Crossfield Elks Demolition Derby — Warm Day, Busy Pit, Good Chaos

 

 

A couple of months back I headed up to the Crossfield Rodeo Grounds for the annual Crossfield Elks #416 Demolition Derby. It was a proper late-summer day — warm, dry, and clear — and the place was packed. Tents lined the edge of the pit, the crowd was thick along the barriers, and the cars were already looking thoroughly used before the heats even really got going.

The photo shows one of the full-size entries sitting in the dirt under the red-and-white tents, with the usual mix of spectators, high-vis volunteers, and the general dusty energy that comes with a local demo derby. Heats included the usual small-car and large-car action, plus the side events that make these things fun: lawnmower racing and the human mud race that closed things out. One car even ended up on its roof — the kind of moment that gets the whole crowd leaning in.

All proceeds go back into the Crossfield community (youth programs, scholarships, local causes), which is part of what keeps the event feeling like a proper small-town day rather than just a demolition show. It was busy, loud, and exactly the kind of unscripted local motorsport that makes the drive north of Calgary worthwhile.

I’ve got a short clip from trackside in this post, plus the full walkthrough video on the KassDays channel if you want the longer version of the hits, steam, and mud: https://youtu.be/PX5NcGl9LlY

If you’ve been to the Crossfield derby (or any of the other local ones), what’s the best hit or side event you’ve seen? Drop it in the comments.

Make a Simple Banana Bread with those Overripe Bananas

Simple Banana Bread from Overripe Bananas

Those bananas sitting on the counter with freckles and soft spots? Don’t toss them. They’re perfect for banana bread. The longer they ripen, the sweeter and more flavourful the loaf becomes. This is a straightforward version that uses what you already have and turns it into a moist, tender quick bread that works as breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Ingredients
- 3 medium overripe bananas (the softer and darker the better)  
- ⅓ cup melted butter (or neutral oil)  
- ½ cup sugar (or up to ¾ cup if you like it sweeter)  
- 1 large egg  
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract  
- 1 teaspoon baking soda  
- Pinch of salt  
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour  
- Optional: ½ cup chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, or a light sprinkle of cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan or line it with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until mostly smooth. A few small lumps are fine.

3. Stir in the melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until well combined.

4. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and stir gently. Add the flour and mix just until no dry streaks remain. Over-mixing makes the bread tough. Fold in any add-ins now.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.

6. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack. Cool completely before slicing for the cleanest cuts. It slices more easily and tastes even better the next day.

Tips
Overripe bananas freeze well. Peel them, place in a freezer bag, and thaw when you’re ready to bake—they mash even more easily. The loaf keeps covered at room temperature for 2–3 days or freezes nicely for later.

This is the kind of baking that rewards a little patience and a willingness to use what might otherwise go to waste. One loaf, a few overripe bananas, and you’ve got something warm and satisfying on the counter. Enjoy.

Pumpkins After Dark at Canada Olympic Park – KassDays Walk-Through

KassDays went out to Pumpkins After Dark at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park to film the Calgary show. What we found was a self-paced outdoor walk lined with thousands of hand-carved pumpkins, lit from inside and set into themed displays along roughly a one-kilometre route.

The displays mix classic Halloween figures with larger scenes—dinosaurs, dragons, pop-culture pieces, and a few oversized photo spots, including a pumpkin throne that saw plenty of people stopping for pictures. Lighting and sound run along the path, but the event stays deliberately family-friendly: no jump scares, no actors waiting in the dark. Live pumpkin-carving demos happen near the entrance, and food trucks are on site if you want something seasonal while you walk.

Most people take one to two hours to move through at their own speed. Parking is free, and tickets are sold by timed entry, so booking ahead is the safer play on busier nights. The show runs on select evenings from late September through October 31.

It made for a straightforward, photogenic night out—creative enough to hold attention, calm enough for mixed groups, and easy to recommend if you want something festive without the haunted-house volume. The full walk-through is up on the KassDays YouTube channel.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/ntSrhH1RBlA  

More details and tickets: calgary.pumpkinsafterdark.com

Fridge leaking water on the floor? Water Valve Issues?

Fridge leaking water on the floor?

Quick DIY fix video just went live. In it I replace a failing water inlet valve on a Frigidaire (same basic steps work on most brands — Whirlpool, GE, Kenmore, LG, Samsung, etc.).

A bad valve or cracked housing is a common reason fridges leak. Swapping it yourself can save you a service call and a few hundred dollars.

What you’ll see:
- Shut off water + unplug
- Access the valve at the back
- Note the connections (photos help)
- Install the new one
- Leak test before pushing the fridge back

Full video here:  Fix the Water Valve on your Fridge

Always unplug the fridge and turn the water off first. Use at your own risk.

Thanks so much if you’ve tipped or supported on Ko-fi — it really helps keep these practical repair videos coming. Got a fridge leak story of your own? Drop a comment, I’d love to hear it.

Kass  
KassDays

 

All Through the House in Okotoks — A Packed Antique Stop

This Video will not go Live until October 28th, I pegged the wrong video, sorry for the confusion.

Drive around behind the Okotoks Cinemas (enter off North Railway Street) and you reach All Through the House. From the outside it already looks the part: weathered wood, string lights, flower barrels, and the big antiques sign. Inside is a tightly packed warehouse of vendors and shelves that take real time to work through.

Narrow aisles hold unique vintage items, old advertising, rare collectibles, glowing uranium glassware, classic jukeboxes, and an unusual vintage taxi phone. Outside you’ll find old AGT and Telus pay phones mixed in with the salvage. It’s the kind of place where one aisle leads to another and you keep finding things you didn’t know you were looking for.

The shop runs with over fifty in-house vendors offering antiques, vintage, rustic, retro, and up-cycled pieces. There’s a large hardware section, Fusion Mineral Paint, barnwood, and a yard full of doors, windows, wagons, and rusty treasures. Workshops and seasonal markets are part of the regular calendar.

Full walkthrough is on the KassDays channel: https://youtu.be/5M4A_xTzjVY

Address is Bldg 185, 100 Stockton Avenue, Okotoks. Hours are generally 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily — check ahead for holidays. Easy stop if you’re anywhere near Okotoks and in the mood for a dig.

See you on the road.  

Kass  

KassDays

Forgetmenot Pond, Before the Crowd

A quiet morning in Kananaskis, and a photo I am keeping my name on

The name on this photo is Magdelene, the editor of this page and the photograper. That may look odd on this page. It is still my picture. I took it yesterday at Forgetmenot Pond, and I put the text there because I am tired of pretty places being lifted and reposted as if the camera belonged to someone else. The file has been through a few saves, so it is a little softer than the original. The pond does not mind.

Forgetmenot sits at the end of Highway 66, in the Little Elbow day-use area of Kananaskis Country. On a still morning the mountains come down into the water in one piece. Grey rock, a dark band of spruce, then the reflection, clean enough that you can pick out the same peak twice. A spruce frames the left side. Two stones break the surface on the right. The near shore is gravel and dry grass, and that is where I was standing.

It is not a hard walk. The path around the pond is short, partly paved, and busy on a fine weekend. The trick is not distance. It is timing, and not stopping at the first gap in the trees. Go when the lot is thin. Walk past the first picnic table. Stand long enough for the wind to drop. The reflection only holds when the water is left alone, and the water is only left alone when most people are still on the road.

I like these places best then. Not empty, exactly. Just unclaimed for an hour. The peaks across the Elbow Valley do the same thing whether anyone is there to see them. Being there early, and walking the extra few minutes to the open shore, is the whole method. Laziness gets you the parking-lot view. The parking-lot view does not get you this.

Kananaskis rewards that small effort over and over. A side path, a weekday, a camera kept in the bag until the frame is right. Yesterday the pond paid it back in full: blue sky, a doubled mountain, and enough quiet to hear the gravel underfoot.

The caption stays. The morning was mine.

Night Glow in High River | Roaring Burners on the Field

The Friday night Balloon Glow at the Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival does not launch. The balloons stay on the ground at the Wallaceville site in High River, tethered, and the burners do the work.

Crews start with cold-air fans, walk the envelopes open, then fire the burners until the baskets tip upright. The field stays closed while that happens. Once the lines are clear, the barriers come down and you walk in among them. On a cool September night the heat off the baskets is real, and when several burners hit at once the sound is closer to a dragon than a propane torch.

Pilots come from across Canada, the northern U.S., and further. The Glow itself is free, no ticket, usually Friday evening. Flight days around it are weather-dependent. Check heritageinninternationalballoonfestival.com before you drive.

The walk-through, from the fan start to the raw burner audio once the crowd is on the field, is up on the KassDays channel:

Balloon Glow High River

High River is a short run south of Calgary. Get there before the barriers drop if you want to watch the uprighting.

See you on the road.  
Kass