As the weather warms, there are signs of spring everywhere: Birdsong can be heard reverberating in backyards; the maple sap is running; snow is retreating from roadways; Girl Scout Cookies are selling as they always do — but maybe not quite so visibly this year, given the ongoing pandemic and social distancing restrictions.
Without the iconic green-and-brown-vested presence of Girl Scouts outside local stores and with more employees than ever working from home, some cookie cravers might find it harder than usual to get their annual fix of Thin Mints, Samoas, Girl Scout S’mores and Lemon-Ups, among other flavors.
“We’re limited by the number of people who can find us, and who know a Girl Scout,” said Suzanne Smiley of Gill, chief operating officer for the Girl Scouts of Western and Central Massachusetts region. “They may not see the local Girl Scout standing outside the supermarket, but they can find them in the digital world.”
When the pandemic was fully realized last year, Smiley says local troops pivoted their business models to the digital space. Other creative solutions include drive-through cookie booths and lemonade stand-style neighborhood booths — “Lots of thinking outside the box; outside the cookie box,” she said.
Without the ability to sell in-person, Kaylynn Lupien, 12, of Northfield, a Girl Scout Cadet with Troop 58611 in Winchester, New Hampshire, hosted a virtual cookie booth via Facebook Live.
Along with her brother, Dane Lupien, “They showed what the cookies looked like, described the cookies and did the math on which boxes had the most cookies, and the math about serving size,” said Stephanie Lupien, her mother. While she didn’t know an exact number offhand, Kaylynn estimated she has sold “at least 500 boxes.”
Since cookie season kicked off in January, Girl Scouts like Kaylynn have been selling and filling delivery orders digitally through a national collaboration with Grubhub, an online food delivery platform. Additionally, Girl Scouts of the USA has made online cookie ordering available nationwide so consumers who don’t know a Girl Scout can still purchase cookies from a local troop for direct shipment to their homes.
Under normal conditions, Cindy Pease, co-leader of Troop 64980 in Greenfield, said local Girl Scouts typically set up a booth outside Stop and Shop on French King Highway. Given the circumstances this year, however, the Girl Scouts set up individual profiles on the national organization’s cookie selling-platform, drove traffic to troop-specific links through promotion and filled orders via contact-less delivery.
“We definitely have had a lot of girls do phenomenally this year, which surprised us,” Pease said. The increase, which has been driven by “mostly online sales,” has already surpassed the local troop’s annual cookie sales record. Pease noted Troop 64980 started three years ago with 12 Girl Scouts. Today, the troop has 24 Scouts in first through third grades and a few in high school.
Regionally, there are 15 Girl Scout troops in Franklin Couty with 91 registered girls, according to Dana Carnegie, communications manager for Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts. Of those, 60 girls in 10 troops are selling cookies this year.
“We’ve gotten a tremendous response from people ordering (online) who wouldn’t ordinarily cross our path,” Pease said. “The girls have done a great job … delivering to people with door drop-offs and text messages, saying, ‘Hey, we just dropped off your cookies.’”
While Smiley noted that regionwide sales are a little down this year because slightly fewer Girl Scouts are actively selling, with membership down a little because of the pandemic, individual sales are way up. Pease’s 7-year-old daughter, Kalina, for example, is a Brownie Girl Scout who has already sold “over 1,000 boxes. She is a top seller,” Pease said, noting, “she has a phenomenal neighborhood that supports her. She’s still able to go door-to-door.”
On average, Pease estimated, “The average is over 500 boxes each, and the girls who do less than that have done all they can, which is great,” she said. “We look at it as a team, and we all know that it goes together.”
Practically, the challenges (and economic opportunity) posed by the pandemic has posed a real-world conundrum that the young entrepreneurs have had to overcome, Smiley said. In addition to marketing their product, each Girl Scout must plan, budget, pick up and track inventory as it’s sold, manage money and expend their proceeds as a troop. While a very small portion of the money that’s raised helps support the regional and national infrastructure of the Girl Scouts organization, the vast majority stays local, paying for activities like camping and outdoor activities.
“It gives girls a really good sense — whether or not they ever open their own small business — it gives them a good sense of their communities and marketing (matching a product with a need or desire by their customers). And basic skills that can give them confidence in a business world,” Smiley said.
Among the potential outings Pease said the Greenfield troop is considering (once it’s safe), include “indoor rock climbing; they’re talking about camping; we have a scheduled overnight in Otis,” Pease said. “These girls strive to support each other. They rally around each other. Their ultimate goal is to go camping together and to support their communit y.”
In the more immediate term, with COVID-19 transmission ra tes on the decline locally and as the state relaxes social distancing mandates, Pease said they’re looking forward to making a more visible cookie-selling presence in the community.
“This coming weekend, we’ve been OK’d to do a booth sale now that COVID numbers are down in the area” at Food City in Turners Falls, Pease said. “A troop from Charlemont is going to come down from the hills and do a booth at the Dunkin’ Donuts on Federal Street.”
Andy Castillo can be reached at acastillo@recorder.com.
Girl Scout cookies can be purchased online via the Girl Scouts national organization, girlscouts.org, with proceeds supporting local troops. Orders can be placed directly through the Greenfield troop via digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/kalina792215, or by contacting the regional Girl Scouts organization at info@gscwm.org or 413-584-2602. Cookie sales will continue through March 21. More information can be found at gscwm.org.
Upcoming, The Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts will host a virtual cooking class featuring Girl Scout cookies on March 25 at 6 p.m. Chef Bill Nemeroff from B.T.’s Fried Chicken and BBQ in Worcester will lead an evening of culinary exploration. With the guidance of Chef Nemeroff, participants will create tasty savory and sweet dishes using Girl Scout Cookies. Tickets are $20 and include a box of Samoas and Do-Si-Dos. Other ingredients and prep will be emailed to all participants on Saturday, March 20. Please register by Friday, March 19 to ensure the cookies are delivered in time for the event. More information can be found at: facebook.com/events/905968173307863.
Created by: Liz Sorenson.
Prep: 15 minutes. Process: 40 minutes, plus freezing time.
2 cups half-and-half cream
1½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
4 cups heavy whipping cream
One package (9 ounces) Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies
1 cup chocolate ice cream topping
Stir together half-and-half, sugar, coffee granules and extracts until sugar dissolves. Stir in heavy cream. Coarsely chop 8 Thin Mints cookies.
Fill cylinder of ice cream maker no more than two-thirds full; process according to manufacturer’s directions, adding chopped Thin Mints cookies during the last 2 minutes of processing. (Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze.) Remove from ice cream maker; mix in chocolate topping. Transfer ice cream to freezer containers, allowing headspace for expansion. Freeze until firm, 4 to 6 hours.
To make sandwiches, place 1 tablespoon ice cream between two Thin Mints cookies. Yield: 1 dozen.
Created by: Crystal Oliver.
Prep: 40 minutes. Bake: 15 minutes plus cooling time.
Two packages (9 ounces each) Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies, divided
One package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
One package chocolate cake mix (regular size)
Ganache:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup baking cocoa
½ cup 2 percent milk
4 to 4½ cups confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Reserve six Thin Mints cookies for garnish. For truffles, place remaining Thin Mints® cookies in a food processor; process until finely crushed. Add cream cheese; process until blended. Roll into twenty-four 1½-inch balls.
Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions. Drop 1 tablespoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Place one truffle in center of cup. Fill two-thirds full with remaining batter.
Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake portion comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; let stand 5 minutes or until chocolate is melted. Stir with a whisk until smooth. Stir in peppermint extract. Cool ganache 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter, shortening, vanilla and salt until creamy. Beat in baking cocoa and milk alternately with enough confectioners sugar to reach spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes; drizzle with ganache. Garnish with reserved Thin Mints® cookies. Yield: 2 dozen.