Lost a wedding ring, cellphone, passport or car? Find it here
With divorce rates spiking every time the Calgary Stampede rolls around, it’s not entirely surprising that the fair’s lost and found is populated with wedding rings.
Currently, there are five wedding bands in the Stampede’s custody, secured in a glass case inside the Big Four Building.
“We hope to get them back to people, it’s horrible to lose something like that,” said Toby Decker, who has been working the Stampede’s lost and found for the past five years. So far, no one has come to claim the rings, Decker said.
The 300 items collected this week also include smartphones, passports, prescription medicine, costume jewelry and money.
Decker said she’s seen wallets packed up with up $1,500 cash.
“I’ve been aghast at that. Who carries that much cash and loses it?”
Another trend has seen several fairgoers turning in the car keys of their inebriated friends to prevent them from driving home drunk.
Annette Cadick, part of the Stampede’s risk management team, said she was approached on a recent morning by a man who had slept under a tree after some heavy Stampeding.
The man, who reeked of alcohol, she said, was told by friends to pick up his keys at the lost and found.
“He said ‘Now I have to find my car.’ ”
Jennifer Booth, spokeswoman for the Stampede, said while turning in keys to the lost and found isn’t an official Stampede initiative, “it’s great that people are looking out for their friends.”
She encouraged attendees to take transit or use taxis.
Ken Poley, acting staff sergeant with the Calgary police on Stampede grounds, shared that sentiment.
“That’s kind of unique, but good on them for having the wherewithal to deter their friends from driving impaired,” he said.
He advised people to leave large sums of cash, valuables and passports at home.
“Passports, in my mind, are more valuable than cash because they limit your ability to leave or move around,” he said. “Most people have alternative forms of identification.”
There have been few reported thefts at the Stampede this year, which Poley said is surprising considering the size of the city and event.