Thin mint alert: Girl Scout cookie sales begin Saturday

Three new flavors debut as cookie sale begins

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: January 18, 2008 - 9:20 AM

Girl Scouts could soon be knocking on your door as troops across southern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin being their annual cookie sale on Saturday.

In addition to the perennial favorites, Thin Mints and Samoas - which in past years have made up 50 percent of cookie sales - three new flavors join the line up of eight varieties that will be sold through March 30, said Dawn Cwierley, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valley.

The new flavors are Lemon Chalet Cremes, sugar-free Chocolate Chips and a redesigned "All Abouts," a vanilla cookie with a fudge coating. Each box sells for $3.50.

Last year Girl Scouts in the 49 counties that comprise the Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys Council sold more than 4,473,250 boxes of cookies to raise money for their troops and for the agency's camps, facilities, programs, and to fund the agency's community service projects and grants, Cwierley said.

The cookie sale will be the first for the newly formed Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valley Girl Scout Council. It was formed in Oct. 2007 when five councils - Cannon Valley, Greater Minneapolis, Peacepioe, River Trails and the St. Croix Valley - merged.

The new council has 49,000 girls ages 5 to 17, and 85 percent are expected to participate in the cookie fundraiser this year.

Girl Scouts have sold cookies to raise money since 1917.