Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 1, 1994 TAG: 9402020117
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Kathleen Wilson
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Take the order sheet to work where I figured his co-workers would order Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs and Thin Mints by the dozens.
But my dad wasn't like the other dads. Selling Girl Scout cookies door-to-door would build character and self-confidence, he figured.
Dad would really like Sarah Moll and Rennie Waldron of Blacksburg.
Despite slick roads and frigid winds, these two 9-year-old Brownies from Troop 623 hit the road in Blacksburg, armed with Girl Scout cookie forms.
"You do it first," pleaded Rennie with a giggle.
"Only if YOU ring the doorbell," compromised Sarah. With a giggle.
"Hi! MynameisSarahandthisis myfriendRennieandwe'reselling GirlScoutcookies," Sarah said without stopping to breathe. "Wouldyouliketobuysome?"
Strike one.
It was the only time the two were turned down. Between Rennie's pretty freckles and Sarah's dimples, who could turn them down?
Next stop, the Crunkilton home on Elizabeth Drive.
"You can tell these people really like ducks," whispered Sarah after ringing the doorbell, pointing to a paddling of ducks surrounding the front door.
Bingo.
John Crunkilton sprang for the ever-popular Samoas and the brand new Juliettes.
This was Rennie's first cookie outing, and she was training with a seasoned professional.
Last year Sarah sold 250 boxes.
Several of the folks seemed to think it was some sort of sales ploy on the part of the Girls Scouts to send the girls out in pairs. After all, how can you buy from just one?
But the Girl Scouts recommend the buddy system for the sake of safety, not for sales.
At Gayle Kirby's house, she bought a box of Juliettes from Sarah, then decided to buy another box.
"Why don't you buy the second box from my friend Rennie?" suggested Sarah.
"Well, I could do that," Gayle said with a smile.
Sarah seems to have great future in public relations. After we left each house, Sarah would look at her order sheet and spell the name for me of the person who'd just bought the cookies.
"You should put the name of the person who buys the most cookies in the newspaper," suggested Sarah.
Deb Phelps bought five boxes. ("I used to be a Girl Scout.")
"It seemed like I was a Girl Scout forever and I swore when I grew up I'd buy from every Girl Scout who came to my door," declared Cindy Buchanan, who said she'd just bought some from a girl at her church.
Along the way, Sarah would stop to point out her neighborhood's points of interest.
"This is a GREAT yard to sled on!" she said.
A highlight for me on this Brownie excursion was getting to meet Peter Gwazdauskas, the Gilbert Linkous student with Down Syndrome who was the subject of the Oscar-winning "Educating Peter."
Peter's mom sprang for cookies, too.
Peter's head was wrapped in bandages. He's recovering from ear surgery, and everybody hopes he's feeling better soon.
Some two cold hours after they started, Rennie and Sarah decided to call it a day.
Over hot chocolate and cookies at the Molls' kitchen table, Rennie and Sarah tallied up the day's total.
Rennie sold 23 boxes. Sarah, 20.
"And that's not counting the 20 boxes my grandmother bought," figured Sarah.
\ What woman could possibly turn down an opportunity to spend part of a Saturday evening with a group called the Virginia Gentleman?
That's the name of this area's organization for barber shop quartet singers.
They gathered a couple of weeks ago for the club's annual dinner at the Patrick Henry Hotel.
The dinner was great, and you couldn't ask for nicer company.
And the Regents - jazz musicians who played the Regent room at the Hotel Roanoke for years before it closed - provided the music.
This get-together was only missing one thing:
Barber shop singing.
The four members of the group Time Was did sing a few songs in a rather impromptu manner, and they were great. Time Was left me wanting to hear more.
Cecil Bingham was honored by the national Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America.
Cecil, they say, was honored for "his support of four-part harmony in the community and an obvious desire to keep the world singing."
He's evidently this area's top recruiter, bringing in more new members than just about anyone else.
"Once he even asked a guy behind him in the line at the supermarket if he sang and would like to join," whispered Cecil's wife, Kay, as he went up to accept his certificate.
by CNB