Middletown Girl Chosen To Be Pictured On Girl Scout Cookie Boxes

RUMSON, NJ — Starting this Wednesday, Girl Scouts all over the country will begin their 2020 cookie sale season, peddling Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints and other classic favorites.

And this year, a young girl from nowhere else but Belford, New Jersey was chosen to be pictured on boxes of Girl Scout cookies that will be sold nationwide. Brenna McCormick, 8, was selected from thousands of applicants across the U.S. to have her photo displayed on the Girl Scouts' Thanks-a-Lot cookies, which are pieces of shortbread dipped in fudge. The news was announced Tuesday in a celebration ceremony held at Salt Creek Grille in Rumson, the same day the Girl Scouts unveiled their new cookie flavor, Lemon-Ups. Celebrity chef David Burke, who grew up in Hazlet, was in attendance.

"I was really surprised and excited," Brenna told Patch, when she and her mom got a phone call earlier this summer from the Girl Scouts' national headquarters, letting them know she had been chosen. "I got to take today off from school and my principal is here and she's going to make an announcement on the PSA system tomorrow telling the whole school I was chosen."

Brenna is in the third grade at Bayview Elementary in Belford.

Brenna's mom, Laura McCormick, actually entered her daughter in the contest more than two years ago, when Brenna was just a Daisy and attending a Girl Scout camp in northern New Jersey.

"I saw a sign saying they were looking for girls to be featured on the cookie boxes and I signed Brenna up. I had them take her (submission) photo while she was playing sports," Mom Laura said. "She loves soccer and it comes really naturally and easy to her. I think they were attracted to the fact that she loves the outdoors and playing outside."

"I do play a lot of soccer," admitted Brenna. "I like to be outside."

Sure enough, look for the signature bright blue boxes of Thanks-a-Lots featuring Brenna in a pink jersey in the middle of a soccer game.

Celebrity chef Burke — who owns DRIFTHOUSE in neighboring Sea Bright ("It's probably the greatest restaurant in the area," say reviewers) and appeared on two seasons of Bravo’s "Top Chef" — said he was more than happy to partner with the local Girl Scouts for this event.

"My favorite Girl Scout cookie is probably the Tagalongs, just because they're fun to say," Burke said. "And I'm actually not a Thin Mints fan."

He said when he was approached by the Girl Scouts to help, he replied, "Why not? It's a great organization and it helps our local kids. The Girl Scouts gets kids doing stuff, off their iPhones and teaches them about entrepreneurship. For example, I was a paperboy when I was a kid, selling the Newark Star Ledger. So I know a little bit about being an entrepreneur."

Burke's partnership with the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore does not end there. Also at Tuesday's event in Rumson, four well-known Jersey Shore restaurant owners were chosen to take part in a special, brand-new Girl Scout cookie challenge made just for the Jersey Shore: "Top Cookie."

The owners/chefs at Cuisine on the Green Atlantis in Little Egg Harbor, McLoone's Restaurants, Nicholas Creamery in Atlantic Highlands and Fair Haven, Ohana Grill in Lavallette and Talula's in Asbury Park all reached into a bag held by Brenna, and pulled out the name of a Girl Scout cookie. The chefs are then tasked with making a dessert that incorporates that cookie itself, as well the flavors.

The restaurants will unveil their dessert creations at a "Top Cookie" party held at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park on Feb. 6. The public is invited to attend (tickets are $75) as the desserts are unveiled and then sampled by chefs, among them Burke, plus Patty Caneda, the owner of White Rooster Cuban restaurant in Toms River, Carol Stillwell, CEO of Stillwell-Hansen, Inc. and others. The public can also taste the dessert creations and vote on who the winner should be.

Burke himself is tasked with whipping up a special dessert for the event using the new Lemon-Up cookies.

Next week, each Jersey Shore restaurant will have 50 boxes of their chosen cookie delivered to their door; they must use the actual cookies in their dessert.

Here is the cookie each restaurant chose:

Nicholas Creamery: Trefoil (shortbread)

Ohana Grill: Samoas

McLoone's: Tagalongs

Cuisine on the Green Atlantis: Thin Mints

Talula's in Asbury Park: Do-si-do (Peanut butter sandwich cookie)

Shanti Mignogna, the owner of Talula's, and pastry chef Julie LaBruto were already scheming about what they would create from the do-si-dos.

"There are so many directions we can take these flavors in," said LaBruto. "This flavor combination of peanut butter and oatmeal is so warming and comforting. I remember eating them as a kid when I was a Girl Scout. The do-si-dos are a dark horse; I know we're going to win."

The boxes featuring Brenna will actually not be sold along the Jersey Shore (Girl Scout cookie boxes are assigned to select regions in the U.S.) but they will be sold by the Girl Scouts of South and Central Jersey, which reaches from Cape May up to Edison. You can also order Brenna's Thanks-a-Lots online. You can buy tickets to the Top Cookie event at Asbury Lanes here (you can also bowl that night): gsfun.org/topcookie

And regardless, Brenna said she will be using her newfound celebrity in her sales pitch this winter.

"I'll definitely tell people I'm on the box!" she said. "Plus, my brother is my biggest customer."

Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore serves more than 10,000 girls ages 5-18 in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Starting Friday, February 28, Girl Scout Cookie booths will open in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Locations are available on the Girl Scout Cookie locator app.

Also, all Girl Scout cookie sale money goes back into the organization and helps pay dues for girls who otherwise could not afford to join, according to Eileen Higgins, CEO of the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore.