GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ON SALE

Residents in the Jackson and Oak Ridge area may soon find a familiar and pleasant sight in their neighborhoods -- Girl Scouts selling their famous Girl Scout cookies.

Girls Scouts in the Tsalagi Service Unit, which includes the Jackson and Oak Ridge area, joined scouts from throughout the nation in kicking off the annual fund-raiser last week. The sale helps fund Girl Scouting both on a national and local level.

The sale of cookies by Girl Scouts was first begun in the early 1920s by individual troops who baked their own cookies and sold them door-to-door. The first organized, Girl Scout council-wide sale took place in Philadelphia in 1934.

Today, cookie sales provide a great deal of the annual funding for Girl Scouting. Proceeds from the sale of cookies go to fund the operation of individual Girl Scout troops and also to fund Girl Scouting on the service unit, council and national level.

In addition, individual Girl Scouts earn sales incentives such as "cookie bucks" which they may apply toward fees for attending summer camp at Camp LaTonka at Wappapello Lake or other camps.

Further, the scouts learn life skills by taking part in the sale, says Otahki Girl Scout Council fund developer Laura Hinkebein.

"We feel that the experience of getting out and selling cookies is a good experience for the girls," said Hinkebein. "We certainly feel that they learn money management skills and the importance of commitments by promising to handle an order and deliver the cookies to the person who bought them."

About 400 girls are involved in Girl Scouting in the Jackson area. Those scouts will be selling cookies until Jan. 29 and will begin delivering cookies Feb. 21.

The price for cookies is $2.50 per box. Cookie varieties include Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, Somoas, Trefoils, Tag-A-Longs, Chalet Cremes, Juliettes and Snaps, a crunchy, low-fat, iced oatmeal and raisin cookie.

Those who wish for more information about buying Girl Scout cookies may phone 334-7741.