It's Crunch time! -- Girl Scout cookie event set for Friday

It's Girl Scout Cookie Crunch-Off time once again. The fun starts Friday, Jan. 8, at 6:30 p.m., at the Vernon County Fairgrounds with a carnival of games followed by the Crunch-Off itself.

The team from Wal-Mart, which has won two previous Crunch-Offs, hopes to join two other teams; the Water Babies, a team from the Nevada Water Department and the Sticky Crumbs, a 3M team, in winning a three-peat, which would require them to retire from competition.

In previous Crunch-Offs Girl Scout leaders have fed the crowd's minds as well as their bodies with fun information on scouting and cookies. In 2006 the crowd learned their "cookie personality" -- for example, those who prefer Trefoils, the traditional shortbread cookies, may be "loyal, honest, and true blue." Those who prefer other types might disagree.

Registration and the carnival begin at 6:30 p.m., the Crunch-Off itself begins at 8 p.m. The cost is $2 per child, parents are welcome to stay and watch. Popcorn and Kool-Aid provided.

The event marks the beginning of a nationwide event cookie aficiandos everywhere anticipate each year -- Girl Scout cookies will be going on sale.

Sales from the cookies help local councils:

* Recruit and train volunteer leaders for each troop/group.

* Provide the financial assistance needed to make Girl Scouting available for all girls.

* Improve and maintain camp and other activity sites.

* Keep event/camp fees for all members to a minimum.

* Sponsor special events and projects.

Cookie sales are steeped in a tradition that goes back to 1917. According to www.girlscout.org, the first Girl Scout cookies came from the kitchens of members. The Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Okla., baked cookies and sold them as a service project. Five years later, a cookie recipe distributed through a member magazine suggested selling them for 25 to 30 cents per dozen.

By the 1940s, the idea had caught on and commercial bakers were providing the cookies. In 1951, they came in three varieties. There was a shortbread cookie, a chocolate mint cookie and a sandwich cookie. The Thin Mints are the most popular of all Girl Scout cookies, making up 25 percent of sales.