The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
That's right, Samoa aficionados—Girl Scout cookie season is here. PLUS: The Today Show returns, our warm-weather spell, an upcoming Bartenders' Brawl and more.
If your idea of the ultimate date night is you and a fresh sleeve of Thin Mints, pay attention. The nostalgia-inducing, utterly addictive, seasonal cookie and all its chewy, chocolatey friends are back for another season, and your purchase of a box (or 17—no shame) can help a troop of local girls build the skills they need to succeed in this increasingly plugged-in capitalist world.
“People probably ask for Thin Mints, Samoas and Tagalongs the most,” veteran Girl Scout Amelia Juracka, a 5th grader at Greenfield Elementary, told me at Thursday evening’s meeting of Troop 3608. “Those are the original ones.” Amelia is the daughter of troop co-leader Diana Juracka and was one of four Amelias at the meeting Thursday. “When in doubt,” her mom told me, “you can quote ‘Amelia.’” Amelia’s also one half of the four sets of sisters in the multi-level troop, which is made up of members of all (elementary school) ages, from the first grade Daisies to the fifth grade Juniors. The Girl Scouts hail from a number of schools, too: Greenfield Elementary, Geyser Crest and St. Mary’s, plus one homeschooler.
The purpose of Thursday’s meeting at the Saratoga Rec Center was to make posters advertising cookie sales, in addition to a sales tool that’s a bit more modern. “Girl Scouts as a whole has grown with technology,” Diana said. “So there are a lot more badges that have to do with STEM, and we do online cookie sales now.” (Yes, you can buy cookies online, but more on that later.) The second half of the meeting was devoted to the creation of promotional videos that will be posted on Troop 3608’s website.
“Does everyone know what we’re saying?” Diana’s co-leader, Jen, asked the group of 11 girls standing in front of a banner depicting the 11 types of cookies for sale this year. “Everybody say what your favorite cookie is and why they should buy cookies.”
Maddie, who claims her mom helped her younger sister beat her out in the contest for the most cookies sold by just one box last year, went first.
“Hi, my name is Maddie and I’m a part of Troop 3608,” she said shyly. “My favorite cookie is the Adventurefuls.” For those not up on their 21st century Girl Scout cookie additions, Adventurefuls are brownie-like cookies topped with caramel-flavored creme and sea salt, and are a favorite amongst Troop 3608 and their parents. One by one, the girls followed Maddie’s lead, until it got to first-grader Suzy. “What?” she said, interrupting the so-far nearly seamless first take. “Do I have to?”
“Yup,” Suzy’s mom said under her breath. “That one’s mine.”
But the show must go on, and the video commenced with Amelia encouraging viewers to donate cookies to hometown heroes—veterans or first responders. After Jen pressed the stop button, the small group of parent volunteers clapped. “I loved it,” Diana said. “It was real.”
While participation in Girl Scouts was declining before the pandemic as the organization tried to vie with other extracurricular activities competing for girls’ attention, Covid decimated Scout numbers, with enrollment dropping 30 percent between 2019 and 2020. (Boy Scouts lost half its members in that same time.) But numbers are back on the rise, according to Diana, who herself was a Girl Scout from third grade through high school graduation. “Our troop has grown twice its size over the last year,” she says. “People want to do things again now that Covid is under control.”
So with its newfound strength in numbers, Troop 3608 is about to dive headfirst into its busiest season of the year: Cookie season. In addition to selling door-to-door (which, Maddie says, “is always a really big hit because everybody in the neighborhood is always like, ‘Yay! It’s cookie season!’”), the troop also posts up at different locations around town (such as Lowe’s, Geyser Crest and one troop member’s house during a neighborhood-wide garage sale), and sells cookies online. In fact, the new Raspberry Rally—essentially a Thin Mint but with a raspberry interior—is available exclusively online. “What is Girl Scouts trying to teach you about?” Diana asked Amelia, who shrugged. “Omnichannel business.”
This year, the Troop is going to try out yet another channel for selling cookies: local restaurants. Diana had the idea to sell boxes in bulk to restaurants, which could create cookie-themed dessert recipes.
While I was talking with Diana, the girls had taken over control of the iPad and were recording videos of their own. Amelia had taken charge of one, and was wearing the coveted Samoa costume. “Why don’t you buy me already?!” she said to the camera. “I’m a Samoa and I’m the most delicious. All the other cookies are lame-os.”
“Guys,” Diana butted in. “That’s not very kind.”
If an anthropomorphic cookie insulting the integrity of a collection of other mass-produced sweets is the worst thing Diana has to deal with, I’d say the future of our city’s girls is pretty darn bright.
—Natalie
Interaction of the week:
14-year-old: “I wish I had a phone just for taking pictures.”
66-year-old: “That’s called a camera.”
Stair Master
The city of Saratoga is looking a little bit nicer thanks to the undercover work of one store owner who took clean-up efforts into her own hands earlier this week. Sick of seeing graffiti on the parking garage staircase near her shop, Tailgate and Party owner Kirsten Lambert grabbed a can of spray paint one early morning and covered it right up—though she wasn’t sure of the legality of her actions. “I told my husband he’d have to bail me out when I got arrested for cleaning—instead of defacing…Facing?” she told me when I asked if I could share the story here. “Feel free to do whatever you want. You can even name me—gotta live a little!”
Hospitality Hotspots
This week, not one but two of Saratoga’s historic hotels made news in the wide world of hospitality. The first is Saratoga Arms, which was ranked as the No. 1 hotel in Saratoga Springs according to the U.S. News and World Report’s 2023 Best Hotels Rankings, and the second is The Adelphi, which earned a coveted Forbes Travel Guide Recommended award, meaning it’s now showcased on ForbesTravelGuide.com. “I am beyond thrilled and honored that we have earned the prestigious Forbes Travel Guide Recommended Award,” Adelphi GM Helen Watson says. “It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire staff who go above and beyond to make the guest experience a memorable one.”
Weather, or not?
In New York magazine’s wildly popular list of 194 updated rules on how to tip, text, ghost, host and politely deal with strangers that came out earlier this month, #34 addresses the topic of small talk. “Actually, it’s great to talk about the weather,” it reads. “It was 60 degrees in January. There’s a lot to say.” While it wasn’t actually 60 degrees in January this year, it was nearly 60 degrees in the Spa City earlier this week, and now that we know it’s socially acceptable, everyone was talking about it. I took a mid-afternoon break from writing to break out the roller blades on the Spa State Park bike path, which, while quite puddly on the stretch following Avenue of the Pines, dried out for the rest of the 3.5-mile loop.
Save the Date
Thought there was nothing going on in Saratoga between Chowderfest and St. Patrick’s Day? Think again. Not only is the Saratoga Beer Summit returning to the Saratoga City Center on February 25, but a brand-new organized drinking event is also in the works for the 28th.
“It’s the brawl, baby,” says Adam Feldman, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties, of the Bartenders’ Brawl, the cocktail mix-off he’s helping host at Putnam Place on the last day of the month. Ten local mixologists from 10 different bars will be bringing their best cocktail concoction to the party, where attendees will be able to sample four-ounce pours of each for $5 (that includes tip). At the end of the night, for every drink you bought, you’ll get one vote, and the bartender with the most votes will be the winner of the first-ever Bartenders Brawl. Oh, and the evening has a Roaring Twenties theme.
Tickets are $35 a person or $85 for VIP, and proceeds from the event will go to Habitat for Humanity. “Habitat supports building homes for the workforce,” Adam says. “So now we’re putting on an event with and for the workforce.”
Today on Monday
Yes, you read that right. On Monday, the Today show will broadcast live from the veranda at Fort William Henry in Lake George as part of its “Today’s Winter Escape” program, marking the first time producers have chosen a cold-weather destination for the show. Area residents are welcome to attend, but must make the early call time at the hotel, which is currently renovating its historic carriage house into a stunning wedding venue, to participate. Read more on Foothills Business Daily.
This Week in Saratoga Living After Hours
On Monday, we tried to help a Steve Martin–loving Saratogian find the one that got away at Chowderfest, and on Tuesday, we recapped the very Chowderfest at which he got away.