WEYBURN - The Weyburn Rotary Club’s sale of jewelry, handbags and scarves at Culture Days went well, with some of the extra items going to help others, including women’s shelters in Regina.
Organizer Brenda King reported to the Rotary Club they had made about $1,122 at the booth, set up in the Legacy Park gym for Culture Days on Oct. 16, plus another $480 came in afterward.
The club had collected donations of some 2,100 items, of which around 1,800 were items of costume jewelry, and gold and silver pieces.
Some of the pieces were appraised by jeweler Al York, with the most expensive item a diamond and gold bracelet that was appraised at $1,600. The appraised items were for sale at half their value.
King noted they were not able to sell the diamond and gold bracelet, “but I couldn’t tell you how many people came to our booth saying they wanted to see that bracelet, and once they were there, they bought other stuff.”
After the day-long event, the gold pieces were bought by York for the price of the gold, and the silver pieces are being sold online by Henry Jones, husband of Rotary member Judi Jones.
“Lots of costume jewelry was left, and a person gave us a very big donation to take it all. I think it filled five ice cream pails,” said King.
As for the handbags and scarves, two Rotary members, Blanche McRae and Gwen Wright, had a good idea of how to gift those.
“We had a number of handbags left that were of great quality, so we put some jewelry in it, like a necklace and earrings and a watch, and we’ll buy some feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes and toothpaste and wash cloths, and we’ll donate these bags to women’s shelters in Regina. So when women come in out of abusive situations, they will have something special waiting for them,” said King.
Each handbag was also provided with a good quality scarf, she added.
A bag was passed around the meeting and Rotary members donated towards the purchase of the hygiene products to put into the handbags.
Some of the left-over scarves will be donated to women at care homes, like Tatagwa View and the Weyburn Special Care Home, said King. “Some of these women don’t get a lot of new stuff, so they can wear these when they go to have lunch and so on.”
Asked about the diamond and gold bracelet, King noted it was returned to the person who donated it, and pointed out that she knew the value of the bracelet when she donated it.
Meantime, the Rotary Club has two fundraisers ongoing. They are selling raffle tickets for a “Staycation” at one of three destinations, for $5 each, and an online auction of art works by six Rotary members is open for bids on the Rotary Club’s Facebook page until Nov. 25.
This will also be when the winners are drawn for the Staycation. The raffle tickets are available at the Weyburn Review office, or from any Rotary Club member.
