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Pro-Lifer Claims Boycott Success Over Abortion Supporting Poinsettia Business
LifeSiteNews ^ | 11/20/07 | Meg Jalsevac

Posted on 11/23/2007 9:20:21 AM PST by wagglebee



November 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two years ago, San Diego based pro-life activist James Hartline used his on-line report to organize and promote a national boycott of Paul Ecke Ranch Christmas poinsettias due to the Ecke family's extensive history of financial support for abortion-giant Planned Parenthood (PP).  Hartline is now claiming a major boycott victory. Recent local reports indicate that, since the 1920's, this will be the first year the principal poinsettia producer in the nation, Ecke Ranch, will not produce and sell their typically large crop of the festive Christmas plant.

The Ecke family's financial and ideological support of PP is well-documented and extends back through the years.  Multiple members of the Ecke family are listed on the Planned Parenthood of San Diego's 2006 annual report within the 'Margaret Sanger Donor Circle'. 

Mrs. Elisabeth Ecke, referred to as "a longtime champion of Planned Parenthood and the reproductive services it provides", is listed as also having bequeathed funds to PP upon her death.  In 2005, several members of the Ecke family contributed $250,000 to fund the renovation of the local PP clinic which was in turn named in honor of the family matriarch, Elisabeth Ecke.

According to an article in the San Diego Tribune Review, the Ecke Ranch has decided to license Armstrong Garden Centers to both grow and sell poinsettias under the Paul Ecke Ranch name.  According to ranch officials, the change is not expected to cause any great diminution to the ranch's overall income since they assert that selling the full-grown plants does not constitute the bulk of their business.  However, according to the Tribune Review, the ranch typically grows and sells anywhere between 300,000 to 400,000 full-grown poinsettias each Christmas season.  This year, they will produce only 6,000 to be used for promotional purposes.

While the Tribune Review article makes no mention of the pro-life boycott, Hartline is convinced that it has affected the Ecke business.  "It is clear that our boycott will continue to hurt the Ecke name and their poinsettia sales.  I fully believe that the Eckes know that their name is bad news among pro-lifers.  I believe their decision to license out their name is, in part, due to our ongoing boycott."

Hartline encouraged pro-lifers to continue the boycott of the Ecke poinsettias saying, "We must understand that the Eckes will continue to profit off of the poinsettias being produced by Armstrong Gardens, because the Ecke name will still be used."

 "I am convinced that our boycott has created major problems for Ecke Ranch.  Without churchgoers purchasing their poinsettias, the Eckes will have a real hard time getting that extra cash they need to fund Planned Parenthood.  Babies are more important than giving the Eckes blood money for their poinsettias!"

To contact Armstrong Garden Centers who will be selling Ecke poinsettias this Christmas:

Corporate Office
2200 E. Route 66, Suite 200
Glendora, CA 91740-4673
TEL: (626) 914-1091
 
Gary Jones, Marketing VP
Armstrong Garden Centers
gjones@armstronggarden.com


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion; moralabsolutes; poinsettia; prolife
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"I am convinced that our boycott has created major problems for Ecke Ranch. Without churchgoers purchasing their poinsettias, the Eckes will have a real hard time getting that extra cash they need to fund Planned Parenthood. Babies are more important than giving the Eckes blood money for their poinsettias!"

Great news!

1 posted on 11/23/2007 9:20:23 AM PST by wagglebee
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To: All

More here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1559123/posts


2 posted on 11/23/2007 9:20:59 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: cgk; Coleus; cpforlife.org; narses; 8mmMauser

Pro-Life Ping


3 posted on 11/23/2007 9:21:56 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: 230FMJ; 49th; 50mm; 69ConvertibleFirebird; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; An American In Dairyland; ..
Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee or little jeremiah to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]


4 posted on 11/23/2007 9:22:26 AM PST by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee

I’m sorry, but these folks are taking claim for something they aren’t entitled. I work in the biz, Ecke Ranch is changing their biz statergery as are all of us who want to survive the housing downturn.

Our industry is hurting in a lot of segments since the hurricane season that spawned Katrina and the other named hurricanes that escape my memory that destroyed many growers assets. Add the housing crunch, credit worries, increased fuel costs, reduced illegal and the H2B limits for the first half of 2008 have already been met, you may even see big players like Ecke and Syngenta, who realigned several of their business structures several months ago, go completely out of business.

Boycotts like these make us feel good, but they rarely achieve the desired results.


5 posted on 11/23/2007 9:45:40 AM PST by bigfootbob
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To: wagglebee

“While the Tribune Review article makes no mention of the pro-life boycott, Hartline is convinced that it has affected the Ecke business. “It is clear that our boycott will continue to hurt the Ecke name and their poinsettia sales. I fully believe that the Eckes know that their name is bad news among pro-lifers. I believe their decision to license out their name is, in part, due to our ongoing boycott.”

LOL! I don’t have a shred of evidence to support my claims but, hey, let’s do a press release claiming victory!


6 posted on 11/23/2007 9:50:52 AM PST by L98Fiero (A fool who'll waste his life, God rest his guts.)
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To: bigfootbob

Well, this is going to make it harder to enjoy going to the Magdalena Ecke YMCA or any of the dozens of local places named after these people. Too bad this family went bad somewhere along the line. I hope they or their next generation can be swayed to see the light.


7 posted on 11/23/2007 10:21:05 AM PST by Defiant ("Expectorate" has Specter in it.)
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To: Defiant

I concur. From what I’ve heard, one of the Ecke heirs is a radical homosexual interested in all the PC nonsense that sullies the family name with adventures into the abyss.


8 posted on 11/23/2007 10:27:38 AM PST by bigfootbob
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To: bigfootbob

“Boycotts like these make us feel good, but they rarely achieve the desired results”

You are right. Desired results would be if this family discontinued its financial support of the abortion industry, or if their financial situation worsened so they could not sustain historical levels of support. Neither of these things have happened. It seems that our efforts would be better spent elsewhere, where the potential to save an unborn child is greater.


9 posted on 11/23/2007 11:54:02 AM PST by ga medic
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To: wagglebee

Oh no. I think I re-gifted mine!


10 posted on 11/23/2007 1:19:48 PM PST by 444Flyer ("Oly Oly Oxen Free!" Matt 3:1-3, Rev 22:17,John 3:1-36, Jude 9, Eph 6, Rev 12:11, Jer 29:13-14)
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To: 444Flyer

Should’ve tossed it or returned it and used the money for a good cause.


11 posted on 11/23/2007 1:20:38 PM PST by 444Flyer ("Oly Oly Oxen Free!" Matt 3:1-3, Rev 22:17,John 3:1-36, Jude 9, Eph 6, Rev 12:11, Jer 29:13-14)
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To: ga medic

I could not agree more.


12 posted on 11/23/2007 2:37:28 PM PST by bigfootbob
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To: bigfootbob

Maybe he hangs out with the Union-Tribune heir, and they plan their assault on San Diego values from a La Jolla patio.


13 posted on 11/23/2007 4:42:42 PM PST by Defiant ("Expectorate" has Specter in it.)
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To: wagglebee
Pinged from Terri Dailies

8mm


14 posted on 11/25/2007 4:39:23 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Jezu ufam tobie...Jesus I trust in Thee)
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To: 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; annalex; ...
To contact Armstrong Garden Centers who will be selling Ecke poinsettias this Christmas:

Corporate Office
2200 E. Route 66, Suite 200
Glendora, CA 91740-4673
TEL: (626) 914-1091
 
Gary Jones, Marketing VP
Armstrong Garden Centers
gjones@armstronggarden.com  
 
 
Contact Information on Post 64

Fortune smiles on Eckes, though voters didn't
 
"People say you can't be a one issue voter and I say, 'Yes I can.'"

http://www.alternet.org/rights/34104/
 
US Largest Poinsettia Farmers among Planned Parenthood's Biggest Donors

Planned Parenthood dedicates new Carlsbad clinic, Ecke said the experience made her a life-long supporter of women's reproductive rights.

Using Christmas to support Planned Parenthood,  The James Hartline Report Action Center
How Christians Are Funding Planned Parenthood: Welcome To The Garden Of Death:  
Ecke's Ranch - America's Biggest Supplier of Poinsettias and One of The Biggest Financier's of Planned Parenthood  Action Alert! November 27, 2006

Fortune smiles on Eckes, though voters didn't

The Company She Keeps LOCAL PRO-ABORT HEAVIES LINE UP FOR ZETTEL

One of The Biggest Financiers of Planned Parenthood
http://www.electiontrack.com/lookup.php?committee=1276142&orderby=amount-asc
Lizabeth Ecke of Carlsbad gave $100, $900, & $3,000 to the No on 85 campaign. Jinx Ecke of La Jolla gave $2,550 & $4,500 to the No on 85 campaign.  Thus these two Ecke women continued their financing of the abortion industry  by giving thousands of dollars to prevent the Prop. 85 - Parental Notification Law from passing in 2006.  Purchasing Poinsettias from the Ecke Family is allowing these women to fund the abortion industry!

Here is a list of Ecke Family connections listed as Planned Parenthood's biggest San Diego donors:

1. The Ecke Family
2. Elisabeth (Jinx) Ecke
3. Lizbeth A. Ecke and David Meyer
4. Paul Ecke III and Julie Hampton
5. Paul and Magdalena Ecke Poinsettia Foundation
6. Sara Ecke May and Andrew W. May Family

Carlsbad, California will now be more capable than ever of continuing to exterminate unborn babies thanks to 74 year-old Ecke Family matriarch Elisabeth "Jinx" Ecke. According to a November 17, 2005 North County Times report (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/11/18/news/coastal/23_38_1511_17_05.txt , Mrs. Ecke, who did not abort her own children, joined those same three grown children, Paul Ecke III, Lizbeth Ecke and Sara Ecke May, to contribute $250,000 of the needed $340,000 for the renovation of the new Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic at 1820 Marron Road in Carlsbad (http://www.planned.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HS_CarlsbadClinic . At the dedication of the new Carlsbad abortion provider, clinic staff honored the Ecke Family with a catered reception. While many of those in attendance chowed down on fancy food, some of the women there, gleefully reiterated their increased drive to support the abortion movement.

According to a Logan Jenkins column in the San Diego Union Tribune www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051119/news_1mi19jenkins.html the Ecke financed abortion clinic in Carlsbad will now be able to "service" up to 1,500 patients a month, twice the number of the old Planned Parenthood abortion mill in Oceanside, California. He also quotes Paul Ecke III, the abortion fanatic's son, who seems to be as agressively supportive of abortion as his mother:

"As children, we licked a lot of envelopes, we made a lot of phone calls, we walked door-to-door to encourage people to vote. Those causes were political campaigns, 4-H club, school bonds, Planned Parenthood and others.

"Our mother demonstrated to us that a family like ours -- even though you've got a business and we all chipped in and worked hard in the business -- we also learned to give back. You don't do things because you should, you actually have to do them, they become must-do things."
Paul Ecke III

Without question, this Ecke Family name will forever be enshrined in the halls of pure evil. The diabolical efforts of the San Diego Ecke clan to associate its name with family and children's charities while pouring huge amounts of money into the abortion industry, is one of the great satanic stories in modern America.

Mrs. Ecke's socialistic beliefs and abortion fanaticism even extends to limiting the role of parents in their children's lives. In the recent Prop. 73 initiative which would have legalized parental notification when their little girls are considering abortions at Planned Parenthood, Mrs. Ecke was a big financier to defeat the proposition. According to the website Election Track, Mrs. Ecke donated $4,500 to the No On Prop. 73 campaign

Magdalena Ecke, the original wife of Ecke Ranch founder Paul Ecke, has her named attached to the YMCA: Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA http://ecke.ymca.org. The idea that the Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, would allow the family name of one of America's biggest financiers of abortion to be attached to its Christian organization is truly an abomination of Biblical proportions. This marketing of evil by the Ecke Family seems to know no scrupulous boundaries.

While the Ecke Clan is assuring that there will continue to be an
assembly line of unborn infant exterminations at Planned Parenthood's abortion mills, they are actually utilizing a network of charitable events with young children to counter their true
devious image. The Paul Ecke Poinsettias programs http://www.pauleckepoinsettias.com merchandises children's fundraising programs at Christmas time, as well as other elementary school endeavors http://www.pauleckepoinsettias.com/html/merch_fund.html

One of the Ecke's most vile efforts in this dark repackaging effort, is their program, "Kids Flowers" www.kidsflowers.com. With Kids Flowers, Ecke Ranch supplies their poinsettias and other flowers to elementary schools for fundraising projects for those same schools. The company website states about the Kids Flowers program: http://www.kidsflowers.com/index.html   "It's All About Kids. And Folks saying "Ooooh!"
A refreshing new way to raise funds for your school.

When parents, who object to the horrific Ecke-sponsorship of Planned Parenthood, bring their children to Legoland, they may not realize that Legoland sits on Carltas Company property www.carltas.com. The connection between the Ecke family and Legoland is clear. On the Legoland website for youth programs, the Ecke named Magdalena Ecke YMCA is listed as a location for Legoland Youth Camp http://www.lego.com/legoland/califo...sp?locale=2057. It is truly disturbing that thousands of parents opposed to abortion, are unwittingly paying millions of dollars in ticket sales to Legoland, while the amusement park landowner is tied to the Ecke Family.

When history is recorded and reviewed, the keen observer will pause to analyze the Ecke Family's obsession with the
baby-killing insanity of the abortion industry. The mockery of family values by the Ecke-Planned Parenthood connections will be scrutinized by Christians for decades to come: How could Christians fill churches with Ecke-produced poinsettias and the bank accounts of Ecke-subsidized Planned Parenthood clinics at the same time? Hopefully, history will also record that one of the great moral indignations occurred as the result of an informed and awakened Christian community becoming aware of, and outraged over, the Ecke-Poinsettia-Planned Parenthood-Abortion connection.

"I was a Republican. I did stand up. I got crucified for it and finally said, 'To hell with it,'" says Elisabeth "Jinx" Ecke, a longtime Planed Parenthood supporter and board member in San Diego, Calif. "I've tried to support Republican candidates in the California Assembly, and they swear on a stack of bibles that they'll vote pro- choice. Then they go to Sacramento and they vote anti-choice. I'm done."  Ecke, 74, cast her first vote for Dwight Eisenhower back in 1953. Four years ago, she reregistered by checking the "Decline to State" box. "I'm supporting mostly Democrats for one simple reason: choice," she says. "People say you can't be a one issue voter and I say, 'Yes I can.'"    http://www.alternet.org/rights/34104/

Take Action Now!

"Choosing Babies Over Poinsettias!"

Take The "Choosing Babies Over Poinsettias Pledge!"

Until the Ecke Family completely stops funding the abortion industry and Planned Parenthood, will you commit to stop purchasing poinsettias?  
Will you encourage your church to stop purchasing poinsettias?   It's that simple. Spread the word. Encourage everyone in America to stop purchasing poinsettias until the Ecke Clan stops supporting the killing of unborn babies.   You can also contact your local nurseries, stores and florists and tell them to stop carrying Ecke products, until they stop funding Planned Parenthood.

For a list of Ecke Retailers and distributors:

www.ecke.com/new1/brokers.asp
http://www.ecke.com/new1/rootnsell.asp

www.theflowerfields.com/ffa/retailer.aspx


Paul Ecke, III

In 1991, representing the culmination of a plan he had set in motion in the early 1970s, Paul Jr. turned over the management of the company to his son, Paul Ecke III. With a lifetime of exposure in the family business and an MBA from Duke University, Paul III is positioning the company for the 21st century.  In addition to maintaining an active New Products Development department, Paul III sees the need to diversify the Ranch's product offering. While remaining committed to the traditions and philosophies established by his grandfather and refined by his father, Paul III brings a progressive business perspective to all Ranch operations.  Contact The Paul Ecke Ranch

To inquire about the purchase of quality plant products from the Paul Ecke Ranch, contact one of our
Authorized Brokers for Poinsettias and The Flower Fields
Or, one of our
Root and Sell Partners for The Flower Fields

To contact us directly:

questions@eckeranch.com         760-753-1134  760-944-4054
Paul Ecke Ranch,   P.O. Box 230488, Encinitas, CA 92023-0488    Click here for directions.

For a telephone and email listing of Sales, Marketing and Traffic, click here.  If you are a commercial grower in need of assistance with any of our products, you may call our Fax On Demand service. A list of available technical documents is available here. You can reach our Fax on Demand service by calling: 
Fax On Demand: (760) 944-4045


15 posted on 12/02/2007 6:38:59 PM PST by Coleus (Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: Coleus
Buy coleus plants instead (I know you will :-) ). They are big-leafed poinsettia-like plants, and have more colors than poinsettias. You can get them at just about any garden center.
16 posted on 12/02/2007 7:16:34 PM PST by Lexinom (Build the fence and call China to account. GoHunter08.com)
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To: Lexinom

Coleus varieties
17 posted on 12/02/2007 7:20:10 PM PST by Lexinom (Build the fence and call China to account. GoHunter08.com)
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To: wagglebee

Sounds like another boycott of these Armstrong Garden Centers is in order.


18 posted on 12/02/2007 8:56:12 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: wagglebee
Pray for an end to abortion and the conversion of America to a mindset of life!

19 posted on 12/02/2007 8:56:44 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: bigfootbob
Interesting, isn't it, that money spent to celebrate Christ's birth is used for the killing of His greatest blessings?

Boycotts like these make us feel good, but they rarely achieve the desired results.

How I feel is irrelevant, as is the issue of whether or not a boycott achieves the desired results.

The only question is: Should I, in good conscience, allow my money to potentially support the murder industry? And the answer to that is NO.
20 posted on 12/03/2007 7:58:29 AM PST by Zechariah_8_13 (www.GOOOH.com)
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