The World Champion Bunnock Tournament isn’t the only thing the town of Macklin is famous for. Agnes Martin and Clarence Campbell, who became quite famous in their own right, made their start in the small, Saskatchewan town.

Agnes Martin was born March 22, 1912 in Macklin, Sask., later made the move to the United States in 1931 where she established herself as an esteemed abstract painter, albeit preferred the term abstract expressionist, because of her work’s added spiritual dimension. Her work was defined as an “essay in discretion on inward-ness and silence.”

Prior to Martin becoming an American citizen in 1950, she received her B.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1942 where she would return to receive her M.A. in 1952. Martin’s work inspired many other artists and composers and was included in the book, American Masterpieces by Wendy Beckett. Her work also was the inspiration for the google doodle on the 102nd anniversary of her birth, March 22, 2014. Martin spent her final years in a retirement residence in Taos, New Mexico, where she lived until her passing in 2004 at the age of 92.

The other highly-notable person to come out of Macklin is former NHL president, Clarence Campbell.
Campbell was originally born in Flemming, Sask., July 9, 1905 but later moved with his family and called Macklin, home. In his late teens, Campbell used the money earned from the sale of his five head of cattle to help pay for his education at the University of Alberta where he graduated with a degree in law and arts in 1924.

After spending six years as a referee in the NHL, Campbell found himself catapulted into the spotlight when he became the President of the NHL in 1946, a title he kept until 1977. During his time as NHL president in the mid-50’s, he was called the most hated man in Montreal for the controversial penalties and suspensions against french NHL players on the Montreal Canadiens.

He would also go down in history as being at the centre of the ‘Richard Riot’ in 1955 where a Montreal fan tossed a tear gas can near the NHL president’s seat during a contest against the Detroit Red Wings. The pandemonium that ensued following that act had people rioting in the streets, resulting in eight policemen and 25 citizens being injured, while 60 were arrested and upwards of a million dollars in damages done to the streets of Montreal.

Campbell had many memorable moments in the NHL, although the aforementioned has certainly stuck out as one of the most talked about events not only in Campbell’s life, but throughout the NHL as well.

By the time his reign as NHL president came to a close in 1977, he was already ill and he was plagued by respiratory ailments for the last years of his life, Campbell passed away on June 24, 1984 at the age of 79.

However, Campbell’s legacy lives on in the NHL today through the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl. The Clarence Bowl is awarded to the western conference playoff champions. The trophy was originally made in 1878 and is currently held by the St. Louis Blues.