LAPLACE — Like generations of moms before her, Cherie Hilbun became a Girl Scout troop leader when her daughter, Hailey, decided she wanted to join.

It helped that her mother and grandmother before her had been Girl Scouts leaders.

Together, Cherie and Hailey became Daisies, then Brownies, Juniors and Cadettes.

Now age 14, Hailey is  going strong as a Senior Scout, earning badges and enjoying a wide variety of fun activities with her friends, and her mom is leader of Troop 20772, the longest thriving troop in St. John the Baptist Parish.

“It gets harder as they get older,” Cherie said. “It is hard to get them motivated at times. I think they like the fact that they get to do fun things together, things they wouldn’t normally get to do.”

As a troop, the girls have gotten to spend a night on the USS Kidd in Baton Rouge, gone camping in the Bonnet Carre Spillway, toured the local Dominos Pizza franchise and got to make their own pizzas, learned first aid and CPR.

They also make regular visits to the Southeast Louisiana War Veterans Home in Reserve.

“They really enjoy doing that,” Cherie said.

Hailey said she especially enjoyed the camping trips.

“They had archery and that’s one of my favorite things to do,” she said. “I get to meet a lot of different people.”

Of course, everyone’s favorite time is coming up — cookie time.

This year will mark the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts cookie sales.

To mark the occasion, the Girl Scouts are introducing a new treat to the traditional cookie lineup.

The S’mores™ cookie is a crispy graham cookie double dipped in crème icing and finished with a chocolately coating. It is vegan, and free of artificial colors, preservatives and partially hydrogenated oils.

According to Alisha Moore, chief customer experience officer of Girl Scouts Louisiana East, the first S’mores recipe appeared in “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts,” published in 1927. Scouts throughout the region have already been busy taking pre-orders. Direct sales will begin Friday, meaning you should soon see local scouts outside stores and shopping centers this weekend.

There are nine varieties of cookies for sale, including Thin Mints, Shortbread, Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel deLites, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwich and Thanks-A-Lot. Those are $4 per box.

There also is a gluten-free chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal option called Trios, available for $5 a box.

Cookie seekers also may use the new Cookie Finder App, available on iOS or Android devices, which allow searchers to find a nearby cookie booth using GPS or zip code.

Customers also may visit girlscoutcookies.org to find the nearest booth location.

Also in keeping with the times, Girl Scouts USA has created an Instagram Challenge, which will allow troops to earn prizes and monetary awards to help fund their community service projects.

All cookie proceeds help fund the troop activities our local scouts get to enjoy.