Girl Scout cookie sales begin Wednesday

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Girl Scouts, their leaders and parents gathered at the Misteltoe Hut Sunday to learn all about selling yummy Girl Scout Cookies. Cookie sales start this Wednesday, January 18.

By AMANDA KIMBLE
TheFlashToday.com

ERATH COUNTY (January 16, 2017) – A time-honored tradition – the annual Girl Scout Cookie sale – is celebrating 100 years this winter, and local scouts will begin selling cookies on Wednesday.

Everyone who craves the delectable morsels will have a little more than a month – until February 26 – to get their fill. (Pro tip: they freeze well, so buy extras.)

Jana Saucedo, product sales coordinator for Erath County, has been heading up local Girl Scout Cookie sales for about eight years and said local troops sell about 25,000 boxes annually.

Saucedo also said there are about 75 Girl Scouts in the county and some of them work hard for the fundraising event, including Victoria Saucedo, Jana’s daughter. Victoria is a sophomore in high school, celebrating her 11th year of cookie sales and is among scouts at the top of the local cookie sales leader board. She offloads about 1,000 boxes per year.

While Girl Scouts may be seen using the good old fashioned door-to-door approach when selling cookies their neighborhoods, Jana said community members will be able to get a case or two – or more – even if they don’t have a salesperson living nearby.

“Booths will be set up every weekend beginning Saturday,” Jana said, adding that either entrance at Stephenville Walmart is a great place to stock up. 

Cookies are $4 per box, except for the new Trios, a gluten free cookie, which are $5 per box and may not arrive until later in the cookie sales season.

When asked where the money goes, Jana said local troops keep a little more than $1 for every box of cookies sold. Girl Scouts pay the baker about $1 per box and $2 is put in the Girl Scouts of America operating fund.

The local $1 per box goes a long way. In addition to helping fund the annual Erath County Girl Scouts awards and recognition banquet, purchase of prizes and the purchase of snacks and drinks for the local Cookie Day sales kick-off event, each troop sets an individual goal for their annual earnings.

The Girl Scout mission is to instill five lifelong lessons that will consider girls into a successful future, including goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. The program also encourages the girls to put the money they earn to good use.

“Last year, our troop went out to the McDonald Observatory,” Jana said.

While it takes an outgoing, approachable and goal-oriented Girl Scout to deliver the goods, any cookie junkie some of the success if due to the flavors that have kept people wanting more for more a century.

This year’s flavors include Girl Scout S’mores, which created to honor the 100th year of the cookie and features a graham cookie double dipped in crème icing and finished with a chocolatey coating.

Jana said Girl Scouts of America rotates bakers, with ABC Bakers taking on this task this year. Consumers who loved the Thanks-A-Lot, a shortbread cookie with rich fudge icing on one side, and the Lemonade, a similar cookie with tangy lemon icing, will be delighted to learn the flavors are back.

And, of course, all your favorites, the Carmel deLite, aka Samoas; Thin Mints; Peanut Butter Patties, aka Tagalongs; classic Shortbread, aka Trefoils; Do-si-dos, aka Peanut Butter Sandwich promise to be top sellers again this year.

Everyone who looks forward to eating Girl Scout Cookies each year might also enjoy the colorful past of the cookie. Milestones for the tasty treats include the publication of the “Girls Scout Cookie” name on boxes beginning in 1935; forging a partnership with commercial bakers to meet growing demand in 1936; and coast-to-coast sales in 1937. Other memorable moments include the sale of calendars rather than cookies in 1944 due to wartime shortages; sending the first cookies to outer space in 1992; and the implementation of online sales in 2014.


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