed St pete.  He also had his own "program" that reportedly, mixed with a wilderness and camp profile, also used some of the 'rap' and confrontation techniques.

I cross posted this on the teen help industry forum, but take a look at this...



Lets see, 12 year old boy gets caught shoplifting bubble gum in 1968 and the judge sentences him to camp "E-How-Kee", the first Jack Eckerd juvenile camp that reportedly used synanon techniques and has had bad press thru the years.


So, the now 51 year old aids patient returns for a visit and surprise, surprise, the former 12 year old bubble gum thief has this to say....

"If it weren't for Jack Eckerd, I'd be dead or in prison," Davids said. "I wouldn't be here."


http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/23/Herna ... _at_.shtml


The power of these places to instill pre-program worthlessness into people is strong indeed.

Just.

Unreal.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline GregFL

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Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2006, 11:00:26 AM »
Oh yeah, not to mention he stayed at Eckerd's 'rehab' for 13 MONTHS for stealing gum at 12 years old.


I just can't believe that , 40 years later, he cannot rationally see that he got a major screw job by the system.

Dead or in jail because he stole gum at 12 years old?

Where or where have we heard this logic and reasoning before?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2006, 01:47:04 PM »
Well, I just crossed Eckerd's off my list.


It is unreal.  But I would have had to go to a program to believe it.  There is a lot of fear/ignorance out there.
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Offline Antigen

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Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2006, 03:58:34 PM »
Remember FloridaTreasure?
http://wwf.avigation.net/search.php?sea ... datreasure

I think I'll drop her a line and see how she and her daughter are doing.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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Offline marcwordsmith

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Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2006, 12:02:56 PM »
Wasn't Jack Eckerd the Republican candidate for FL governor in '78, running against Bob Graham? (He lost miserably as I recall. Those were more enlightened days!)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline GregFL

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Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2006, 05:02:47 PM »
I believe he was, Marc.
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Offline Ursus

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Things he learned at camp
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2010, 06:28:14 PM »
Here's that article copied out before it disappears altogether in the pay-per-view archives:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

The St. Petersburg Times
Things he learned at camp

A former attendee of Camp E-How-Kee returns to the place that taught him how to survive throughout his life and after being diagnosed with AIDS.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published August 23, 2006


BROOKSVILLE - The smell of the woods took Bob Davids back.

Back to Dec. 3, 1968, when the then 12-year-old stepped off the yellow bus after a bumpy ride to Camp E-How-Kee, Jack and Ruth Eckerd's first outdoor camp for troubled boys.

Tuesday, after almost 40 years, Davids made the trip from his Clearwater home to the Hernando camp that helped shape his life. As he lives with AIDS he contracted from a blood transfusion, Davids said he had to see it again.

Driving through the camp's gate was like turning back time. It didn't take long for Davids to recall the morning he stood in a convenience store on Seminole Boulevard in Largo, shoving fistfuls of gum into his pockets so he could impress his first crush. Her name was Beverly.

He quickly learned then of the perils of love - and the consequences of stealing - when Beverly ratted Davids out.

But it wasn't the first time he had sticky fingers, and police gave his frustrated, blue-collar parents two options. Hand their youngest of five children over to the them, or send him to the camp.

To the newly built camp it was.

As he walked with the help of his cane through the 880-acre camp in Brooksville Tuesday, 51-year-old Davids took a big whiff of air.

Ever since he left Jan. 15, 1970, Davids has longed for the smell of pine trees, cypress and sandy soil - his world for the 13 months he lived in Hernando County.

Looking back, Davids knows now that he acted out for attention. He was the youngest child who got the hand-me-down everything.

When it was his turn to use the lawn mower to make some extra money, one of his brothers presented it to him with one wheel.

At the camp, Davids learned how to build the shelter where he lived, which campers are still required to do. He continued his studies and learned how to cook meals and roast s'mores, also considered integral parts of the program today.

He went canoeing for the first time down rivers like the Withlacoochee, Chattahoochee and Suwannee. His group of latchkey teenage boys, who soon grew to be close friends, and their two counselors even got to take a hiking trip through the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

A bunch of snot-nosed kids learned how to survive - and not just in the woods, Davids said.

When anyone acted out or had a temper tantrum, the counselors lined the boys up and took them out into an open field. There they circled the unhappy one and helped him figure things out, even if it meant missing dinner.

It was at Camp E-How-Kee that Davids learned how to realize that he had a problem, think about how to solve it and move on. What he learned all those years ago has stayed fresh, he said.

The only time he thought about giving up was when he found out that he had HIV about 10 years ago. Doctors traced the virus to blood he was given in 1982 while having surgery.

After four years of waiting to die, Davids said his camp-inspired values came back to him. He started taking care of himself, and slowly worked his body out of a wheelchair and wrapped his hand around a cane.

Today he relishes being around to see his 13th grandson, not to mention watching another season of Buccaneers football. The trip back to Camp E-How-Kee is another highlight that he'll never forget.

"If it weren't for Jack Eckerd, I'd be dead or in prison," Davids said. "I wouldn't be here."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at [email protected] or 352 848-1432.
[Last modified August 23, 2006, 05:53:44]


© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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Offline photo man

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Re: Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2010, 02:03:14 PM »
Quote from: "marcwordsmith"
Wasn't Jack Eckerd the Republican candidate for FL governor in '78, running against Bob Graham? (He lost miserably as I recall. Those were more enlightened days!)

- Drugstore magnate Jack Eckerd -
« Last Edit: June 04, 2010, 08:00:28 AM by photo man »

Offline Whooter

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Re: Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2010, 03:15:03 PM »
Doctors prescribe drugs and drug stores distribute them.  You cant blame the cashier at the drug store and call he part of the big Pharm problem.  The drug stores did not control what drugs they sold, how could they.  We have a local drug store chain that doesn’t want to sell the morning after pill and they are calling that illegal.  Drug stores have to sell what the doctors prescribe.

I remember Eckerd Drug stores growing up.  They were everywhere.  You would think a guy like that would take his millions and retire someplace nice.  But he decided to dedicate his final years to helping kids.  Maybe his methods were not effective, maybe they were.  But at least we know his heart was in the right place.



...
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline photo man

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Re: Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2010, 03:50:11 PM »
Quote from: "Whooter"
Doctors prescribe drugs and drug stores distribute them.  You cant blame the cashier at the drug store and call he part of the big Pharm problem.  The drug stores did not control what drugs they sold, how could they.  We have a local drug store chain that doesn’t want to sell the morning after pill and they are calling that illegal.  Drug stores have to sell what the doctors prescribe.

I remember Eckerd Drug stores growing up.  They were everywhere.  You would think a guy like that would take his millions and retire someplace nice.  But he decided to dedicate his final years to helping kids.  Maybe his methods were not effective, maybe they were.  But at least we know his heart was in the right place.



...

- blah blah blah -

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Antigen

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Re: Eckers camps and long term effects.
« Reply #10 on: June 01, 2010, 10:08:55 AM »
I remember that my dad had access to Paula Hawkins by way of being a Seed/Straight parent. He was fighting a long term battle with the postal service and, for some damned reason, the newly elected Senator from Florida took a special interest in his case.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Don\'t let the past remind us of what we are not now."
~ Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes