A 98-year-old Girl Scout in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, is helping the younger generation carry on the tradition of selling delicious cookies.
Ronnie Backenstoe said when she was a little girl, she could not wait to join the organization, according to WFMZ.
“I became a Girl Scout in 1932!” she noted, adding, “I said, ‘When can I be a Girl Scout?’ My mom said, ‘When you’re 10,’ so when I was 10, I was ready to go!”
Since then, Backenstoe has been all over the world with the scouts and had more than her fair share of adventures.
She even became a scoutmaster and traveled to Jamaica and Switzerland with her troop.
“I don’t know if you ever tried to get in a uniform in a pup tent,” she jokingly said, adding, “I did. It’s not easy!”
This week, she helped a local troop sell the famous cookies that cost only 15 cents during the 1930s to friends and neighbors in the Phoebe Berks retirement community.
“In general, she just makes me laugh when I’m with her,” said fellow scout, Amber Holl.
The organization’s website stated that girls “learn best in an all-girl, girl-led, and girl-friendly environment.”
“Girl Scouts is a place where she’ll practice different skills, explore her potential, take on leadership positions—and even feel allowed to fail, dust herself off, get up, and try again,” the site read.
Wednesday, the institution tweeted a photo of Backenstoe wearing the green uniform.
“Her stamina, her energy, her mind, she’s non-stop,” said Troop Leader Barbara Allen Perelli.
Even though many things have changed since she joined as a little girl, Backenstoe said she hoped to continue to inspire the next generation for years to come.
“I think that it was just part of living, and that’s what really girl scouting is, it teaches you how to live,” she stated.