Girl Scouts start cookie campaign
BY SARA PLUMMER World Staff Writer
Sunday, February 03, 2013
2/03/13 at 2:33 AM
It's the most wonderful time of the year - at least for those with a sweet tooth - as area Girl Scout troops bring out the colorful boxes of cookies to sell.
Direct sales began Saturday, and booth sales start Feb. 15. The cookie sale continues through March 17.
The troops within the Eastern Oklahoma council will sell the top six cookie varieties this year - Do-Si-Dos, Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints, Trefoils and Savannah Smiles, the lemon cookie that debuted last year. Each box costs $4.
This is the third year the troops in Oklahoma are doing direct sales and the Super Six program, both of which have been successful the last few years, said Kathy Brandon, director of product sales programs.
"We were extremely happy with it," Brandon said of the Super Six pilot.
This year the newest cookie, Savannah Smiles, made the cut.
"It was very popular, especially for a new cookie," she said. "It harkened back to the old lemon coolers."
The annual Girl Scout cookie sale is about more than how many boxes of Thin Mints, Samoas and Tagalongs are sold. The bigger aim of the cookie sale program, Brandon said, is to teach the Girl Scouts business skills and interaction with people.
The program's five key goals are goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.
For the first time in almost 15 years, the Girl Scout cookie boxes underwent a redesign to highlight those goals as well as the awards the Girl Scouts can earn, said Becky Carver, communications specialist with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma.
"The new boxes are all about the five skills the girls learn when they're selling the cookies," Carver said. "The sale is more than what's in the box."
Brandon said customers will likely see the traditional boxes first and then the new boxes as supplies are replenished.
"Being good stewards of the environment, we are going through the boxes that were already made," she said, assuring customers that the cookies inside the boxes are fresh. "They can check the date on the top of the box."
Also new this year is National Girl Scout Cookie Day on Friday. On that day customers are asked to buy an extra box of cookies to give away, either to a person or to a nonprofit group.
People can also buy a box and donate it to the Gift of Caring program, and the Girl Scout troop will give it to the charity of its choosing.
"Sometimes it's the (military) troops, or a food bank or a homeless shelter," Brandon said.
People looking for booth sales can go to the Girl Scout cookie website and find one with the cookie finder link.
There's also a cookie finder app for mobile devices, so users can locate booth sales and get nutrition facts.
Girl Scout cookie sales information
- Direct sales started Saturday and booth sales begin Feb. 15. The sale continues through March 17.
- Each box costs $4
- This year's varieties are Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils and Savannah Smiles.
- Feb. 8 is National Girl Scout Cookie Day, and customers are asked to buy an extra box to donate to a person or charity.
For more on the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma Council and the cookie sales, go to tulsaworld.com/girlscouts
Sara Plummer 918-581-8465
sara.plummer@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Girl Scout cookies Trefoils (top left), Savannah Smiles, Do-Si-Dos, Thin Mints and Samoas (front) are available this year. TOM GILBERT / Tulsa World
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