Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Home News

Hoping to win the cookie eating contest, Abbey Weeks, 7, right, shovels in the cookies at the Girl Scouts Cookie Kickoff Carnival Saturday at the Girl Scouts Frontier Council’s Training and Service Center.

By Frances Vanderploeg (contact)

Mon, Jan 12, 2009 (12:10 p.m.)

While some people await Groundhog Day to know spring is around the corner, others have their own way — Girl Scout cookie sales.

To celebrate the upcoming round of sales, more than 2,000 scouts and parents joined Saturday at the Girl Scouts of Frontier Council headquarters, 2941 Harris Ave., Las Vegas, for the annual Cookie Kick-off Carnival.

Preorders of cookies are set to begin Saturday. Scouts will take to the streets Feb. 27 to March 15, to deliver the cookies and set up booths in front of retailers and grocery stores.

To kick off this year's event, a special ceremony was held to present the area Girls Scouts with a flag flown during a combat mission in Afghanistan. Each year, scouts collect cookies to be sent to active-duty troops.

For most of the girls, though, the highlight was the vast number of games. From a rock wall to booths, hours of fun were offered to the scouts, who screamed and hollered each time they descended the wall or won a game.

"I just wanted to come, because I wanted to play games," Rita Premas, 8, said.

Rita, who attends St. Francis De Sales School in Las Vegas, is a new member of the scouts, so she wasn't sure what to expect, she said.

"Everyone in her class is a member of the scouts, so she thought it would be fun," Jennifer Premas, Rita' mother, said.

Many of the scouts were also asked to work different booths for hourlong shifts. At Roger Bryan Elementary School in Summerlin, a troop of nine girls spent most of their day at the carnival, working or playing.

"All our girls came, which was great," Gina Ropokis, troop leader, said.

Her daughter, Chrisanthi Ropokis, 9, spent the day at the carnival along with fellow scout Kelsey Maley, 9. For their dedication, the girls earned 35 tickets each, to be used on games. That led to their favorite thing: The prizes.

The girls went home with a variety of things, including a beauty kit and treasure boxes with designs the girls can color.

Scouts from every troop in Clark County were expected to be at the carnival, the largest single event held every year.

Frances Vanderploeg can be reached at 990-2660 or frances.vanderploeg@hbcpub.com.