Calgary woman devastated by theft of her father’s rodeo belt buckle: ‘It means the world to us’

Charlie Allen was shocked when she returned to her truck on Wednesday, Nov. 14, which parked outside a friend’s house on a residential street in northwest Calgary.

“The whole truck was ransacked,” Allen said. “They took my cowboy boots, my jewelry.”

But it was one item in particular she’s really upset about, the theft of her late father’s prized belt buckle.

“My dad rodeoed all his life, saddle bronc,” Allen said. “In 1960, my dad won the Meadow Lake, Sask. rodeo. He was so proud of (the buckle he won). He never took it off.”

“I’d pass it around (with) my sisters, give it to them so they can hold it and have it,” Allen said. “It means the world to us. It’s one of a kind.”

Allen has filed a police report and is making the rounds of Calgary pawn shops, hoping the buckle might turn up. She is also checking online to see if someone’s trying to sell it.

“I’ve been looking in alleys, looking in people’s dumpsters to see if they threw it in the garbage,” Allen said. “Will they just dispose of it? I pray to God they don’t do that. It’s devastating.”