FERGUS – When Maggie Kurtz died in a motorcycle accident in October of 2023, she left a hole in the hearts of her family, her friends, and Centre Wellington Minor Lacrosse.
And on May 1, the club unveiled a new brand for the development program for its youngest players.
Going forward, the U4, U5 and U7 teams will be known as Maggie’s Minis.
“This is hard,” said club secretary Cheryl Marsland in a phone interview.
“Maggie was a friend, our kids played together, and she was treasurer of the lacrosse club. It was really, really difficult when she died.”
Marsland said Kurtz and her husband Brent often went on motorcycle trips.
In October of 2023, they were at their cottage and went out for a spin, each on their own bike.
A car was pulling out of its driveway at the crest of a hill and hit the two bikes, killing Kurtz and injuring her husband.
“It was a fluke accident,” Marsland added. “Nobody was at fault, but it’s been devastating.”
Kurtz left behind her husband and four children.
So naming the development program after Kurtz was really important to the club’s executive and on May 1, they unveiled the new logo at an event at the Jefferson Elora Community Centre.
The Kurtz family holds shirts bearing the “Maggie’s Minis” logo honouring Maggie Kurtz, the treasurer for Centre Wellington Minor Lacrosse who died in 2023. The development program for the club’s youngest players is now named in her honour. Submitted photo
“She was integral to the lacrosse community and the board wanted to memorialize that,” Marsland said.
The logo, designed by graphic artist Diego Navarro, is an above view of motorcycle handlebars and the gas tank, which is also the shape of the head of a lacrosse stick. The little lines at the bottom represent her four children.
Kurtz was an accountant with RLB Chartered Accountants, and the firm contributed to the logo and sponsored a team.
Speakers at the unveiling ceremony spoke glowingly of Kurtz as a hard worker who loved her family, was committed to lacrosse and volunteered as part of teams and the executive.
And she was fun.
“Maggie was the life of the party,” Marsland said.
In a statement released after the event, the family expressed their thanks.
“The Kurtz and Riddle families thank friends, lacrosse families, community and RLB for all their support during this difficult time,” it reads.
“(We thank) RLB for their continued support in naming an RLB Team award in Maggie’s memory and monetary support for minor lacrosse to be able to brand the development program in memory of Maggie – Maggie’s Minis.”
Marsland said the gesture doesn’t take away the pain of losing her friend.
But the shirts make her smile and rebranding the development program in Kurtz’s honour is very positive action to come from collective grief.
