Girl Scout Cookies

The Girl Scout Cookies had their earliest beginnings in the kitchens and ovens of our girl members, with mothers volunteering as technical advisers. The sale of cookies was a way to finance troop activities began as early as 1917, five years earlier Juliette Gordon Low started Girl Scouting in the United States. The earliest mention of a cookie sale found to date was that of the Muskogee, Oklahoma, which baked cookies and sold them in its high school cafeteria as a service project in December 1917.

In the 1920's and 1930;s, they still baked their own sugar cookies with their mothers. These cookies were packaged in wax paper bags with a sticker, and sold door to door for 25 to 35 cents per dozen. The ingredients for baking six to seven dozen cookies was estimated to cost 26 to 36 cents at this time.

In 1936, Girl Scout organization began the process to license the first commercial baker to produce cokies that would be sold by girls in Girl Scout counsels. By 1937 more than 125 Girl Scout councils reported holding cookie sales, because the enthusiasm had spread nationwide for the cookies. The cookies were sold annually until WW2 when sugar, flour and butter became scarce, so they sold Girl Scout calendar's to make money.

By 1951 the cookies came in three varieties, sandwich, shortbread and chocolate mint (which is now known as thin mints). In 1956 the baby boom expanded Girl Scout membership and sales.. Also in 1956 licensed bakers began wrapping the cookies in printed aluminum foil or cellophane to protect the cookies and preserve the freshness.

In 1978 the Girl Scouts of America supplied the bakers with a standard cookie package layout and pictures. For the first time in their history all Girl Scout cookie boxes featured the same designs and depicted scenes of Girl Scouts in action, including hiking and canoeing.

In 2008, 15 year old Jennifer Sharpe from Dearborn, Michigan sold 17,328 boxes of cookies, setting a new record for her troop and possibly an all time record. Now a days the price for a box of Girl Scout cookies is $3.50 .

Girl Scouts is a familiar part of American culture for almost a century. Girl Scouts enthusiastic support from their family has helped ensure the success of Girl Scout cookies and activities. The sale of cookies has helped Girl Scouts have fun, develop valuable life skills and make the world a better place by helping suporting Girl Scouting in their communities.

This will help all of us understand what the Girl Scouts efforts have done for us and us for them. We all have a favorite Girl Scout cookie. Maybe you have had a little Girl Scout in your life and reading this will bring back memories and also understand what a big part she is in such a large organization. God bless them and may they prosper forever.

Did You Know??

Just some ramblings about different things of interest. I always like to poke around on Google and see what I can find.

1. Richest man is Carlos Slim Helu on Forbes, worth seventy four billion.
2. Richest woman is Christy Walton (inherited from husband)=worth 26.5 million.
3. The number one killer is heart disease.
4. Earth population will reach seven billion in year 2011.
5. Largest continent is Asia, and most of worlds population live there, and they say there is still plenty of room for more people.
6. Amazon River is the largest, it carries more water to the sea than any other river.
7. Nile River in Africa is the longest in the world, it is 4,184 miles long.
8. There are 600 million cars in the world.
9.The sweet potato is one of the best vegetables has vit. C, potassium and fiber.
10. I guess we have to be careful of products with high fructose corn syrup in them.
11. Daylight savings time started during WW1, in order to save energy. In 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act which standerized the length of daylight saving time.
12. The name chocolate is derived from the Nahuatl language in Central Mexico, it may have been influenced by the Mayan language. The Nahuatl word xocolat meaning bitter or sweet.
13. I believe our first gardens were in the Garden of Eden? This made Adam and Eve the first ever gardeners!

If you have an interesting fact, please let us know.

Spring

Some of us has not felt the effect of Spring yet, but it is coming very slowly. After all March is a very flicked month.

Spring is a great time of the year, winter is gone and now we can cheer.
Looking forward to summer, leaving behind the past,
in a short time, glorious weather at last.
Spring brings us flowers and life anew, all sorts of animals there to bid us ado
Spring gives us budding and trees that will turn green,
Giving us a place where their welcome shade can be seen.
Winter weather rises to a pleasing temp,
Spring is truly a time that's heaven sent
Spring passes quickly in weeks but a few,
and summer burst in with all things anew.

Written by: James Cassey

The Refreshing Orange

Oranges orginate from South East Asia, but are now available in most warmer climates, with the United States being the major producer of oranges in the world. Depending on the variety, oranges are available year long, with the peak season during the winter months.

There are three main varieties of oranges:
1. Sweet=these are for eating and juicing, some have seeds and some do not. They are usually hard to peel, the three most popular sweet oranges are naval, Valencia and blood oranges.
2. Loose skinned= these tend to be a part of Mandarin orange family, they can be sweet or even tart.
3. Bitter=these oranges are bitter to eat raw. They need to be cooked to be palatable, for example orange marmalade or bigarade sauce. Bitter oranges are also used to make essential oils and to make candied peel. Two types of oranges to look for when needing a bitter orange are Seville and bergamot.

Oranges can safely be stored on the counter top for 2 to 3 days, but keep longer in the refrigerator up to 14 days. Select an orange that is heavy for its size and shows no bruising, or has any shriveled or moldy skin, pick a brilliant colored one.

Oranges have extremely high Vitamin C, which helps maintain a healthy immune system. They are also have high fiber and no fat, oranges also have a fair amount of Folic Acid, Calcium, Potassium and Thiamine. So not only are oranges good but they are definitely good for us.

No doubt oranges have many health benefits, always remember to eat in moderation. Excessive consumption of any citrus juices can leach calcium from the body system, causing decay of the bones and teeth. If drinking juice caused excessive mucus build up in your throat, you could be alergic to oranges. The name orange applies primarily to the sweet orange. Lets face it oranges are good for us, and no matter what we will not stop eating them and drinking their juice.

Alaska Wolf Slaughter

I have been receiving e-mails about Alaska Wolf Puppies being gunned down deliberately, this is a cruel and barbaric act. This was approved by state officials, they killed 14 puppies and this happened right after they had killed their mother s and fathers ,this was reported by Defenders of Wildlife. Any un-necessary killing of wildlife or any animal angers me to no end as it does every decent citizens of the world.

Alaskan state wildlife personnel illegally chased down a pack of 14 adult wolves by helicopter, shooting them from the air. They say this is to help boost caribou population which is neither sensible nor humane. Later they raided a den of 14 puppies, now orphaned with their mothers and fathers killed just hours before, these puppies were then executed. Alaskans are now moving to end the Board of Game's barbaric aerial hunting of wolves through a ballot measure.

Wealthy interest groups like the Safari Club International are using their powers to defeat this ballot measure. Alaskans for Wildlife, along with Defenders of Wildlife is desperately trying to raise $80,000 in effort to raise public awareness in order to end the hunting of these magnificent wolves.

Anchorage, Alaska residents along the Kuskwim River want State game management to allow them to kill wolf pups in their dens. During her two years as governor Sarah Palin proposed a $150.00 bounty for the severed foreleg of each killed wolf and she introduced legislation to make it easier for hunters to use aircraft to hunt wolves, and just think this woman wants to run for president of our country.

I don't know how all this is going to end, but right now it does not look good for the wolves. I pray that in the great scheme of life it works in favor for the wolves. I think these people that have something to do with the killings of these animals must get a thrill out of doing it. I could not look into the face of any animal and pull the trigger, may God have mercy on them.