Girl Scouts cookie sale underway

FINDLAY — What's one of the best way to teach girls life skills like goal setting, decision making and money management? Many would say Girl Scout cookies. The Girl Scouts of Western Ohio kicked off the 2026 cookie season on Wednesday. Becky Curtis, who leads Troop 1154 in McComb, said the cookie campaign is a big event and the girls are actually looking forward to it. "They have posters made and they're ready to go," she said. "They also have Girl Scout songs they sing when customers are there." In preparation, the scouts attended cookie school where they earned their cookie badge. "To earn that badge, they go through different stations," said Curtis. "One is where they learn about the cookies because there are glutton-free options and vegan options. So when someone asks them, what's their favorite cookie, they have an answer." Another activity involves learning how to do cookie math. "So if I want two boxes, I have a paper cut out and they learn how to follow the diagram to figure out how much the cookies are," she said. "They use practice money and they take turns being the customer and the Girl Scout and counting back change." It's a skill that quite a few people surprisingly don't have, Curtis noted. "And they have so much fun with it because it's so much fun to be the customer, to have the play money. They don't realize they're actually learning a skill, especially a social skill because we've lost talking to one another over the years, and it teaches them how to do that," she said. There are nine varieties of cookies available this year. In addition to old favorites like Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Trefoils, Caramel Chocolate Chip, Caramel deLites, Lemonades, Adventurefuls and Peanut Butter Patties, customers will also see Exploremores on the order form. This rocky road ice cream-inspired cookies is filled with flavors of chocolate, marshmallow and toasted almond crème. Curtis said boxes are again priced at $6 a box. The cookie phenomena started in 1917 when members of the Mistletoe Girl Scout Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma baked up some sugar cookies. They sold the treats in the school cafeteria to raise funds to send gifts to doughboys fighting in World War I. According to Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana Council Historian Karen Schillings, the July 1922 edition of the American Girl magazine published a recipe for sugar cookies that was being used by troops in Chicago. The cookies sold for 25-30 cents a dozen to help fund troop activities. Later that decade, the model became a door-to-door campaign. From those meager beginnings, the Girl Scout cookie campaign has become an $800 million-per-year, nationwide, girl-led business. Curtis said her troop, which is celebrating its second year, has 22 scouts ranging in age from kindergarten through sixth grade. They hold monthly meetings at McComb American Legion Post 0511. They also try to do an outing each month. Parents have stepped up and Curtis' sister, who doesn't even have children, also decided to help. "We do have a good time. It's exhausting at times," she laughed. Curtis said pre-orders are being taken now. Troops will host booths at local businesses Feb. 27 through March 29. She explained that the Girl Scout organization has lined up several different stores like Kroger, Wendy's and Walmart for booth sales. "We can line up our own. In McComb, we line up with Panther Pizzeria and they let us sit in the store and sell there a couple of days," Curtis said. "But then we also line up, too, for the larger stores and we go into Findlay quite a bit." She said last year they had a booth at Wendy's. "Wendy's came out with their mint chocolate chip Frosty with the Girl Scout cookies. So we stood out in front of Wendy's and the girls had their signs and they were bouncing around on the sidewalk getting people to pull in," Curtis recalled. The troop sold about 2,500 boxes for their efforts last year. The goal this year is 3,500 boxes. All proceeds from cookie sales stay with local councils and troops, funding service projects, troop travel, badges and summer camp. Curtis said the McComb troop has already decided what they want to do with the money this year. "We take all ideas," she said. "Some girls want to go to Disney World in California, and you take the idea and smile. And then you have the opposite, like can we go to McDonald's PlayPlace? Some of the ideas are just the cutest things." Last year Curtis' scouts voted to go horseback riding. "So they earned their horseback badge and got to go riding, and the cookie sales were able to pay for that," she said. "This year they voted to learn how to ice skate. They will receive an ice skating lesson and go to The Cube." There is also an ice skating badge, she said. "It puts a monetary value to what they're doing. So I have to sell 60 boxes of cookies to cover my ice skating trip. They know, I worked really hard to sell 60 boxes of cookies. This is what I have to show for it, especially when you're young and you don't have a car payment and a house payment, it gives you something to see what you're money's going to," she said. "They're learning business without realizing they're doing it," she added. If you know a Girl Scout, reach out to her to place pre-orders or enter you zip code at gswo.org/findcookies. There you can purchase cookies to be shipped directly to you or donate cookies for local community causes. These orders will come in around Valentine's Day, said Curtis. In late February, this link can also be used you to find cookie booths at nearby businesses. Text COOKIES to 59618 to stay informed about Girl Scout Cookie news.