RUMFORD — New Rumford Girl Scout Troop 676 just can’t catch a break from the weather in its efforts to sell Girl Scout cookies this winter.

A snowstorm and subfreezing temperatures have canceled two attempts since the troop formed in January, troop co-leader Jenn Dyke said Wednesday at the American Legion Hall.

While three members of the five-girl troop were inside with the cookies, Vivian Rice, 7, and Cynnarra Sellers, 8, bundled up and standing outside in the Advantage Insurance Services parking lot, fought high winds to hold on to the handmade signs which advertised their wares. 

At the top of their lungs, the second-grade students, along with troop co-leader Malia Letourneau of Rumford, yelled, “Girl Scout cookies for sale! Girl Scout cookies for sale!”

Then a big gust ripped the sign out of Vivian’s mittened hands, and she started to chase after it — but Letourneau quickly grabbed her before she could run out into Portland Street traffic.

A short lesson on pedestrian safety followed before Letourneau and Rice walked together toward the River Valley Technology Center to retrieve the sign.

“Can I go in now?” Sellers asked when the pair returned. “I am so freezing.”

Letourneau took both girls inside the hall for some hot chocolate. She then taped a sign to a chair and placed it outside to alert passersby to their presence.

“We’re a brand new troop, so we’re a little behind all the rest of the Girl Scout troops (in selling cookies),” Dyke said.

The girls are selling the cookies to earn money for a trip to the Portland Children’s Museum in downtown Portland.

“And we want to stay overnight there, too,” member Paige Dyke said.

Troop 676 is selling boxes to family members and to the public for $4 a box at Tractor Supply Co. and Marden’s in Rumford. So far, the troop has made a couple hundred dollars, Jenn Dyke said.

They will be selling cookies again from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, March 28, at Marden’s off Route 2 in Rumford.

Jenn Dyke said the troop is also seeking to increase its membership. If there are any girls in second and third grades interested in joining the troop, their parents should contact Jenn Dyke at 418-7599.

Girl Scout Troop 676 meetings are held every Wednesday at the Rumford American Legion Hall.

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