98-year-old woman who became a Girl Scout in 1932 is STILL selling cookies at her retirement home

A 98-year-old woman who has been a Girl Scout for nearly nine decades has never stopped selling cookies — even if the price has gone up a bit since the 15-cents-per-box customers paid back in 1932.

Ronnie Backenstoe first signed up for her local Girl Scout troop at 10 years old, and went on to climb the ranks until she was running camps and serving as field director across several counties. 

A lifelong scout, Ronnie was back at it last week, selling Girl Scout cookies at her own retirement community to fans who can’t get enough Thin Mints and Samoas.

Super scout! Ronnie Backenstoe, 98, has been a Girl Scout for 88 years

Still going: Last week, she sold Girl Scout cookies at her Pennsylvania retirement home

Still going: Last week, she sold Girl Scout cookies at her Pennsylvania retirement home

Way back: She signed up at age 10 in 1932 and climbed the ranks

Way back: She signed up at age 10 in 1932 and climbed the ranks

Ronnie dressed up in her old uniform for the occasion, sporting an olive green number with a skirt and matching cap that was issued decades before.

'I love to talk to the little girls today and tell them what I sold cookies for when I started: 15 cents!' she said

‘I love to talk to the little girls today and tell them what I sold cookies for when I started: 15 cents!’ she said

She set up shop at the Phoebe Berks retirement home in Pennsylvania, and was assisted by some younger scouts from the area who set up a table with cookies to buy.

Ronnie first signed up to be a Girl Scout in Lake George, New York in 1932, waiting until her mother let her join at age 10.

Back then, she said, there were only three kinds of cookies available — and they were a bargain.  

‘I love to talk to the little girls today and tell them what I sold cookies for when I started: 15 cents!’ she told the Today show. 

‘The little girls who I tell that to today, they giggle and laugh because it sounds so impossible, but it was the Depression,’ she added to GMA. ‘Therefore, everything was cheaper, of course, and it’s hard for this generation to understand that, you know.’

Dedicated: As an adult, she worked for the organization, becoming a field director in Berks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Bucks counties and director of Camp Mosey Wood in the Poconos

Dedicated: As an adult, she worked for the organization, becoming a field director in Berks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Bucks counties and director of Camp Mosey Wood in the Poconos

'Girl Scouts is one of the best organizations in the world,' she said

‘Girl Scouts is one of the best organizations in the world,’ she said

Moving forward: Back then, she and her fellow scouts would spend meetings learning domestic skills like cooking, but now there's a wider array of badges to earn

Moving forward: Back then, she and her fellow scouts would spend meetings learning domestic skills like cooking, but now there’s a wider array of badges to earn

As the price went up, so did Ronnie’s status with the Girl Scouts. She worked her way up the ranks. While she likely joined as a Junior (grades 4 to 5), she would have gone on to be a Cadette, a Senior, and then an Ambassador. 

According to the Reading Eagle, she then made a career of scouting, becoming a field director in Berks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Bucks counties and director of Camp Mosey Wood in the Poconos.

Though she retired in 1976, she continues to sell cookies ever year and remains passionate about it. 

‘Girl Scouts is one of the best organizations in the world,’ she told Today. ‘It teaches children how to live life and how to treat other people and to do service for other people who need help.’

Some things have changed since she was younger. Back then, she and her fellow scouts would spend meetings learning domestic skills like cooking, but now there’s a wider array of badges to earn.  

Useful stuff: She also touted the purpose of Girl Scout cookies, which is to teach girls 'salesmanship' and how to balance budgets

Useful stuff: She also touted the purpose of Girl Scout cookies, which is to teach girls ‘salesmanship’ and how to balance budgets 

‘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.’

But selling cookies has remained the same, and still teaches Girl Scouts valuable skills.

‘You know many people say, “Oh there’s not many [cookies] in the box for that much money.” Well, that’s not the purpose,’ Ronnie told GMA. 

‘The purpose is to teach the girls a little salesmanship for one thing. They learn to balance their budgets. They learn to be courteous when they go to the doors and introduce themselves. It’s all that little detail. That’s the purpose of Girl Scouting.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk