Do you like Girl Scout cookies? Ronnie Backenstoe is a Girl Scout and she has been selling Girl Scout cookies for the last 88 years! Ronnie is 98 and plans to continue selling cookies.
Ronnie has been selling Girl Scout cookies since 1932
Imagine that you continue doing the same thing every year for almost nine decades and never losing your enthusiasm! Ronnie is a true example of how doing the things that you love can make you happy and fulfilled.
Recently, Ronnie greeted a few members from Troop 1814 at Phoebe Berks, a retirement community in Pennsylvania where she lives. She was dressed in full girl scout uniform and eager to share her decade-long experience with other girl scouts.
“I love to talk to the little girls today and tell them what I sold cookies for when I started: 15 cents!” Ronnie said.
Talking with Ronnie feels like relieving history
Being a Girl Scout has always been a life-long commitment to Ronnie. According to Donna Schudel, a community relations specialist at Phoebe Berks, Ronnie traveled the world with Girl Scouts.
“Her mom made her wait until she was 10 and she never looked back,” Schudel said. “She was a regional director, she ran camps, she took the Girl Scouts to Switzerland and Jamaica. She’s a Girl Scout enthusiast.”
For Ronnie, Girl Scouts is all about teaching kids how to live a good life but also treat other people with respect and serve their communities.
“Girl Scouts is one of the best organizations in the world,” she said. “It teaches children how to live life and how to treat other people and to do service for other people who need help.”
“Girl scouts today are more modern”
As we might expect, Girl Scouts were quite different back in 1932 when Ronnie sold her first cookie, compared to today. Back then, girl scouts could expect to learn skills like cooking and food canning, Ronnie said.
“Girl Scouts today are more modern,” she said. “They don’t just learn their way around the kitchen. They learn to build, code and continue to volunteer their time helping others.”
Even Girl Scout cookies are much different today, compared to the time when Ronnie was a little girl. There were only three varieties back then, unlike today when you can choose from more than a dozen varieties.
Despite the big changes over the years, the peanut butter Do-si-do sandwich cookies had remained Ronnie’s favorite. She revealed that her late husband, Warren, would call her ‘Peanut Butter Kid’. “Because I love peanut butter so much!”
There’s no plan to retire from selling cookies
Ronnie is living proof of how doing something you truly love never stops being an inspiration. At 98, she doesn’t plan to stop and is looking forward to her 90th year as a Girl Scout. We hope that Ronnie will celebrate her amazing jubilee and continue to be passionate about Girl Scouts!
“The more you do it, the more you like it!” she said.
