Greetings from the GS Border! Literally, a border between two councils with mingled school districts and 2 different cookie bakers to boot! Confused? It’s okay, we were too but we’ve got it figured out.

There are two councils nearby that run the county line between Bureau County (Central Illinois Council) and Henry County (Eastern Iowa  / Western Illinois Council.)
To add to this, we have students who live in Bureau county but attend Henry County Schools and vice versa. (Neoponset / Kewanee, Mineral / Annawan)

Because we are on the border between the two councils, the council allows you to CHOOSE which council to participate in. (And in fact, they can technically be signed up for both; have a primary troop (Central Illinois) and Juliette to the other (Eastern Iowa / Western Illinois) for activities. We haven’t had anyone do that yet but it’s possible with the right paperwork.

So why is this such a big deal?

The main difference… it boils down to the COOKIES. Girl Scouts is way more than cookies obviously but that is what funds all of our crazy troop adventures.
We have two bakers, ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers, that cover all of US Troop needs across the US and they have their own defined council territories and contracts and Henry County has one baker and Bureau County has the other.

The proceeds of all girl scout cookies stays within the council and the troop and helps pay for their programs, camps and activities so it makes sense that the funds stay with the council that the cookie sales come from.

Our meetings are in Bureau County and we will only run cookie booths in counties that are covered under Central Illinois.
We stay out of Henry County for Boothing Activities.

Your scout can still sell to friends/family/neighbors (regardless of where they live- Girl Scouts can sell in person anywhere in the US) and we will of course be boothing all over Bureau County.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions but know that your scout is welcome here!