memories

The got this email the other day. I just thought that it speaks of the kinds of things that often get left out in reports:

"I was a counsellor at Camp Glenburn from 1972-1974 and prior to that was a camper for about 10 years. My real name then Linda MacDonald and nickname at camp was dimples. ..
Kathy Keith now a doctor was Rusty
Debbie Sabean --Happy
Pat Stephen --Flipper
Camp Director was Sue D'arcy --Sugar
The greatest time of my life was at Camp Glenburn. I looked forward to every summer. My sisters went to Camp Glenburn when it first started as well. We , as counsellors , were not paid any money until the camp became mixed. Once they added boys and girls, we got 100.00 a week. I was paid for one summer as being counsellor as you were a volunteer eh. Gosh I have great memories of it. Thanks Linda "

Camp was one of the greatest times in my life too. I know that it taught me things and gave me people that mean the world to me. People I will think of and love and stay in touch with for my whole life. I went there from right after high school in 1996 and stayed there for a while (till 2001 or so). It was the most fun ever. The money wasn't good but you got free accomodations, the best beach around and regular feeds of mustard ham and mac and cheese.

In starting up this blog, I was thinking that it would be a great place to post funny or interesting camp stories if you have any. Give 'er!

We're up to 417, keep the names coming.

Links to the reports

Here's some links to the reports online. Scroll to the bottom of the page, click on the link "proceed to file download page" (its on the right) and then click on the "download file" button (at the bottom of the page).

Camp Infrastructure Report:
http://www.yourfilelink.com/get.php?fid=478298

Camp Audit:
http://www.yourfilelink.com/get.php?fid=478297

Enjoy and share with others! Merry Christmas. Thanks to Joanne Sparkes and all the Camp Alumni Committee who have spent so much time working on this.

New developments

Some new developments have been happening on the Glenburn front.  

There have been two formal reports written on behalf of the Glenburn Alumni and presented to the Board.  The first report is an Infrastructure Assessment report.  It describes, in good detail, what would be required, in terms of infrastructure repair and upkeep, to make Glenburn completely up and healthy again.  This includes a review of all the areas of camp and the estimated cost of repair/improvements as well as an estimated timeline for each issue.   The cost, from what I can tell from report, is about 

$200 000.  It was done Jeff Sparkes, an engineer at ADI Limited.  It is an impressive read and is very specific in description of the various areas of camp.  The info on cost and timelines are especially important right now.  

The other report is a Residential Camp Audit Report.  It was done by Keith Publicover and it gives reviews of the various sites that are associated with Glenburn.  It also gives details on the demographics of campers, and the current fiscal reality of camp (whether the place is losing money, as some have implied).

I'm not going to go into all the details of the reports here, I highly recommend reading them yourselves.  Make a not in the comment section of this post if you`re interested in a copy of either or both of these.  I`m going to see if I can make them accessible through a link to download from here but I haven`t done that yet.  

These reports arwere presented to the Y Board (ha, the "why" board) in September 2008.   The authors of the reports were invited to the November 2008 Board meeting.  No significant decisions were made on the future of camp at either of these meetings.  This is likely good news, as they have no real obligation to put things on hold.  This isn't necessarily a result of the work being done on behalf of the alumni.  Head over to Prince Edward Square sometime and see if you think that this is the look of a place ready to make these kinds of decisions.  

So, that's where we are going to have to pitch in soon.  The Alumni is planning some fund-raising aimed at raising $250 000 in the next year.  People need to remember how pissed we all were when we first heard about this and resurrect that sort of energy to make this a success.  It feels as though we were kind of lulled to sleep since the initial opposition to the Task Force report.  We are going to have a chance to act soon so we better step up.  We`re going  to have to start tracking down people from the list on the right and getting some $$.

A few more names

We're a little farther along that we once were. We've added a few more names lately and I'm pumped about the continuing interest in this whole endeavor.

I was just thinking about something after I got some more names the other day. I was remembering the importance of keeping the mystery of camp names vs. real names for those still involved in being Glenburn staff. I remember how fun it was for campers to not know the real names of staff. If there are people who are still working there who would rather their name be kept off the list until they are no longer active staff members, just let me know and I'll take care of it. I'll keep them on my master list but I'll just take them off here.

Thanks!

Keep the names coming and keep visiting this place to see what's new. I know there's things in the works so we'll need people when things start happening again publicly.

excel

For those interested, I'm posting an excel version of the camp names list right here:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p5zCr11JtQ2mYE_h9bl7DAg

give 'er!

List Hits 400!

Thanks everyone, our list hits an even 400 names of people connected through Camp Glenburn. There's no news on the Saint John YMCA-YWCA front. Hopefully (but not likely) they have wholeheartedly abandoned the plans to move camp to Ashburn and have wisely decided to keep 2 beautiful, profitable properties up and running.

I'll keep posting here, I'm seeing about 30 or so people a week on here, according to the counters I've got going so, as long as people keep looking for info, I'll be posting what I know and what I think. Lately, it's been way more of what I think. Also, keep looking for more people who may know some camp names.

WOOHOO!

camp glenburn sites

Here's a question: Is it really worth it for the alumni to own the url's for camp (campglenburn.com and campglenburn.ca). I'm not sure why but, when this whole ordeal began, the alumni became the proud owners of both of these domain names. It was purchased a while ago and it will be up for renewal in a bit of time but I'm just not sure if there's any reason to maintain ownership of these. Any comments? It isn't up for renewal for a while but it's something that I was thinking about the other day.

One more thing, we're almost at 400 names for camp alumni, try to think of at least one more so we can make it past this milestone. If you assumed about 40 staff a year (without taking into account the returning staff) we would be going back at mroe than a decade of full staff teams that we've accounted for. I know we go much farther back than this on our list. I want to hit the 400 mark in the next month or so.

Keop

I was at Harvest Jazz and Blues festival the other night and I met someone who knew a staff member named Keop. I think her first name was sarah or susan or something like that......anybody know this one?

All's quiet

All seems quiet on the Glenburn front right now. I haven't talked with Hogan about how the summer went but it's one of those things that, unless you hear something bad, it must have been pretty good. Anyway, I'm not sure what to expect from the Y right now. Now that camp is over, I have a feeling that they will move forward with things mroe quickly but that's only my opinion. It was great to see the summer go off without a hitch and minimal drama in regards to this issue being dragged into the realm of general public knowledge. It's certainly not a secret but it also is not quite common knowledge as of right now. I still think that the place is in jeopardy. For sure, if people didn't show up that "information night" with strong voices and opinions, decisions would have been made and the future of Glenburn would have been pretty depressing.
So don't worry, I didn't forget it, I just didn't have anything else too relevant to say and I am not into the idea of making this a talk-about-feelings blog (lame-o). I will try to post regularly, more so when news arrives than just randomly.

Curious

Anyone got any ideas of things they would like to see on a poll of some glenburn alumni? If so, send suggestions my way. I can make polls here and a people have voted some times, I'm open to post any sort of favorite (or least favorite) thing that is Glenburn related.
Thanks again to everyone who donated some money towards the septic tank. It is pretty unbelievable how quickly money was raised by this group and it just shows the positive impact that an organized alumni can have on the place. Nice work!

Back to school - camp names excel spreadsheet

Alright, summer is over folks. Back to work (quite literally for those teachers out there). I don't have much new info to offer but I'm trying to get more regular at posting at this blog because I know that people are out there reading it. I am going to put a copy of the camp names in excel format online so people can download it and sort it however they wish. I think that the next reasonable step is going to be to start to think about contacting people when support is necessary.

I hope everyone working at Glenburn this summer had a great one! I heard it went wonderfully.

Here's the link to the camp names spreadsheet:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p5zCr11JtQ2krG3aZsj4Qfw

Mid Summer Update

I have been speaking with folks at camp and it sounds as though it has been a great summer thus far at Glenburn. Enjoy it, it's half done (boo!)

I have gotten a bit of an update on Glenburn. I got an email from Joanne Sparkes the other day that describes the progress thus far. It also describes a situation regarding some infrastructure needs that have happened recently. Anyway, here it is:

Hello to all of you.

I thought I would get a quick update out to all of you on the progress with respect to Camp Glenburn.

1) I met with Pat Davis (the Y CEO) as a follow-up to the Alumni presentation to the Camp Task Force. With respect to the Camp Task Force Report, the current expectation is that a final report will be released in late August / September. I am still anticipating that a sub-set of the Alumni will have visibility to that report before it goes to the Y board which will likely be in September (at the earliest.) It would appear to me that things have slowed down due to summer vacations.

2) We have informally formed an Alumni “sub-committee” which has been working at various levels on various fronts in support of Camp Glenburn (ie fund-raising, board / executive communication, etc..) I will “seek permission” to release the names in my next email.

3) At my meeting with Pat, I requested that “we” (the Alumni) be made aware of any infrastructure failures at camp. We felt, and continue to feel that should the Alumni be able to financially remove the capital (financial) “burden” that the Camp Glenburn property currently poses to the Saint John Y, that both the Board and the Camp Task Force will see value in continuing to maintain Glenburn in its current location. Interestingly enough, the Alumni had its first small “test” in its commitment to Glenburn in the past week. As many of you may be aware, there was a septic tank failure approx. two weeks ago. It was quickly addressed and the Camp Glenburn Alumni were contacted immediately for financial support. Given that we do not have specific plans in place as of yet with the Y to do a broad capital campaign to raise money for on-going Glenburn support, the alumni “sub-committee” had to quickly respond to the Y‘s request for funds. We launched what was intended to be a small and targeted campaign to raise money to address this one incident. I am pleased to say that within a week, we have raised more than 5k, and we have successfully covered the cost of the new septic tank that was installed last week. It is very important to note that we are still intending to do a broader campaign to raise money in support of a much larger fund-raising program. In advance of this, we are working to understand the actual infrastructure work that needs to happen at Glenburn so that we can start to raise money to support a proactive plan. Our goal is to build a source of funds to draw on to address both incidents like the septic tank, as well as make proactive investments into the Glenburn property. Stay tuned…this is where we will really need the broader alumni’s support!

Of note: For any of you who may have been contacted directly or indirectly to donate money to Glenburn to address this septic tank issue, if you have already donated, please send me your name (the name of the donor) so that I can ensure that your money does go into the Camp Glenburn capital account that has been set up to support Glenburn…and Thank You!!! If you have been contacted and were planning on donating (but have not done so yet) please hang on to your donation for the time being. We have raised the required funds to address the incident at hand. We will be back to all of you looking for support in a broader campaign.

4) There are still rumors flying. I have heard talk of this (2008) being Camp’s last season, and I have also heard of a report that 2009 will be Camp’s last season. I have addressed both of these rumors directly with Pat Davis, and she firmly states that neither of those rumors are true. No decisions leading to either of the above statements have been made.

5) Lastly, on a positive note….My understanding is that Camp Glenburn is having an awesome season. I have been hearing lots of anecdotal feedback from parents that their kids are having a great time at camp this summer. I would also like to say that I thought the Glenburn Open House to kick-start the 2008 camping season was a great success. It was so nice to re-connect with so many of you.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Joanne (Teli)

PS – Happy Birthday Flint for tomorrow (July 29th)…

still growing

Hey, we're almost at 400 people so far. I'm sure that there are tons of others out there and I hope that people continue to think about it and email any additions here. The open house was a big success and it was great to see so many people out. Camp looks great and the staff were excellent. I hope that we can keep the energy up in regards to saving camp while making sure not to rock the boat too much while the camping season is in full swing.

I also hope that people are starting to think about the contribution of financial resources towards our cause. We will have ample opportunity in the near future to donate money directly towards improvements at Glenburn. I anticipate that once people can be sure where there money is going, they will not hesitate to help out when help is needed. I know this would make a big difference for me and people I've spoken with.

So, keep the names coming and enjoy the summer, I know that everyone at camp is!

Camp Names Update

Alright, we have about 305 confirmed camp names as of right now. Thanks to everyone for their contributions. We do still have a lot missing and a lot of "Known Unknowns" that I bet we can fill in. Keep thinking back to camp years and trying to remember names. Even if you only remember a camp name or a first/last name, send it along and we can add it to the list. Also, if you know anyone who might remember, point them this way and we'll see how long we can go. Thanks everyone. 305 is not to friggin' bad, eh?

Anyone know anything about Endowment funds. I've heard that that Glenburn has been placed under the Y Endowment Fund for protection in case of bankruptcy. I've also heard that, by transferring this property to the Endowment fund, this would increase the value of the Fund in the event that it is used as collateral for borrowing money from a bank to fund a project (perhaps the development of a new property). An increase in the value of the collateral would allow the Y to have a lower rate when borrowing money.

Every time I think that Glenburn is going to be safe, I find out something else that makes me nervous. Boo.

Camp Names

Hey,
I'm trying to compile a list of all the Glenburn people and all their camp names. I feel like a bit of a dope because I already know I'm going to hear names that I should have remembered and people I love but it's a big list so I'll get over it. My list is to the right of this post, if you scroll down a bit. The best way to search for people is to use the "Find" tool that comes under the Edit menu of your web browser (way up top of the screen). It is also in alphebetical order by first names. If you can think of any more, comment here or email me and we'll see how many we can get.

I was thinking the other day that, in the meeting that happened at Ashburn, there was a sense that the emotion attached to the place was something to be appreciated but also a sense that it couldn't be brought up as a valid reason for saving Glenburn and getting rid of Ashburn. Assuming they really had no financial capacity to run 2 facilities at the same time. It was acknowledged, a couple of times but not really taken into consideration.

If the Saint John YMCA had more things that people were this emotionally attached to than they wouldn't be in the position that they are in right now. The level of attachment people have to Glenburn should be a very important factor in deciding whether to get rid of it or not. Especially if you are an organization that is looking for help financially and especially if you are not exactly at the proudest point in your existance located in beautiful Prince Edward Square, Saint John.

Our feelings about the place should be considered as a positive. I also hope that the Y can hold on to both places and have one great facility to operate and the potential for another great facility to run closer to town. If a decision needs to be made as to which one to get rid of, I think that people's love of Glenburn is a valid point to be considered and it should hold more weight than the end of a bullet point on page 16 in the preliminary Task Force report recommending its closure ("warm feelings").

I also hope to see lots of people at camp on the 5th (this Saturday between 12 - 4 pm) at the open house.
KEEP ON SENDING NAMES

Come show your support!

Hey everyone,
It's been a little while since I've been able to add to this. I have been out of the country for a while but I'm back now, there are some new developments. First and foremost, there is going to be an open house this Saturday (July 5th from 12 - 4 pm) at camp and everyone who can show up should do so. We need to show that we can back up our words of support with actions and so let's have some significant numbers on the 5th.

Next up, there was a presentation from representatives of the Glenburn alumni (Sherry Golding, Terry Moore, Kim Peer, and Joanne Sparkes) to Pat Davis (CEO) on Thursday, June 19th. This appears to have been a very productive meeting and they were able to address some concerns. You can view the powerpoint by following this link: http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dp93pxq_9fnfc87t6 or by looking above this blog post. In particular, the following was addressed: (this is an excerpt of an email from Joanne Sparkes to the Glenburn alumni mailing list)

Some findings / points of clarity are as follows:

1) It was stressed the meeting that the Camp Task Force report that Pat Davis distributed to the Alumni is preliminary. The Camp Task Force continues to collect information that will be added to the final report / recommendation that will be submitted to the Y Board for a vote (date TBD.) Given that the Camp Task Force anticipates that there will still be questions with respect to the business case in particular when the final report / recommendation is submitted, they fully expect that a second task force will be struck to complete the business case picture.

Of note…
- The attached Alumni presentation (in its entirety) is going to be inserted to the final report that will be presented to the Y Board.
- A recommendation will be put forward to ensure that Alumni are a part of the second Task Force.
- The Alumni contingent who presented to the Camp Task Force will be offered an opportunity to review the Camp Task Force Report before it goes to the Y Board.

2) Many of you have asked questions with respect to the role of the Y Endowment Fund. The transfer of the Camp Glenburn Property to the Y Endowment fund was done largely to protect the property from Creditors. As you all know, the Saint John Y has had a couple of bankruptcy scares over the past several years. Despite the fact that the Y Endowment Fund "owns" the Glenburn Property, decisions with respect to the future direction of Camp Glenburn lie with the Y Board of Directors.

3) The Alumni opened the discussion with respect to how the Alumni can proactively engage at this time to ensure that Camp Glenburn remains operational for the foreseeable future. The Camp Task Force was open to this offer however the specifics as to how this engagement would logistically be defined are unclear at this time. (ie. Will the Camp Committee as a sub-committee of the Y Board be re-instated?)

******** End of excerpt of the email ************

Interview on CBC radio

So, I guess there was an interview on CBC radio at 6:45 am Tuesday, June 17th, about Camp Glenburn and it's current situation. I haven't heard it yet but I would love to hear it or read a transcript or get some more specific details. C'mon People of Saint John, record cbc radio from three days ago and send it to me over the internet.

Update:
Here's what the transcript description for cbc radio one says:

SAINT JOHN NEWS (06:30) (cbd-fm), 17 Jun 2008, 06:34am, Length: 00:00:45, Ref# 100379B-5LOCAL: THE FUTURE OF CAMP GLENBURN ON THE KINGSTON PENINSULA IS UP FOR DISCUSSION. THE YM-YWCA SAINT JOHN HAS SET UP A TASK FORCE TO LOOK AT WHAT TO DO WITH THE POPULAR CAMP AS WELL AS ITS CAMP ON ASHBURN LAKE ROAD. "PAT DAVIS", CEO, YM-YWCA

SAINT JOHN NEWS (07:30) (cbd-fm), 17 Jun 2008, 07:35am, Length: 00:00:52, Ref# 1003919-6LOCAL: THE HEAD OF THE YM-YWCA IN SAINT JOHN SAYS NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE ON THE FUTURE OF CAMP GLENBURN. "PAT DAVIS", CEO, YM-YWCA

These less than one minute interviews cost $40 each (what a deal!). Basically, you can read the whole interview in the description.

good news

The Y Board of Directors has responded to the efforts of the Glenburn alumni. Here is the email to Joanne Sparkes from Alyson Townsend (Vice Chair, Board of Directors):

Dear Joanne;

Over the past two weeks, I have received several emails from people concerned about the future of residential camping at the Y and in particular, the future of Camp Glenburn. I have been given your name as a central contact person and, through you, I would like to these emails on behalf of the Y Board of Directors.
First, we genuinely thank each person who took the time to contact us - we understand that this issue is very close to your heart.
At this time, as part of the Y's overall future planning, the Board has taken the following steps in relation to camping:
* We struck a Camp Task Force to gather information to study, report and recommend a roadmap for camping to the Board. This would include meeting with community stakeholders to receive input.
* We engaged a consultant to review our current resources.
We have received a draft consultant's report but we have not yet received any report or recommendations from the Camp Task Force as they are still in the process of gathering information. There have been no decisions asked for or made by the Board.
While we cannot give you any assurance as to any outcomes, we do wish to ensure that all voices are heard. We would strongly suggest that your constituents meet with Camp Task Force to express their views. I understand that arrangements have now been made to provide that opportunity.
Again, we thank you for your interest in this process. Your support of the Y and residential camping is sincerely appreciated.
Yours truly,

Alyson Townsend
Vice-Chair,
Saint John YM/YWCA





So, looks like good news. We have an opportunity to express interest and we should continue to do so. This, combined with the delay in the meeting and the delay in the recommendations from the Task Force, means we have some more time. Ha!

ps. Anyone hear if there was a story on cbc re: Glenburn? Interview with Pat Davis?? Anyone?

still kickin'

Hi everyone,
Here's a bit of an update on the situation. There have been some useful meetings going on between representatives of the alumni and representatives from the Saint John Y. They have been very willing to give use the opportunity to voice concerns, make recommendations and suggest alternative arrangements regarding the future of Camp Glenburn. We also may get a chance to organize and present our point of view to the Camping Task Force at some point in the near future.
The next board meeting was tentatively scheduled for June 16th. This has been postponed and it looks like the next meeting will take place at the end of June. However, the Camping Task Force will delay their recommendations until after this point in order to allow for the collection of more relevant information.
It has been recommended (and I fully agree with this) that people refrain from proactively contacting media at this time. We are making some progress and we need to remain in control of our side of this conversation.
We need a better way to host discussion on this topic. Anyone with any ideas should mention them as soon as possible. Convenient, clear lines of communication will only help out our side of things. We also still need to be working on contacting people that would have a vested interest in keeping Glenburn as it is now and having them at our disposal if need be. We should try to get as many email addresses as possible. If you have any to add, email them to me at tomdpatterson@gmail.com and I'll see that they get added to the list. If you have not added your name to the list, you should do so asap.
Thanks everyone.

New news

Once upon a time, there was an email distribution list that was a healthy discussion of all matters related to saving Camp Glenburn. This was abrubtly ended due to allegations of personal attacks that were never proven or backed up with any sort of evidence. There is now some heightened suspicion of the motives of some alumni and I don't think it is a place where people feel open to the same level of discussion that once existed.

That's alright, Joanne Sparkes is getting a report together to send off to the Board meeting through a meeting with Pat Davis. I'm not sure of the liklihood of this succeeding, but I am optimistic that everything will work out as long as we stay on the high road and stick to the facts that we have been discussing. We still don't know when the next board meeting will be but by then I'm sure we will have copies of the final report and we will be in a better position to figure out what happens next.

On a better note, we are now the proud parents of campglenburn.com and campglenburn.ca and we will use this in whatever form we need to in order to work towards our goal. People should still be trying to get ahold of anyone they think will be willing to help out when needed. We are going to need lots of numbers and so do your part and find anyone you know that will help out.

Until then, stay in touch!!

Next...

Hey everyone,
I think that the best thing for everyone to do right now (if you're wondering about what to do) is to get in contact with everyone you know that is connected to camp, in any way. This could be as a camper, staff member, parent, friend or any other human being with any other connection to camp. We will need to get as many people as we can to be involved if we need to do anything further. Contact them and direct them here. Make sure they are aware of what's going on and the fact that they can help at some point in the near future (if necessary). The more people we have involved, the more we can do and the greater the chances of saving Camp Glenburn.
Think about all the reasons that you even loved glenburn in the first place. Connect with friends that you don't talk to much anymore. Think of the things that you learned there and the positive experiences and get in touch with anyone you know that would help out.
That's what I think.


ps. I'm sorry for the absence of tiny sandwiches at the last meeting. Scratch promises again that he will have it for the next meeting (I don't believe him).

Bad moves

Hi everyone,
We need to avoid being involved in any sort of personal attacks against the Saint John Y, it's Board or anyone else involved in this situation. This is not a tactic that is going to get us anywhere, it is not a tactic that would represent Glenburn well and it is not a course of action that is going to get any support from Glenburn alumni.

Summary of Sunday's meeting

We met at Scratch's place tonight and we talked about where we were right now and what to do next. There are many options for various actions on the table and I wouldn't rule anything out.

I also think that we need to act in unison and in a way that is organized and calm. Right now we have an credible, professional voice in Saint John compiling information to be presented to the Board. I think that we need to be behind this representative group of people and we need to hold off on any other actions at this time. We also would not want to do anything right now that has a negative impact on this summer's camping season. This has also been recommended by folks that are involved directly in the information being compiled in Saint John.

I do, however, think that we need to be ready for anything that may come next. Shortly, we will get a sense of how the Board is responding to the presentation and we will act accordingly. We want to make sure that we are not going into panic mode and acting in a way that makes our side of the debate appear frantic. Let's allow the Saint John group to do their best and avoid working in a way that serves to hamper the efforts that are going on right now.

People should continue to talk about what can happen next if need be. We should do this through the emails that are floating around, facebook and this blog. We need everyone to also reconnect with anyone that they may know who has an interest in this. The more people we have involved, the better. Finally, I would recommend that anyone is able to join the Y and have influence as a member to do so as soon as possible. Right now we should be trying to hear from as many different voices as possible within our alumni group. Let's stay together and act in unison to make sure that we have a voice in this.

Sunday meeting - Fredericton

We are going to be meeting Sunday evening (7:00) at Scratch's house (255 Smythe Street, Apartment B). This is open to anyone interested, regardless of your connection to camp. Scratch will make tiny sandwiches and we'll talk about what's going on and what we should do next.

Come together

Folks from Fredericton are going to try to meet in order to organize a strategy as to where to go from here. I would like to see people from Saint John getting together to do the same and then we can compare notes and coordinate. It looks like this meeting is going to be happening Sunday afternoon and we will come out of this meeting with a plan of attack. If you want to be a part of this meeting, leave your email here or email me and we can decide where and when exactly this will take place.

Here's what we need next

I would like some projected costs on the "new camp" as well as some other general data:

An estimate on building materials 13 cabins the same size as Glenburn.
An estimate on the building materials for 120 beds (60 bunk beds)
An estimate on building materials for a new dining hall and kitchen
An estimate on building materials for washrooms similar to Glenburn's
An estimate on building a similar Ropes Course (Canadian builder - Challenges Unlimited based in Ontario)
An estimate on building materials for a staff/office building that is the size of the Rotary and Bung combined
An estimate on building materials for a boat house similar to Glenburn's

I have found some great info on fundraising initiatives for Ashburn Lake in recent years/months...good stuff that we will include.

Someone should come up with a list of Task Forces Members based on their affiliation - experience with Glenburn vs. Ashburn...any info we can get...kids who have attended camp...anything

We need the same info on Board Members...

I would like someone to check the land registry office in Saint John to track down any stipulations on the deed and transfer of ownership between Carpenter Centre and the Y. I want to know if there is any reason they can't sell it.

I would like to know if Ashburn lake has a Board Committee - similar to the one we had for Glenburn that has been disbanded.

Any answers to these questions should be commented on in the "comments" section of this blog or emailed directly to Joanne Sparks. If you are working on something, please let us know so different people don't waste time getting the same information.

Time for action

We as the alumni have an opportunity to be heard and we need to act quickly and efficiently so that there are people to listen. What we are asking is that each and every one of you is to do two things. First, we have been asked to contribute to the report. Please direct comments specific to the report to Joanne Sparks (joanne.sparkes@innovatia.net). She will compile information and send it to Pat Davis (CEO of the Y). To make sure that we are heard we would like you to go above and beyond this and send an e-mail or letters directly to the board and Y staff. These are some points we want to make

1) The report is written with a clear biased.
There are 3 members of the Saint John YM-YWCA Board of Directors that are also members of the Camping Task Force who are making these recommendations.

The 1st Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, Dale Knox, listed as the Chairman of the Glenn Carpenter Centre and is the son-in-law of Glenn Carpenter.

There was no cost analysis included in the report associated with repair of Glenburn versus the creation of a camp at Ashburn.

The challenges listed in the report were all challenges associated with selling Glenburn and keeping Ashburn. There were no challenges associated with keeping Glenburn and selling Ashburn.

The report begins with the recommendation that the Y keep one camp, close Glenburn and keep Ashburn and this is done without any rationale behind this conclusion.

The benefits related to keeping the camp at Ashburn are primarily a result of work done to create partnerships at this facility and money spent at this facility rather than at Glenburn (ex. Water trampolines, archery, ACAP environmental programs, etc.)

2) Camp enrollment at Glenburn has been increasing over the past three years while the rest of New Brunswick and North America has suffered major declines.

3) Seamless transfer of residential camping from Glenburn to Ashburn Lake is not a realistic goal. At some point, they will funding both camps simultaneously, while dealing with the reality of limited capital.

4) Capital campaigns in recent history have not been successful due to a lack of confidence in the Saint John YM-YWCA by the local community. There is no evidence that this attempt will achieve more success that previous attempts.

5) The success of Glenburn is based around the culture and tradition of the experience of camp combined with the unique location on the Belleisle Bay. Urban residential camping could not successfully reproduce this rural experience.

Board contacts

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Executive Members:
Gary Howard (ghoward@caa.maritimes.ca)- Chair
Dale Knox (dale.knox@tabufile.ca)- 1st Vice Chair
Alyson Townsend (atownsend@ccsa.cable.ca)- 2nd Vice Chair
Dean Mullin (dean.mullin@avisbudget.com)- Treasurer
Donna Mazerolle (donnamazerolle@rogers.com)- Past Chair

Board Members:Karen White ?
Michael Bacon ?
Sherry Arsenault (sherry@nbnet.nb.ca)
Ted Cheney ?Janet Scott (janetscott@enterprisesj.com)
Janet Thompson-Price (jthompsonprice@smss.com)
Djoura Abbas (Djoura.Abbas@ca.ey.com)


This is written in point form because you need to put these in your own words and add whatever else you want to. This is just a start and we are going to have to do lots more if we are going to influence this process. The ultimate goal of this letter to stall the process and open active talk with the camp community and its major contributors to provide realistic solutions to residential camping in our region.

The second thing that we want people to commit to is showing up in significant force in Saint John for the next scheduled Board meeting. This could happen as early as June 16th and we need to be present to influence the Board at this time. More on this later.

We also need any media contacts that people have in order to move on to a next phase of action.

This is a real chance to have your voice heard. We don't need to spell out what camp means to everyone because if you're reading this then you know!

Please contact us if you have suggestions on how to proceed.

Show me the money

There is a preliminary report available to be viewed by interesting parties. We can, and should, repond fully and in an organized fashion. If you are interested in receiving a copy of this report, you can leave your email in the 'Comments" section.

If you are interested in making our voices heard, we need to be unified. The plan is to do this through communication with Joanne Sparks (joanne.sparkes@innovatia.net).

On a side note, I have found that the Carpenter Centre has had the advantage of having funraising opportunities with the proceeds going directly to the Camp, not being funnelled through the Y. It is mentioned on the Glenn Carpenter Centre website as the Glenn Carpenter Centre Classic and is described as:

I am writing today to request that you enter a team of 4 in the tournament with all proceeds going to the camp. The event promises great prizes and interesting twists to the game of golf.

Apparently you can also make donations directly to the Centre by contacting people through the website. So, there are ways to "show me the money" for Ashburn Lake that are not available to Glenburn and even have been actively thwarted by individuals and groups at the Saint John YM-YWCA.

Conflict of interest

It appears that the 1st Vice Chair of the Board (Dale Knox) has a clear conflict of interest in the matters regarding the future of Glenburn and should remove himself from the decision making process. His father-in-law was Glenn Carpenter. Here is an excerpt from his bio on his company's website:

"Mr Knox is also the chairman of the Glenn Carpenter Centre which is a 220 acre property located on Ashburn lake in Saint John which provides summer day camp opportunities for youth in southern NB. "

You can check it out here:

http://tabufile.ca/about/president.html

I'm not sure this will be very reassuring to people who are concerned about bias in this decision making process. If you agree, feel free to email the board members at the emails listed below and if you have any other emails for people listed below, post them here and we can get a complete list.

Saint John YMCA-YWCA Board of Directors

Here is a list of the Board of Directors for the Saint John YM-YWCA. These are the folks with all the power in the future of Glenburn so I think, until we can get a co-ordinated strategy in place, these are the ones who people should email.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Executive Members:
Gary Howard (ghoward@caa.maritimes.ca)- Chair
Dale Knox (dale.knox@tabufile.ca)- 1st Vice Chair
Alyson Townsend (atownsend@ccsa.cable.ca)- 2nd Vice Chair
Dean Mullin (dean.mullin@avisbudget.com)- Treasurer
Donna Mazerolle (donnamazerolle@rogers.com)- Past Chair

Board Members:
Karen White
Michael Bacon
Sherry Arsenault (sherry@nbnet.nb.ca)
Ted Cheney
Janet Scott (janetscott@enterprisesj.com)
Janet Thompson-Price (jthompsonprice@smss.com)
Djoura Abbas (Djoura.Abbas@ca.ey.com)