Robbie Burns Night, bagpipes, and Hughie MacKenzie all have something in common: they all have Scottish roots.

Whenever the playing of the pipes was required, Hughie MacKenzie was the first person that came to mind. One of my first New Year's Eve parties was at the home of Sam and Loise Dodds. At midnight everyone was crowded around the telephone to listen to Hughie playing the bagpipes to usher in the New Year.

Hughie MacKenzie was born at Inverness, Scotland, in 1885.

In 1911 he came to Calgary to practice his trade as plasterer. Since his specialty was working on banks, he came to Yorkton to work on the Bank of Commerce building, located on Broadway where the Bank of Montreal is now located.

He joined the army when war was declared in August, 1914, and served throughout the war with the Second Canadian Division. For outstanding bravery he was awarded the Military Medal in 1917.

At the close of the war, he returned to Yorkton to establish his own business, sub-contracting for Logan and Black Ltd. Most of the plaster work on Yorkton buildings erected at that time was the work of Mr. MacKenzie. In later years Harry Ellis joined his company. Among the many buildings that benefited from their skill in plastering was the Federal Building, now known as the City Hall at the corner of Third and Smith Street.

As alderman of the city from 1941 until 1954 he was chairman of the public safety committee for his term of office.

Being a true Scot, he was an avid curler. Among his many curling buddies were Dr. Wes Wachtler, Dunc Byers and Mr. Harbottle.

Mr. MacKenzie died January 21, 1960.

The memory of Mr. MacKenzie and his contribution to Yorkton lives on in the naming of MacKenzie Drive in Heritage Heights. Still residing in Yorkton is his daughter Nancy Ferguson, and until recently Elsie Johnston.

Simpson Street, which runs from Franklin Avenue to Laurier Avenue and on the northern border of the former Simpson School (now the Parkland Regional College) is named after a well-known pioneer of the Yorkton area, William Simpson.

He was a cobbler from Peebles, Scotland and came to Toronto with his family . Later in 1885 they moved to a farm in the Rhein district.

He was a successful farmer and acquired considerable property in Yorkton and area. In 1913 Simpson School was built on land donated by Mr. Simpson.

The Simpsons made their home at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Smith Street, a house that is now the office of Barry Zapshalla.

William Simpson died at Yorkton in October 1913.

His son Alexander Porteous Simpson was born in Toronto in 1874. He worked on the family farm, but in 1919, for health reasons, he moved to Yorkton where he became a hail adjuster and with his wife took residence in the family home at the corner of Fourth and Smith.

He was a former Reeve of the RM of Wallace and president of the Yorkton Hospital Board for many years. He died March 31, 1945.