Franklin County Girl Scouts prepare for cookie season

February kicks off booth sales for the Girl Scouts, and Franklin County’s troop is ready to start selling some cookies.

This is the third year Franklin County’s troop has been active, and all three years have been under the leadership of Angela Kratz.

“I love doing it. My daughter, who is 8, loves doing it,” Kratz said.

Approximately 20 girls participate in the troop, from Belgreen, Tharptown, East Franklin and Russellville. Their ages range from kindergarten to ninth grade.

“I like Girl Scouts because it helps me learn how to be caring, have fun and make new friends,” said troop member Keira Cruse.

Kratz said one of the best parts of the troop is seeing how the girls interact with each other.

“We just had four new members come, and it was nice seeing how the older girls made them feel included and made friends so easily,” she said.

Troop members Savanna Birdyshaw and Katleyn Willis agreed meeting new people and making new friends is a big reason they love being Girl Scouts.

Being a Girl Scout promotes leadership and a sense of appreciation – not just for the other Girl Scouts but for the community they interact with, Kratz said. “They learn how to help others and be leaders.”

Feb. 8 will be the troop’s first booth setup date of the year. The girls will be at Foodland in Russellville from 4-6 p.m. Feb. 9 they will be at Foodland from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Kratz said they are also working on getting booth days set up at Goody’s in Russellville, which is where they did a lot of their booth selling last year.