Outside Looking In

Girls are troopers

When my mother was a Camp Fire Girls troop leader many years ago, the girls would come over to our house for meetings every week.
They were a number of various projects they would be involved in and would earn colored wooden beads for performing certain tasks, similar to a Boy Scout earning a merit badge. The beads would be sewn onto a vest that the girls would wear to the meetings.
The elementary girls would be known as Bluebirds and then evolve into Camp Fire Girls if they stayed involved; much like a Cub Scout becoming a Boy Scout when he reaches a certain age.
There still is a group that has evolved from Camp Fire Girls, only now it consists of both boys and girls. Camp Fire Girls was founded in 1910 and the name stayed the same until 1975 when it became Camp Fire Boys & Girls. In 2001, the name again changed, this time to Camp Fire USA. Today, the name is simply referred to as Camp Fire, which it changed to in 2012.
I also remember the group of girls sitting in a circle on the floor around a fake campfire singing the group's theme song of "Sing around the campfire, join the Camp Fire Girls."
The sad part is I still know most of the words to that song.
But what I remember the most were the boxes of Fanny Farmer and Russell Stover chocolates the Camp Fire Girls would sell, as well as the Party Wafers, white almond bark, and canisters of peanuts they would sell to earn money for the troop and for outings. The Party Wafers were similar to the York Peppermint Patty, only a little smaller and the coating was yellow, green and pink.
I also remember everyone anticipating the girls going door to door to sell the candy and nuts.
Fast forward to today and things haven't changed all that much for me. I still anticipate the cookie sales from the Girls Scouts, which is not affiliated with the Camp Fire Girls.
The Minneota Girl Scouts Troop 37814 that was formed last year by troop leader Julie Pohlen began selling their cookies this past Saturday at the AgPlus C-store in town. Pohlen reported that cookie sales went very well with over 60 boxes sold.
The girls will be selling the cookies again this Saturday (Feb. 27) from 9 a.m. to noon at Hy-Vee in Marshall. Sales will continue until March 30, You can also order the cookies online at tinyurl.com/y53kuzae or by calling Pohlen at 507-828-7392.

A worthy trip
It was a coincidence that Charlie Pesch just happened to be taking a trip to Texas right after a blizzard paralyzed the Lone Star State. Thousands were without power, stores are having a hard time keeping food, water, paper products and toiletries in stock.
Pesch, who owns and operates Big Dipper Honey out of his family's home in Minneota, was going down to Texas to check on his hives following the blizzard and decided to bring along some cases of bottled water, food and other various supplies.
As long as he was taking a flatbed truck down to Texas and he had plenty of room, he posted a message on Facebook asking if anyone wanted to contribute to the cause.
Figuring he would get an additional few hundred dollars to purchase more supplies, Pesch was shocked when he received over $4,000 in cash and supplies in less than two days.
Businesses in and around Minneota came forward with donations, friends, neighbors and even people Pesch had never met donated to the cause.
Pesch will be returning to Minneota in a few days and then returning to Texas again. He plans to bring more supplies on his second trip.
The way Minneota businesses and community members rally for a cause, Pesch might need a bigger truck for his second trip.

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