January 21, 1987
At this time every year out thoughts turn to Carmel deLites and Thin Mints. We’ve been in the Girl Scout cookie selling business for the last seven years and prior to that were willing participants in buying and munching.
Just think, all over the country volunteers are making room in their houses for hundreds and sometimes thousands of boxes of cookies to distribute. This poor person is known as the cookie chairman. Bless her heart, last September she raised her hand.
(I always lower my head at that precise moment.)
As the mother of Brownie Smiles I have learned some of the ins and outs of this cookie business. In regard to taking orders don’t start selling until the exact designated time. My youngest is sure she is going to be hauled off to jail any day now because I sold two boxes of Shortbread to her aunt over the telephone one day early.
As a parent I place my order first and since their are two scouts in the family divide the order equally. This way when its time to send the order form and they are just ten boxes shy of their goal I (hopefully) won’t be expected to fill the quota.
This year the goal is 75 boxes. Since my Brownie is not allowed to venture very far from the front door to sell this could turn into quite a challenge.
Distribution is always fun. After someone opens a box of Chocolate Chips that actually belongs to the neighbor, there is the frantic search for another box or maybe a trade with another scout. One year after all the boxes had been dispersed and the money counted ten times we had a box of Peanut Butter Patties without a home.We were assured no one in the troop was minus a box. The cookies sat on top of the refrigerator until after Easter before we finally decided it was safe to eat them. And they do stay fresh!
There are deliberations going on at our house now as to how much money can be saved in the next few weeks in order to pay for the personal boxes desired. And after the orders arrive there will be negotiations – a Peanut Butter Sandwich for a Lemon Pastry Creme – And please, no one snitch a cookie from her sister’s box!
CCW