They’re here.

Girl Scout cookies arrived in Vicksburg Wednesday, and local troops will begin selling the more than 20,000 boxes today.

“This is the first year we have received the cookies before Valentine’s Day,” said Janis Koestler the scout leader for troop 0420, who serves as the Warren County service unit cookie manager.

Booth sales will begin Friday night in the parking lot of Kroger on Pemberton Avenue and at the Outlets at Vicksburg, 4000 S. Frontage Road, on Saturday.

This year, the Girl Scouts will be offering eight varieties of cookies and the local scouts are excited about one of their new additions, Rah-Rah Raisins.

“It’s an oatmeal cookie that has raisins,” Emilee Bloodworth said.

“And there are pieces of yogurt in it,” Victoria Morehead said.

Toffee-tastic, a gluten-free cookie, is also a new cookie being sold, but it is not offered on the sale sheet because each troop will only receive one case of them, Koestler said.

They will sell for $5 and all other boxes of cookies sold in Warren County will cost $4.

“The price is set by individual Girl Scout counsels, and in Mississippi we have two counsels,” Koestler said. “Prices may vary from counsel to counsel depending on where one lives or which bakery the cookies come from.”.

“The cookies sold in Warren County come from the Little Brownie Bakery out of Arkansas. This company supplies 85 percent of the Girl Scout cookies nationally and 15 percent are made at ABC Bakers,” she said.

ABC is part of Interbake Foods LLC, a Richmond, Va.-based manufacturer.

Along with the two new additions, the Girl Scouts will be selling Thin Mints, a crisp wafer cookie covered in a chocolate coating with natural peppermint oil, Tagalongs, a crisp cookie layer with peanut butter and covered with a chocolate coating, Samoas, a crisp cookie coated in caramel and sprinkled with coconut, Do-Si-Dos, a peanut butter sandwich cookie, trefoils, a traditional shortbread cookie and Savannah smiles, a crisp, zesty lemon cookie.

For those that don’t like Girls Scout cookies, donations can be made to Cookies For Heroes, a program that supports Mississippi Military troops overseas.

“Girl Scout cookies are one of the top three things service people like to receive and last year more than 5,000 boxes were sent from the Jackson counsel,” Koestler said.

“Girl Scouting are more than cookies.” Koestler said. “It is also about service projects.”

Vicksburg has 10 active Girl Scout troops and one of the projects the scouts participated in was to send used school uniforms to the Dominican Republic.

“The children over there are not allowed to go to school if they don’t have a uniform,” she said.

Other projects the local troops sponsored included a Hot Wheels toy car drive. The cars were donated to the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children and to first responders, Koestler said.

More than 100 coats were donated to the Children’s Shelter and one troop has plans to plant flowers at schools, she said.

Girl Scout cookie sells will continue through March 8 and booth sale locations will also include the Levee Street Market Place, 1001 Levee St., Biedenharn Candy Co. & Coca Cola Museum, 1107 Washington St., Zsa Zsa’s Gifts, 2222 S. Frontage Road, Suite F, The Flower Center, 3150 S. Frontage Road and Sassy Second’s, 121 Thalweg Road.

A free Girl Scout cookie locater App is also available for your phone, Koestler said.

“You just punch in a location and it will tell you where booth sells are being held,” she said.

For more information about Girl Scouting in Mississippi, visit gsgms.org.