They have been called a great American tradition, and they have been a great local tradition as well, since the year 1935, when Brookfield Girl Scouts began to sell their commercially packaged cookies. Of course, it has not only become a Brookfield tradition, but also one in Riverside, North Riverside, and all across our nation.
Before this, scouts all over our country used to bake the cookies themselves, putting them into boxes or bags, and sealing them with a Girl Scout trefoil (clover) label. The shortbread kind were the easiest to make, especially in quantity. But once they came out in packaged form, sales really took off, and there was nothing to stop them from becoming a tradition. The sales became something people could count on to happen every year, like Christmas.
Think of these cookies as being like tasty DVDs, and released for a limited time only. The only difference is that you don’t really eat a DVD. Then again, Girl Scout cookies are cheaper, at $4 a box. And the only way to enjoy them for a repeated “playing” is to buy another box.
And what a line up of titles, er, flavors to choose from. The Classic Shortbreads, the first and eternal cookie, are ideally suitable for dunking. The Caramel DeLites, caramel-coated, striped with chocolate and dusted with coconut are almost like meals in themselves.
The Peanut Butter Patties, with their real peanut butter filling and covered in rich chocolate, are like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, only cookie crunchyish. Hot on their heels are the Peanut Butter Sandwiches, really like sandwiches with crunchy, nutty peanut filling. But without chocolate.
The Reduced Fat Lemon Pastry Cremes are just what they say, but they taste so good, so lemony, you’d swear the fat was still in them. Animal Treasures, bearing the stamped likenesses of endangered animals are yet another chocolate-dipped confection that also inspires thoughts for the creatures of the Earth. Lastly comes that greatest of annual favorites, the star of them all, the Thin Mints. So popular is this star cookie that it even has its own ice cream in many supermarkets’ freezer cases.
Last year, a new type of cookie was unveiled, the Piatas, oatmeal cookies filled with strawberries, lined with white sugary glaze and topped with a cinnamon crumble. It went over so well that it is back for a return engagement.
This year local scout troops have practiced their sales pitches, know their cookies inside out and are ready to do their best to achieve their goals. Some of the money taken in from each troop’s sales is used to support local council programs, but the rest goes directly to the troops themselves, for their own agreed upon use.
Troop 182 of Hollywood has found many uses for their cookie money. They’ve gone to Six Flags, and a “Me Weekend” (kind of like a big slumber party) at Camp River Trails in Sheridan. They’ve gone whitewater rafting in West Virginia, too. Unlike other troops, this one mostly sells cookies at school to their classmates. From all accounts, they do a pretty good job at it.
Troop 491 of St. Barbara School in Brookfield has saved some of its cookie money from last year, and they plan to combine it with this year’s so they can go to the Mall of America in Minnesota. They will also donate some extra money to the local food pantry.
These Cadette and senior level scouts bring their cookies and sales experience to sites such as Jewel, Walgreens, White hen and the usual bank lobbies.
Troop 193 of Hauser Junior High in Riverside have an ultimate goal of using its cookie money to visit either the largest Sea World in San Antonio or for summer camping at Camp River Trails.
Kathy Dudek and Mary Beth Demitrio are the leaders of the troop, which includes Brianna Dudek, Natalie Godlewski, Liz Demitrio, Michelle Demitrio, Katie Wade, Alex Lutz, Judy Krolasik and Melissa Karlson.
While cookie selling is great fun, it also teaches many principles of business. Managerial skills are used, as well as teamwork, public relations, accounting, event staging and speech writing. Even journalism has a chance to be experienced, should troops wish to write articles about their cookie sales, afterwards.
This year there are new badges to be earned. Previously, there was the “Cookies Count,” “Try-It for Brownies” and the “Cookie Connection” badge for the older scouts. The former badges featured a Shortbread cookie against a green background, and the newer ones show a tasty three-dimensional view of a Peanut Butter Patty cookie.
Also, the new badges have new names. The Brownies’ one is now called the “Smart Cookie,” and the Junior Girl Scouts’ is called “Cookie Biz.” By buying cookies, you are actually helping the scouts earn their badges. By the way, they can earn both the old and the new badges this year.
Brookfield is within the Whispering Oaks Council area, where the scouts are selling cookies from until Feb. 13.
Riverside and North Riverside are within the Illinois Crossroads Council area, where order-taking ended Jan. 31. However, public sales at supermarkets and banks will be going on from Feb. 26 to March 26.
A Community Service Project, “The Gift of Caring,” allows cookie customers to buy and donate boxes of cookies to local food pantries, or agencies such as the Constance Morris House and the Community Extension Project (a youth service organization). The council will make the arrangements for the delivering of the cookies, and troops will have donor receipts ready.
As usual, should anyone be unable to locate scouts selling cookies, a cookie connection can be made by calling the individual councils. Whispering Oaks is at 354-4855, and Illinois Crossroads is at (847)573-0500. They are also easily locatable on the Internet.
