Delaware County Celebrates 100 Years Of Girl Scout Cookies

The Delaware County Council recognized local scouts at a recent meeting and said it will be sending boxes of Girl Scout cookies to the men and women in the Armed Services who are featured on the county’s Armed Services Tribute Board.

“This year marks the 100th anniversary of the famous and delicious Girl Scout Cookie Sale. To celebrate this centennial, they’ve added another cookie, the S’More. They go along with the Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos and Thanks-alot flavors,” Councilman Dave White said.

Isabel Nagel, of Troop 575 in Havertown, led the pledge of allegiance and Emily Simkovich, of Troop 5421 in Drexel Hill, presented a history of the Girl Scout cookie to Council, as well.

“There have been many landmarks along the way. I understand that Babe Ruth even endorsed the cookies by promoting the Million Cookie Drive at the 1924 World Series,” White said. “Today, Delaware County Girls Scouts join 40,000 Scouts in Pennsylvania and 2.8 million nationwide in selling Girl Scout Cookies to foster teamwork and raise money for their educational activities and community projects.”

The cookie campaign teaches young girls about business and leadership, goal-setting and money management and is the largest “girl-led business” in the nation, the county said.

The Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania includes more than 3,000 scouts in Delaware County. All of the revenue earned from the cookie sale remains with the local Scout Council. Scouts themselves decide how to spend their troop money and reinvest it back into their neighborhoods through their service projects.

“This year’s sale runs through mid-March and we encourage our residents to support these young ladies,” White said. “County Council is also pleased to purchase cookies and send them to the brave men and women of the Armed Services who are honored on our Tribute Board in the Government Center lobby.”

It all started in 1917 when some Girl Scouts in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked some cookies at home and sold them to fund their projects, the county said. From there, the whole cookie sale concept took off. The first official Girl Scout Cookies, made at a commercial bakery, were created in Philadelphiain 1933.

Images via Delaware County