There I was with a cart full of groceries Sunday, hurrying to exit the Everett store. I tried, but couldn’t walk past the kid with the cookies.
Her timid sales pitch was a stock question: “Would you like to buy a box of Girl Scout cookies?”
It was all over. I said I’d take two boxes. When I started to pay with a $20 bill, my shrewd salesgirl said if I wanted I could get five boxes. I settled on four, and $4 in change — coffee money. It took a while, but her mom insisted she properly count the change, “17, 18, 19 and 20.”
All over Western Washington, girls and their parents are setting up shop outside stores for the annual Girl Scout cookie sale. The fundraiser started Friday and continues through March 14.
“It’s not about the cookies,” said Rex Williams, who helped his 7-year-old daughter Sydney sell Thin Mints, Samoas and other cookies at a Mill Creek-area Safeway on Saturday.
With a nod to cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong’s book title, “It’s Not About the Bike,” Williams said he sees benefits way beyond meeting financial needs of Girl Scout programs.
“It’s really about teaching young girls self-confidence,” said Williams, a 39-year-old Boeing engineer. “It’s about teaching them how to handle rejection, being polite and showing appreciation. It’s about showing girls the value of money, and respecting the generosity of those who donate their money to help a cause.”
His daughter, a Brownie Girl Scout and second-grader at James Monroe Elementary School in south Everett, said it simply. “It was really fun,” Sydney said Monday, adding that her favorite cookies are Thin Mints.
Thin Mints happen to be the most popular of eight types of cookies sold this year.
Or every year.
Paul Drake, product sales director for Girl Scouts of Western Washington’s Seattle administrative office, said they account for 28.5 percent of all sales, followed by Samoas at 24.8 percent and Tagalongs at 15.4 percent. The other varieties are Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils, Dulce de Leche, Lemon Chalet Cremes, and — new this year — a cookie called Thank U Berry Munch, with cranberries and white fudge chips.
I like the lemon ones, mostly because without chocolate I’m not as apt to eat a whole box.
Drake said 2,841,024 boxes were sold last year. Selling is voluntary for Girl Scout troops and members, he said. Of the $4 sale price per box, troops keep 70 cents. The rest of the income stays in Western Washington to support camps and other Girl Scout programs, and provide $250,000 in financial aid for campers, he said.
On Saturday, Williams turned a parental obligation into a fun afternoon. “I brought an easel and a pad of paper and markers, and made a simple bar graph,” he said. Sydney and her friends kept track of hot-selling cookies. “I like the graphs and numbers,” Williams said.
He’s not only an engineer, but a marketing master. Williams brought a harmonica and played “Oh! Susanna” and other tunes.
“The girls had fun dancing around in between customers. When people hear a harmonica, something fun is happening,” he said. Williams also bought and opened a box of Thank U Berry Munch cookies, and offered free samples.
“There were three moms. I was the only dad,” he said. “I guess I kind of got into it.”
Niki Elston is a co-leader of Sydney’s Brownie troop, along with Nicole Bingay. “We don’t push girls to sell cookies,” Elston said. “If girls get to the point when they’re older and see cookie sales as a way to get to a goal, great. Now they’re in second grade. One weekend of doing cookie sales is where they want to be.”
So far this year, her troop has raised $500 it gets to keep. The girls will help decide on a field trip or other use for the money, she said.
Elston was at the Mill Creek Safeway with her troop Sunday. One potential customer used an often-heard excuse, she said. The man said he had already bought cookies.
As he walked to his car, Elston’s daughter Sara called out, “Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts.”
“He came back and bought a box,” Elston said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Cookie sale
Girls Scouts in Western Washington are selling cookies through March 14. Information: www.girlscoutsww.org/cookies.
Click on “Looking for cookies?” to find where Girl Scout cookies are available.
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