Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Seed Discussion Forum

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GregFL:
In February of 1973, The Seed was claiming 2900 kids that had been in the program.

By December, 1973, that number had swelled to 5000.

Thats is an increase of 2100 kids in less than 10 months.
The Seed had locations in Miami (closed in late 1973), Ft Lauderdale(closed late 2001), and St Petersburg(closed October 1975) at the time.

The Seed announced in June of 1973 the opening of three new seed locations;

Ft Pierce was due to open immediately with 100 "applicants"(closed after one year, don't have the month yet)

Ft Meyers within 90 days (never opened?)

And a panhandle location (never opened?)

The Seed also later opened a Stow Ohio branch that lasted only a month because Art moved in before he got a variance granted and when granted, a condition was attached that the police and Fire inspectors had access for routine inspections. Art, true to form, refused to allow police and Fire inspectors access and moved out of the building., they moved to cleveland where 60 kids were enrolled, and a tool and die company gave them  30 acres in a nearby suburb of Cleveland called Aurora under the condition that they use it. They  planned to operate it as soon as "economically feasible". I no little after this.

The man who donated the use of the St Pete Morgan yacht building, Will Caruthers, tried to get Art to open in his town (Dallas, TX) but apparently those plans fell thru.

Arts ambitious plans were to open a seed location in every major US city or area.

Anyone in Ohio that cares to do a little research as to when and why they closed, please email me or post a response.

CW:
greg, i am really happy that you are constantly updating and keeping things current. It seems alot of people (like me) start their stories but don't continue. I have learned so much from reading this form that I feel I am able to put my past behind me. I know that there are peolple out there who believe me and know that what happened. If is funny how even family members don't remember things the same way. Your sister has been very kind, I am hoping to see her soon, I have been gone and just got back so I have been checking the mail. This site has been a life saver for me. I can't thank you enough for turning me onto it. I have heard the reasurance I have needed for years on this site. I have learned I am not alone. I can remember my friends with fondness, knowing they did not know what was happening either. Thank you for opening the door to a healing heart inside of me. As sad as it is, it is so nice not to be alone.

Watching kids get taken to the seed was like watching Hitler gathering people onto the train. WHY DID NO BODY STOP THIS INSANITY SOONER.

GregFL:
One of the things that has been a comfort to me kathy, is to know that people indeed did try to stop it, and were sucessfull to some extent.

In Miami, they pretty much ran Art out of town.

In St Pete, the press (Margaret Leonard and Eleanor Randolph and the editorial staff) were instrumental in preventing untold numbers of thoughtfull parents from putting their kids there, and perhaps responsible for the Judges to stop sentencing kids there as well. The negative publicity was relentless. The Times deserves an award for their brave handling of the story back then.

The Stow county commission in Ohio insisted by use variance that the police and Fire officials be allowed to "inspect" without notice. This in effect closed that location.

The congress was instrumental in getting the NIDA to deny funds to the Seed. When the money dried up, so did Art.

The NIDA came out with "concerns" that had to do with the treatment of the kids (us) and in fact, coined the term "the cult of the seed".
Prior to this, I don't think people were calling it a cult, but instead were calling the techniques "peer pressure".

kathy, I am so glad you are getting something out of this. It makes it all worthwile. Lets keep it up, learn as much as we can, and continue to move forward. When you run into all those seedlings in and around St Pete, write down this link and hand it to them and tell them we want their story and participation.

Thank you.

blue morphine:
i`ll never forget in miami there was a childrens program on television called "skipper chuck". well the day or the week that the seed was run out of town mr. skipper chuck(his real name was chuck zink) came on the program (now mind you this was a childrens show with popeye cartoons etc.)  he came on, and on live tv or 1 day tape delay i guess and ridiculed everybody who was responsible for running the seed out of town.. it was something to see and hear thats for sure. im guessing it was around 73 or later..

 anybody remember this??



 blue

[ This Message was edited by: blue morphine on 2002-09-24 14:51 ]

Anonymous:
I used to watch popeye as a kid that was simulcast from Los Angeles on KTLA channel 5.  There used to be a skipper type guy with a blue skipper type hat that would take doodles that children sent in and make art pictures of them---was this the same Skipper Chuck?
Curious.

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