There could be a Girl Scout of America out there in her 90’s because the girl scouts are 100 year’s old. My friend Sharron takes her scouting very seriously and she is 55. It has become a place for adventure, bonding and a good place to learn to help yourself and others around you. The best part is that it can be an excuse for children to bond more with their parents. Well, the parents like Sharon who are willing to commit their time for their kids.

When you think of Girl Scouts you think of their Billion dollar enterprise. Yeah baby those unbelievable cookies that they sell once a year and you can only get it from them. It almost reminds me of the black market way to get fireworks for the 4th of July when I was growing up in New York . You could only get the fireworks from “those guys over there.”

Now even at $4 dollars a small box , people are spending $50 on the cookies just to stock up and maybe hide a box or two from the vultures you live with that devour a box within days. There even can be a controversy whether Thin Mints are better than Samoas that are two of their most popular sells of cookies. The only people that are sick of them are people like Sharon, the scout leaders who have sold plenty with their scouts everywhere.

Who is responsible for assembling the army of little girls? You can blame it on Juliette Gordon Low who created the institution , Girl Scouts of America based on service, leadership and love for nature. After only 5 years of its inception, those girls were baking cookies. The first batch of cookies were made by the Missletowe Troup in a small town in Olkalomia and they sold them out of a high school cafeteria. Do you remember those days when Mom stayed home and sent the kids to school with a batch of home made cookies?

Those industrious girls never predicted how quickly the cookie would be devoured. Today the girl scouts sell out nearly 200 Million boxes of cookies per year. Many girls even sell them on line now. Usually like a football playing line backer I have to make moves to try to ignore the girls blocking the supermarket doors with their boxes lind up neatly. You can’t resist their smiles or their cookies.

They are keeping up with the times. Now, you can download an App that will locate a cookie sale near you. You can pay with a credit card. Just swipe it through a Scout Smart phone. These 8 year olds are equipped with a swipe gizmo that attaches to the top of their smart phone from Iniuit and can take debit or charge payments right there in the middle of nowhere.

Then you are not dreaming of Thin Mints in the ice cream tub at you supermarket. No dream. Now Dreyer’s Ice Cream has a flavor called Samoas. Another new product is Thin Mints in a Nestle’s Crunch bar that will arrive this summer and even a lip balm tasting like cookies ugh. Be honest, people are crunching those cookies into everything from cereal to pie crust.

Things have changed. Now you can find girl scout cookies in politics. Last month Indiana State Representitative Bob Morris was the only one who refused to sign a House resolution recognizing the centennial of the Girl Scouts. Like some kind of cookie monster he wrote am open letter calling the Girl Scouts a “ radical organization that promotes abortion and homo-sexuality.” In reply Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma bought 278 cases of cookies and passed out Thin Mints to his collegues.

A few years ago the Girl Scouts were accused of selling cookies that had trans fat in them. Now they are being boycotted for accepting a child that is trans gender. Seven year old Bobby Mentoya identifies as a girl and found a wecome with a Denver scout troup. It inspired a boycott by the other troups in the area. Times change and acceptance must change too.

One thing that will not change anytime soon is that Girl Scout Cookies are an American staple. The fact is that these girls in uniform donate thousands of boxes to women and men in uniform. All I know is that it is officially Spring when my cookies arive. Kind of a kick off to the season.