Anchorage Daily News

Carrying a bit of a spare tire? Just blame Ola Williams. As the lead Girl Scout cookie manager for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Williams helped import more calories than a stadium full of muktuk to the Valley this month.

All in all, she and an army of 750 eager scouts distributed more than 70,000 boxes of Thin Mints, Tagalongs and other sweet favorites from Talkeetna to Sutton to Palmer.

Of course, that's old news to anyone greeted lately in the grocery store by the budding sellers, or for those who have already received their boxes at home.

For Williams, who runs the Alaskan Dream Espresso Stand in Willow, the annual rite is a labor of love that dates back more than 25 years to her days in upstate New York.

For the rest of us, it's a reason to hit a gym. Regardless, Williams sat down with us this week to talk about the ins and outs and pitfalls of handling thousands of cookie orders, and answer the burning question: just how many boxes lurk in her own freezer.

Q. I've heard you referred to as the "cookie lady." Is that what people call you?

A. Unfortunately, yes (laughing). I am the cookie coordinator for the Mat-Su Valley, cookie manager, however you want to call it.

Q. What exactly do you do?

A. I keep track of all the troops involved with the cookie sale. This year, I believe we have 62 troops in the Valley selling cookies. I kind of coordinate to make sure all their paperwork gets turned in, all their original orders get turned in, and then sort and distribute ... I also do the council cookie cupboard ... to distribute to those who need extra.

Q. How many boxes did you distribute this year?

A. We had 5,876 cases come to the Valley, and there's 12 boxes in each case.

Q. Have you ever calculated how many calories that is?

A. No.

(Editor's note: Based on 1,350 calories per box of Thin Mints, this year's tally would total a paltry 95,191,200 calories, which, if eaten in one sitting would add 27,197 pounds to a person's body weight.)

Q. Is there a favorite kind?

A. Here in the Valley we have Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs, are the most popular. Those three. And then the new Lemon Chalet Cremes has made a very big hit. That's a brand new cookie this year. ... The Thin Mints and the Samoas, I think we had over 1,500 cases of each of them.

Q. And where do these get distributed?

A. We go from Glacier View Elementary School on the Glenn Highway all the way up to Trapper Creek on the Parks Highway and everything in between.

Q. How many Girl Scouts are involved?

A. There are 750 girls and 260 adult volunteers in the Mat-Su Borough and that includes Palmer, Wasilla and Little Susitna service areas. (The cookies are brought up by Lynden Transport, unloaded at Valley Moving & Storage on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, then distributed in a single day)

Q. You coordinate the cookie orders. Are the Girl Scouts bringing you paper sheets and you're inputting them into a computer?

A. Probably more than half the troops I'm dealing with this year had already put the information online. We have some troops, the cookie mom or dad has no Internet connection.

Q. And it all goes perfectly every year? You get exactly the right amount?

A. We get the right amount of cookies. Sometimes we have a miscount, one or two. But for the most part, I've got some really well-trained volunteers and I certainly could not operate the (distribution) depot by myself.

Q. Any nightmares over the years?

A. We've had a couple of nightmares. Mostly it's because of the number of cases of cookies put on a pallet. We've had, the weight of some of the cookies has smashed the bottom row of cookies. Or if the pallets haven't been completely level, they have a tendency to get some damaged cookies at the bottom. A couple of times we've had, it looks like a forklift has gone through a case of cookies.

Q. Do you start dreaming cookies this time of year, and cookie ordering sheets?

A. I enjoy doing the cookie sale. My husband and I moved here in 1999, and I've been helping with the cookie sale here in the Valley since 2000. Previous to that, I spent about 20 years helping with the cookie sale in upstate New York.

Q. How did you get into this? Was it through your own children?

A. I have no children. My best friend had three daughters. The middle daughter didn't have a Girl Scout - couldn't find a leader for her age group, and I ended up doing that. I've been involved in Girl Scouts now as an adult volunteer since 1979.

Q. And how many years have you done cookies?

A. All but two years (since 1981).

Q. Any trends? Any changes in cookie preferences?

A. No (laughing). The three main cookies have always been Samoas, the mints and Tagalongs.

Q. Any differences doing it in Alaska versus New York?

A. There is a longer time from when cookies as pre-sale orders end and the cookies actually come in.

Q. You get no money for this, no compensation. Why are you still doing this?

A. Because they told me I'm nuts. No I really enjoy it. The cookie program does so much good for the girls (teaching time management, teamwork, self-reliance) and it's one of those things I enjoy doing.

Q. What's your favorite cookie?

A. The Tagalongs, although the Lemon Chalet Cremes are going to be a pretty good favorite.

Q. And if we were to come to your house right now, how many boxes would we find?

A. I, um, decline to answer the question. I make it a point to only buy one box per girl. ... I learned that a long time ago.

Find S.J. Komarnitsky online at adn.com/contact/skomarnitsky or call 352-6721.

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