The organizer of the Janie Twohander Lacrosse program in Wallaceburg has been recognized for his volunteer efforts.
Former Wallaceburg resident Brian DeWagner was the recipient of the inaugural Mackenzie Volunteer Prize – an award created by J.D. Booth, owner of the Lambton Shield.
DeWagner created the free program along with his wife June for four to six-year-old girls at Wallaceburg District Secondary School.
The Sydenham Current caught up with DeWagner last summer during the program.
“We wanted to do something free. It’s not really about lacrosse, I mean we try to incorporate the skills into what we do, but it is more about making them love it and be excited about it.”
DeWagner said the program started in the fall of 2013 in Sarnia with about a dozen kids.
By last summer, the program has grown into Wallaceburg and included about 60 children between the two programs.
“We get messages from parents saying that their daughters had slept with their sticks or my daughter has played in the back yard more than my son has,” he said. “You’re not going to learn the game for an hour every week at a practice, you learn it in your back yard with your friends. These girls are sleeping with their sticks and bringing them in the back yard, playing everyday and playing with their friends, then I think we’ve accomplished something.”
The Mackenzie Volunteer Prize event was held Wednesday at the Victoria Hall in Petrolia.
Along with the award, DeWagner captured $2,000 to go towards his lacrosse program.
The award program was created as a tribute to Alexander Mackenzie – the founder of the original Lambton Shield publication back in the early 1850s.
He was also Canada’s second prime minister.
