When the finale of “The Amazing Race “Canada played out last week there were a few fans in Hussar who were cheering louder than most.
“The Amazing Race” wrapped up and Calgary couple Ty Smith and Kat Kastner were the winners of the reality show on CTV.
Many in the area will recognize Ty Smith. He was one of the survivors of the Humboldt bus crash. He was through the area in February of this year, as a presenter for the Rural Mental Health Network.
He runs his company “Not Alone Co” which bills itself as a Mental Health Awareness Community. This includes his speaking engagements, a blog, and a clothing line that focuses on the message that you are “Not Alone” and “It’s okay to not be okay”.
His partner in the show Kastner is the niece of Kim Larsen of Hussar.
“It was pretty exciting, I don’t know what I am going to do with my Tuesday night,” laughs Larsen. “We would go to someone’s house or a bunch of us came here, it was pretty crazy.”
She brought along some new fans.
“All the support from all the people in the area. People started watching ‘Amazing Race,’ who had never seen it before,” said Larsen.
She says the couple worked well together on the show.
“There was no negative. Sometimes when one was a little negative, the other one would snap them out of it,” said Larsen. The connection they had just worked so well together.”
She also notes there was time between the end of the taping of the show and the announcement where they had to keep the results a secret. Larsen didn’t know they were even on the show until three days before it premiered.
She chuckles at the suggestion that the show didn’t end with a proposal between the couple.
“When I went and saw Ty speak in Drumheller, because a bunch of us had taken him out for supper beforehand, when the question period came I put up my hand and said ‘You talk about your girlfriend quite often, and I hear she comes from a great family. Are you planning on proposing any time soon?’” she laughs. “I honestly thought that’s how the show was going to end, but who knows? They are travelling around the world.”

Town of Drumheller is moving forward with a one-month trial of its paid parking program beginning on Monday, October 2 at a number of Town-owned parking lots and tourist hotspots, including the Badlands Community Facility (BCF), World’s Largest Dinosaur and Rotary Park, and street parking along Riverside Drive East.
The trial will wrap up on Tuesday, October 31 and Protective and Emergency Services director Greg Peters is expected to bring the results of the trial back to council by December.
“The trial period is intended to manage the risk of implementation roll out and will test out the method and approach used for further implementation of the program,” says a statement from the Town of Drumheller. “Experience with using the system will aid our staff in understanding the areas that we need to improve on and considerations that need to be made when moving forward.”
When fully implemented, the program is expected to run between May 1 and October 31.
Funds collected as part of the program are anticipated to help offset the additional pressures placed on municipal services and infrastructure due to the annual influx of visitors coming to the Drumheller Valley. By implementing a trial ahead of the anticipated May 2024 launch of the program, Town staff will be able to “preemptively examine if any changes in approach, scope and direction” are required.
Throughout the trial, Municipal Enforcement will be checking for compliance, but will not be giving infraction tickets; this will allow them to offer the community with information about the program and ensure residents and visitors are aware of the program.
The program is being managed by the HotSpot mobile parking app, and is fully digital. Users will input their vehicle’s license plate number and pay a nominal fee of $2 per hour for parking lots, $2.50 per hour for street parking, or $20 for all day parking.
While visitors will be subject to these fees, residents of Drumheller can register for a residential parking permit through the HotSpot app or website, which will exempt them from these fees.
Registration for residential parking permits opened on Monday, September 18, and instructions on how residents can register up to four vehicles per household can be found on the Drumheller.ca website.
Similar to paying to park, residents will input their license plate information.
Additional vehicle information such as year, make, model, or a nickname for each vehicle can also be registered. In order to register for a residential parking permit, residents must also upload proof of residency, such as a driver’s license, utility bill, or insurance. Application approval can take upwards of 24 hours, and applicants will receive confirmation of approval.
Residents who have additional questions can reach out to Protective and Emergency Services for more information at 403-823-1363 or by email at protectiveservices@drumheller.ca; for more information about the residential parking permit and application process, residents are encouraged to contact HotSpot Parking Support at support@htsp.ca or by phone at 1-855-712-5888.