MUSCATINE, Iowa — It’s the time of year when Charlie Smith annually turns his Smith’s Sales & Service into what he calls the cookie cupboard.

About 50 cases of Girl Scout cookies are being stored at the lawn mower and snow blower business at 301 W. Mississippi Drive. The cookies are being held for Girl Scouts who will be setting up sales booths and displays throughout the community. Or, anyone who really needs a cookie fix, can just stop in and buy a few boxes.

Smith is a Boy Scout leader who became involved with the Girl Scouts when his daughter, Whitney Smith, was young. Today, his 6-year-old granddaughter, Mercedes Smith, is in Girl Scouts. Charlie Smith and his wife, Teresa, are registered Girl Scout leaders.

“I’ve been involved with the Boy Scouts for a long time,” he said. “The Girl Scouts not quite as long … 12 years.”

Girl Scouts of the USA is a 96-year-old organization with 3.7 million members in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The Mississippi Valley Council has 11,700 members in Muscatine County and 14 other counties.

All net proceeds from the cookie sales stay within the area where the cookies were sold and support local troop activities, according to the Girl Scouts.

For anyone who wants to buy a box of cookies, Smith’s Sales & Service is open from           8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.