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8 4 | M A C O N M A G A Z I N E F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 9 T his ain't no corner lemonade stand. Selling Girl Scout cookies is big business. The annual Girl Scout cookie sale, taking place now across the nation and right here in Middle Georgia, involves more than one million girls selling over 200 million boxes of cookies annually, with a yearly revenue of about $700 million. That's a cookie empire! Founded by Georgia's own Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, this year Girl Scouts are celebrating their 102nd year of annual cookie sales. Among the enterprising young members selling here in the midstate are members of Troop 60043. Under the guidance of co-leaders Melanie Marshall and Julia Wood, the 24 girls participate in both cookie pre-orders and cookie booth sales. Comprised of girls ranging in age from first through seventh grades, the girls work hard to sell the cookies so they can earn money for their troop and others. For each box of cookies sold, about 75 percent goes to the local Girl Scout council and 25 percent goes to the bakery. Cookies sold locally by Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia are baked by Little Brownie Bakers, headquartered in Louisville, Ky. According to Pamela Rugen, product program manager with Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia in Lizella, there are eight varieties of cookies: Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-si-Dos, Trefoils, Savannah Smiles, Toffee Tastics and S'mores. The biggest sellers, she said, are Thin Mints, Samoas and Tagalongs. Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia averages more than 90,000 cases of cookies annually – that's more than 1 million boxes! A few years ago, Wood said that Troop 60043 started to brainstorm how they could sell more cookies to reach their sales goals. "They decided a restaurant would be a good place to sell more cookies to more than one person or organization," Wood said. A partnership was born and the troop began selling to several local restaurants which, in turn, began to use the well- known cookies in special recipes. "For example, The Rookery makes a special milkshake each spring using a specific Girl Scout cookie flavor," Wood said. Matthew Newton, general manager of The Rookery, said, "Over the years, we have tried hundreds of different milkshakes, but when we paired the Girl Scout cookies with our locally-sourced Southern Swiss Dairy ice cream, we found a winner." The Rookery always has a "Shake of the Month," he said, and they typically feature the Girl Scout cookie shake in March or April. "We sell double our usual 'Shake of the Month' when we feature the Girl Scout cookie shake," Newton said. This year, he said, he's leaning toward the Tag-a-long. "Maybe we'll create a shake using the famous Tag-a-long cookie, peanut butter, Southern Swiss double chocolate ice cream and Southern Swiss milk," he said. As popular as Girl Scout cookies are, Wood said that not everyone wants to buy a box, but many customers still want to Delicious DIRECTION Make memorable desserts with Girl Scout cookies and help support successful girls BY LISA PRITCHARD MAYFIELD