By Staff
GIRL SCOUT COOKIES Ashley Thomas, left, Shataria Jones and Katy Gentry, all from Meridian, stand Friday night near a display of Girl Scout cookies. The three Girl Scouts are among thousands who will be selling cookies to friends and family during the next three weeks. Photo by Steve Swogetinsky / The Meridian Star
By Steve Swogetinsky/regional editor
Jan. 5, 2001
Katy Gentry of Meridian already has her sales pitch: "What kind of cookies do you want? I've got them all."
Gentry, a member of Girl Scouts Troop 914 of Meridian, is one of more than 2,000 area Girl Scouts who will be involved in the annual cookie sales project for the next three weeks.
The Girl Scouts of the Pines Council sponsored a cookie sales kickoff party Friday night at Camp Meridale. It drew scouts from all over the council's Meridian area including troops in Newton, Neshoba, Kemper, Lauderdale and Clarke counties.
The Pines Council covers 21 counties in South Mississippi, from the Meridian area down to the Coast. Last year, the council's scouts sold 54,000 cases of cookies. This year's goal is 57,000.
That sounds like a lot of cookies, but Shataria Jones of Troop 3 in Meridian said the job isn't as hard as it sounds.
The girls certainly have something for which to shoot.
The top seller in the Meridian area will receive a new computer from the Pines Council. Yarrow also said some of the profits from cookie sales return to the troops where the sales are made.
She added that selling cookies gives the girls some real-life experiences.