In addition to a great “All American Breakfast” last month at the Bandera American Legion, visitors were greeted upon arriving by those friendly cookie sales Scouts with a Girl Scout Cookie Booth just inside the door.
Now everyone has suffered the craving of a good “Do-si-do” (authors favorite!) or a chocolatey “Thin Mint,” but most of us do not know how long this addicting treat has been an American icon.
Girl Scout Cookies were first sold at a simple bake sale in 1917 as a fundraiser and service project when an Oklahoma Troop baked and sold the first cookies.
The idea of selling cookies to support Girl Scouting caught on all over the U.S., and by the 1930s, Girl Scout councils across the United States were holding cookie sales. Girl Scout cookie sales are now known globally, including in Bandera County over one hundred years later.
But it’s about more than that annual great peanut-buttery or chocolate cookie craving. It is about developing essential life skills such as goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. Cookie sales also help to promote confidence and an ability to relate with their community.
Those delicious cookie sales also contribute to the local community as well. Some of the proceeds stay within Bandera Troop 5140 and local councils, supporting local Bandera projects and activities or local youth.
This creates a cycle of community support and involvement.
Bandera and Bandera County residents provide support to the local Girl Scout Troop and they in turn support us with their community projects.
In Bandera, Girl Scout Troop 5140 meets twice per month on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, from 1:30-3:30 p.m., at the Bandera Methodist Church.
Mandy Siffken, one of the local Troop leaders, along with Heather Collins, stated, “In Bandera, Girl Scouts is all about joining the girls together, having fun, and promoting a spirit of togetherness and community. Yes, we do go camping but have a variety of other fun activities as well. The funds generated from cookie sales are used to support Girl Scout programs and activities right here in Bandera. These cookie sale proceeds help provide resources, training, and opportunities for girls to explore various fields, engage in community service, and develop leadership skills to be more civic minded. This year a great project for us was the creation of a seed library at our local Bandera Library; in which you can leave seeds or get seeds to plant.
In 2024, we plan to build a bridge across the ditch between the Bandera Library into Sandidge Park. The ditch, when it rains is muddy or difficult to walk in and out of, and people must walk around on the street to get into the park. The building of a bridge not only will make it safer, but we can use the bridge building metaphor in our programs as well by promoting teamwork and community projects as a Troop. There is more than one way to build a bridge!”
To learn more about the Girl Scouts, you can visit their website at www.girlscouts-swtx.org, or call Mandy locally at 918-770-9843.
You can also simply visit a meeting at the Bandera Methodist Church on the first and third Saturday of each month.
