Glenn Carpenter’s passion was to help other people help themselves. He always had a desire to give back to his community and he gave back in many different ways.

By establishing several businesses, holding positions with a number of councils, commissions and sports clubs, as well as an extensive volunteer history with service organizations such as the YM-YWCA, Glenn spent most of his life making a difference.

Glenn was a lifelong member of the Y’s Men’s Association and was a member and past president of the Saint John Y’s Men’s Club. He was also a founding president of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization in Saint John.

Glenn was an avid participant in the Saint John Board of Trade’s business mentoring program, where established business owners guided new owners in successful business practices. In the summer of 1998, Glenn bought the old Ketepec School building and turned it into a “small business incubator”, a place where entrepreneurs could get started with low overhead costs.

Of his many business ventures, Glenn’s biggest was Tabufile Atlantic Ltd., in Saint John. Glenn ran Tabufile, a business-product development and manufacturing company, until he became ill in 1996 and passed the business on to his son-in-law and daughter, Dale and Wendy Knox.

Mr. Capson, a long-time friend of Glenn and fellow “Y’s man”, said Glenn had an unstoppable positive outlook on everything. “Certainly very, very much a positive thinker,” Mr. Capson said. “Any time our club would be looking at the negative side of a fundraising activity or project, Glenn would always be the one to stand up and talk about the positive side. Next thing you knew, everybody was saying, ‘yeah, let’s go, let’s do this.’”

Long time friend Richard Burpee, simply referred to Glenn as a true friend. “I’ll remember him as committed to both his family and his business and a true friend to anyone who ever met him,” he said.

The Establishment of the Glenn Carpenter Centre
Glenn had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in February 1996 and the disease had finally won the battle he had been waging for nearly four years in January 2000.

It was Glenn’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive that led to the creation of the Glenn Carpenter Centre on Ashburn Lake in Saint John, New Brunswick.

In August 1999, the Carpenter family discussed with Glenn what he wanted his enduring legacy to be and he advised that he would like to set up a summer camp for the youth of Southern New Brunswick that would help them become tomorrow’s leaders. Glenn and his brothers had positive camp experiences as children and he was certain that the skills learned there helped shape the person he became.

Glenn quickly pulled the resources required together. He brought in the YM- YWCA, of which he was an avid volunteer and member for many years, the Saint John Y’s Men Club, with whom he had been a member for over 40 years including as past president, and the family. A three-party agreement was reached and the plan to purchase Ashburn Lake was underway.

When visiting the 220-acre property Glenn was able to envision the positive impact this facility could have on area youth for years to come. The property was owned by the family of the late C.N. Wilson, who once owned the Saint John Dry dock and summered at Ashburn Lake. The lake had been a fishing lodge since the 1800’s. The Wilson Family had the property for sale and had potential buyers, but decided to work with the Carpenter Family when they heard of Glenn’s vision for the property. The funds were in place and agreements were basically finalized when Glenn passed away in January 2000 knowing that the project would move ahead. Glenn knew his final act of kindness would touch thousands and he could not have been happier.

The paperwork was completed in April 2000 and the Glenn Carpenter Centre was officially born.

In the summer of 2003, a summer program was piloted in conjunction with ACAP (Atlantic Coastal Action Program) that provided Environmental Education to area youth registered with the Saint John Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Teen Resource Centre. Facility rentals subsidize the summer program, and allow for people of all ages to experience the magic of Ashburn Lake and the vision of Glenn Carpenter.