All that glittered wasn’t gold in the St. Julie Billiart Church hall on Saturday, Sept. 17 as the parish's ladies’ guild held a jewelry sale to raise money for the church scholarship program.

For the last 13 years, the sales have usually been held annually, but Saturday’s fundraiser was the second of 2022 — a bonus clearance sale meant to sell off some of the leftover inventory from past sales.

And the clearance sale came with bargain prices. Buyers could fill a sandwich bag with jewelry of every category for just $5.

All of the jewelry on offer was donated to the sale by members of the parish, so despite the low prices, the Ladies’ Guild has been able to raise a considerable amount of money to send young church members to college.

Ladies’ Guild member Isabel Medeiros said, since they began, the jewelry sales have raised about $70,000.

“It is a lot when you think about it,” she said modestly.

She added that the jewelry sale helps recycle used jewelry that is still valuable but might otherwise have become garbage.

“It’s a throwaway society but what someone doesn’t want, others are thrilled to get — and at a good price,” she said.

Among the sea of bracelets, rings, and necklaces, the one thing that couldn’t be found was gold or silver jewelry.

Medeiros said that’s because those pieces are sold separately to a local jeweler, along with broken objects, for a good price.

She explained that by taking the precious metals out of the equation, the sales become less intense and the Ladies’ Guild is able to decrease the risk of theft.

Medeiros said that the sale is only possible because of the generosity of the parishioners and the hard work of the Ladies’ Guild — which includes nearly 100 women.

“Which is really unusual — guilds are kind of a thing of the past,” she said. “So we have a lot of good help.”