Quake-Hampered Girl Scout Cookie Drive to Finally Begin

The San Fernando Valley Girl Scout cookie sales campaign, delayed by the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake, will finally get under way today with a ceremony at Burbank Airport.

It was the first time in the San Fernando Council’s 30-year history that the sales campaign, originally scheduled to begin Jan. 29, had been postponed.

“At least at this point, if anybody’s in their house when they order, it’s reasonable that they might still be there when the cookies come,” said Arlene Faber, the council’s interim executive director.

“Make it Happen--Women in Early Aviation” is the theme for this year’s cookie drive. A group of women pilots called the 99s will be on hand to discuss the role women played in early aviation.

Members of the group--some of whom began flying with Amelia Earhart, the group’s first president--will teach older Girl Scouts how to map out flight plans. All Scouts will build wooden airplanes.

In addition, the Scouts will rehearse good sales and safety techniques.

Although the Scouts begin preparing for the door-to-door sales campaign today, direct sales in front of local business won’t begin until April 22. By then, there should be “an adequate distribution of places that are back in business,” Faber said.