98-Year-Old Girl Scout Has Been Selling Cookies Since She Was Ten

For the past 88 years, Ronnie Backenstoe has put on her Girl Scout uniform and hit the streets selling everybody's favorite cookies.

The 98-year-old joined the Girl Scouts in the middle of the Great Depression when a box cost just 15 cents, and there were only three flavors to choose from. Growing up, all she wanted was to become a Girl Scout.

"I became a Girl Scout in 1932," Ronnie told WFMZ. "I wanted to be one so badly, and my mother said, 'When you're ten,' so when I was ten, I was ready to go!"

Ronnie explained that being a Girl Scout was a way of life for her, and she has worked with multiple generations of Girl Scouts all over the world during her life.

"I think that it was just part of living, and that's what really girl scouting is, it teaches you how to live," Ronnie said.

While she officially retired from active scouting in 1976, she still dons the uniform every year to sell cookies. This year, she was joined by girls from Troop 1814 at her retirement home in Wernersville, Pennsylvania.

Even at 98, Ronnie is still going strong and inspires those around her.

"Her stamina, her energy, her mind, she's non-stop," Barbara Allen Perelli, the troop leader, told the news station. 

Senior Girl Scout Amber Holl said she enjoys getting a chance to spend time with Ronnie.

"In general, she just makes me laugh when I'm with her," she said. 

Ronnie told the Reading Eagle that while her favorite Girl Scout cookie used to be Thin Mints, she now prefers Peanut Butter Patties. 


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