Girl Scouts have started ringing doorbells at homes in Rancho Bernardo, Poway, 4S Ranch and other San Diego County communities.
It’s cookie time again.
However, the Samoas, Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos have different names – Carmel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties and Peanut Butter Sandwich, respectively. Girl Scouts San Diego has gone with a different cookie company this year.
After selling cookies made by Little Brownie Bakers for many years, the council changed to ABC Bakers, which makes many of the same varieties, but some under other names. The exceptions are Thin Mints, Trefoils and Adventurefuls, which go by the same name at both bakeries. There are also some new flavors.
Cookies selling for $6 per box are Trefoils, Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Toast-Yay!, Lemonades and Adventurefuls. The gluten-free Caramel Chocolate Chip is $7 per box. All of the Girl Scout cookies from ABC Bakers are certified kosher and halal, according to council officials.
Booth sales outside stores begin on Feb. 7. The sale will conclude on March 9.
With council officials anticipating that more than 9,400 Girl Scouts in San Diego and Imperial counties will sell cookies, there will be plenty of opportunities to buy.
The 10 of Ambassador Troop 2054 in Rancho Bernardo are selling cookies for their 13th and final year. They live in Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch, Poway and Temecula.
Eight have been together since kindergarten at Turtleback Elementary in RB, one ed in third grade and another transferred from another troop as a freshman.
To celebrate their high school graduations and end of Girl Scouting, their cookie sale proceeds are going toward a troop trip to Costa Rica this summer, said leader Kristen Crane, who has guided the troop with co-leader Suzanne Litzenberg since its formation.
Emma Litzenberg, 17, a senior at San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, has been in the troop since kindergarten.
“I have mixed emotions,” Litzenberg of Rancho Bernardo said about this being her final cookie sale. “It is exciting, but means I am growing up. I will never do this again. It is the end of my Girl Scout era. … A little part of me will miss it.”
Litzenberg said one of her most memorable moments was achieving 5,000 cumulative cookie sales as a sophomore.
While she no longer does door-to-door sales, Litzenberg said she will place door hangers with a QR code at homes of long-time customers that directs them to her Digital Cookie website. Some have expressed sorrow that they will not buy from her after this year, she said.
“It is emotional for me too, because these people helped me sell more than 5,000 cookies … so I want to thank them for ing me,” Litzenberg said, adding she might include a thank you card with their order when delivering this year.
She will also have a sign in her front yard, since many who walk in her neighborhood bought from her that way.
Her favorite cookie is Thin Mints, especially if it’s frozen and put in vanilla ice cream, Litzenberg said.
Katarina Radibratovic, 17, is a senior at Rancho Bernardo High. With her parents being from Serbia, her mother put her in the troop as a kindergartener so she could make friends, she said.
“I am grateful she did,” Radibratovic said, noting some of her best friends are in the troop.
While the girls started at Turtleback, they ended up spread among five middle schools and six high schools. Radibratovic said maintaining their friendships through troop activities was a big motivator for her remaining a Girl Scout.
“We meet up frequently, which I appreciate because we do not see each other as often if not for our troop bond,” Radibratovic said. “I am busy (with other activities) but wanted to stay in to see these girls.”
She said cookie sales helped her develop people skills like being able to talk with strangers. These skills are helping her when applying for jobs and college, she said. She also learned about money and completed a lot of community service.
“I have more appreciation for it now,” Radibratovic said. “I am sad to be moving along because it has been a heartfelt chapter of my life.”
Radibratovic said her favorite cookies have been Savannah Smiles, a discontinued lemon powder sugar variety, and Samoas because “I love coconut and chocolate. … They are super good if put first in the freezer.”
Both girls said they plan to bring cookies to their schools so their classmates can buy from them.
Crane said setting long-term goals for their cookie proceeds and other fundraisers, including fall product sales (candy and magazines) and hosting activities like badge workshops for younger Girl Scouts, was a big incentive for the girls to stay in the troop.
For example, they set aside a portion of their proceeds each year to celebrate their bridging from Juniors to Cadettes by walking over the Golden Gate Bridge. They also took a canoe trip down the Colorado River as sophomores. And they have been saving for the Costa Rica trip since they were freshmen.
Their troop fundraising goal for the trip is $10,000, which covers almost one-third of each girl’s cost. Each has to come up with an additional $2,500, which Crane said they have been saving through part-time jobs, babysitting and setting aside birthday money over the past four years.
To reach the troop fundraising goal, they must collectively sell 2,500 cookie boxes this year, which is 250 per member, she said. Radibratovic and Litzenberg said they feel that is very doable, based on their previous sales numbers.
“It was a very deliberate process,” Crane said about the troop’s selection of Costa Rica. It lets them explore the world, but is less expensive than Europe. They booked through a tour company that works with Girl Scout troops and will have many activities, such as zip lining, white water rafting, horseback riding and snorkeling.
For more about the cookie sale, visit sdgirlscouts.org/cookies.
