Perhaps most of us know Glenn as a soft-spoken, friendly and unassuming man. But underneath this modest demeanor resides a strong athlete and an artist. In this interview, he recounts his intriguing and vibrant life in the figure skating and drama world.

Glenn was born in 1929, during the Depression, in Woodstock, Ontario. He is the youngest of six siblings; four sisters and two brothers. His older brother died at the young age of twenty-one in World War II.

Glenn's parents owned a two-acre farm of fruits, flowers and vegetables. Unfortunately as a result of the huge stock market crash during the 1930's Depression, his father suffered a nervous breakdown and had to retire from active farm life. His mother, the matriarchal figure, made all the business and family decisions, managed the farm and essentially supported the entire family on the meager income yielded by the farm. "She had a rough time raising the children on her own," says Glenn compassionately. All the children started working as teenagers and helped out selling fruits and vegetables in their spare time.

The Gilmars were essentially a church-centred family who lived a rather restricted life governed by strict moral, social and religious values. The children went to Sunday School regularly. Movies, sports and other pleasurable activities were discouraged. When Glenn wanted to see the movie "Gone With The Wind," his mother at first objected to it saying, "there's swearing in it," but upon Glenn's insistence, she eventually acquiesced.

Being the baby in the family meant he occupied a favourable and unfavourable position in the family context. While he enjoyed the over-indulgence and the attention he received as a child, he resented being "bossed" around by his elders. When Glenn complained of aches and pains from skating and sought comforting words, his eldest sister instead sharply remarked, "If skating bothers you, then why do it?" This discouraging remark, although hurtful at the time, did not deter him from pursuing his passionate sport. His way of coming to terms with it was to think, "She meant well."

Glenn went to a public school where he was fairly popular and had lots of friends. His high school curriculum included music, shorthand and typing. After finishing school, he took up a full-time job as a general office clerk and in his spare time took lessons in skating at the Woodstock skating club and participated in the Woodstock Little Theatre. He soon passed his 'Silver Test' in dancing, which gave him proficiency to dance with a partner.

When Glenn moved to Toronto in 1952, there were plenty of opportunities for him in the skating world. After auditioning for only a couple of shows, he was offered a job with the Ice Capades. Cool! He was "stunned" at this news. His mother's reaction was positive and she was "happy", but she did not realize "what this meant," he chuckles.

  Turquoise Raccoon *

Glenn joined the Ice Capades, touring various places such as, Washington, Milwaukee, Atlantic City, and New York. In Pennsylvania, the show played to full capacity. There were twenty-four men and women in the show. Glenn was part of the chorus. Some of the shows he performed in were: "Snow White" and "Brigadoon". In "Snow White", he played a Turquoise Raccoon. Glenn showed me pictures of himself performing various feats, in gorgeous costumes.

Unfortunately, after a year with the Ice Capades, Glenn's world of 'glamour and glitter' came to an abrupt halt when he was drafted for the U.S. army during the Korean War. Being Canadian, he did not want to participate in the U.S. war. He, therefore, packed his bag in a hurry and returned to Toronto.

Back in Toronto, Glenn received the sad news of his father's death. He travelled to Woodstock to pay his last respects and returned to Toronto shortly thereafter. Without dilly-dallying, and anxious to get back into the groove of his life, he first found a full-time job and then joined various drama groups. Over the years, he performed in several plays. One of his favourites was "Once In A Lifetime," a vaudeville production which originally took place in 1920. He also joined the University Skating Club on Bloor Street at Varsity Arena.

As A Penguin

It seems the world of glamour followed Glenn like a shadow. Soon he found himself performing an ice show on the television for CBC. He played the role of Penguin. He is, in fact, considering getting this tape from the CBC archives to reflect on the prime years of his life.

All those years of practice and performing seem to have endowed Glenn with an all-round physical strength and have taught him patience and perseverance in order to achieve his goals. He certainly did not fail to pass on these qualities to others. When he was teaching skating to a group of kids, two of them seemed withdrawn, and lacked confidence and discipline. Recognizing their weaknesses, he slowed down the place to their level, and provided structure and encouragement. To his surprise, the kids soon began to make progress. He noticed their personalities soon changed. From being withdrawn, they now started to socialize and "mingle" with the other kids, and their confidence and self-esteem improved. He relates this with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

The world of ice skating also taught Glenn humility and the importance of recognizing every little accomplishment as a stepping stone to the final goal. To this effect, he relates his positive experience with old and chronic care patients at the Sunnybrook Hospital where he worked briefly as a caregiver after his retirement. During his visits, he would listen to patients reminisce and he encouraged them to discuss their lifetime achievements. He noticed they perked up and felt validated and recognized when Glenn nodded and said, "Oh, so you did this! I remember that."

Although Glenn took an early retirement in 1990 at the age of 61, he continued to work part-time at the Bayview Playhouse and Sunnybrook Hospital.

Glenn is an old member of Longview Co-op.** He moved here in 1975 when his office was relocating and he wanted to live close-by. He saw a sign for a vacancy and applied. He received a very warm welcome from Alma Sereda, the superintendent then. He was part of the Membership Committee for a year and then moved to the Fire Safety Committee.

Glenn has only one sister living in Woodstock. She is 88 years old. Glenn visits her regularly. He [teases and calls her, "my kid sister", which I suppose is his term of endearment.***

Glenn's favourite pastime is going to the movies and the theatre. He likes to listen to Country and Western and Big Band music. He keeps himself physically active by taking aerobics, aquafit, and line dancing.

So has Glenn hung up his skates at the age of seventy? He skated up until he was sixty-three, and if it wasn't for his bad knees, he would still be haunting the ice rinks. However, being a die-hard skater, he is looking into taking roller-blading which may be easier on his knees than skating.

by Vicki Rashid