Sayville Daisy Leader Scouts Out Unique Cookie Sale Location

At the annual I-CON science fiction, anime and fantasy convention, Star Wars storm troopers are a common sight.

Daisy troopers? Not so much.

But that's where Daisy troop leader Jan Mauck of Sayville could be found this past weekend, accompanied by her granddaughter Arya, 6, representing Sayville Daisy Troop No. 2332. They were selling the trademark Girl Scout cookies, and sell them they did: more than 400 boxes on Saturday alone.

"It's absolutely lucrative," Mauck said.

In the world of the Girl Scouts, this kind of sale is categorized as a "booth sale" – the kind you'd typically find in front of a grocery store.

I-CON, though, is no grocery store: of the dozens of vendors in the "Dealers' Room," most were selling comic books, collectibles, costumes and accessories, posters, artwork, books, gaming gear, and other assorted staples of the science fiction, anime and fantasy worlds. Mauck said it's a highly unusual way to sell Girl Scout cookies.

"I had to get a special disclaimer on the parent permission form," she said.

Mauck's troop was one of only a handful of vendors selling food items, and was a welcome sight for the lines of hungry convention-goers who stopped to buy cookies.

"I'm so excited you guys are here," said Keren Form, of Queens, who bought Samoas and said she'd be back later for Tagalongs.

Another customer's rave review: "You sold me at 'cookies.'"

Mauck, wearing a t-shirt that read "Come to the Dark Side. We have cookies," is huge sci-fi fan herself. She attended the first-ever I-CON at Stony Brook University 31 years ago, and recalls seeing Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry there.

"It was fascinating," she said. "The first of its kind."