Lehighton Girl Scouts gathered at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lehighton on Sunday to celebrate Girl Scout Sunday and World Thinking Day.

Girl Scout Sunday is celebrated every year in March. It is a time for the community to recognize the Scouts and also for troops to celebrate the Girl Scouts' Birthday. Founder Juliette Gordon registered the organization's first 18 members in Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912.Nearly a dozen troops attended or took part in the church service, serving as greeters and Scripture readers and helping to collect the offering. Scouts also held a short flag ceremony with color guard to open and close the service.After the service, Scouts, family members and members of the congregation gathered in Luther Hall for World Thinking Day.World Thinking Day is typically held in late February and is a day for Scouts to connect and explore Girl Scouting and Girl Guides throughout the world.The Lehighton Service Unit honored World Thinking Day by offering food and fun facts about a few of the 146 countries currently home to Girl Scouts or Girl Guides. Each troop researched one country. This year's presentations included Hungary, Japan, China, Argentina and Holland."The girls have learned a lot. Even the parents are learning something," said Lehighton Service Unit manager Barbara Ahner.Ahner is the leader of Brownie Troop 3862 and Junior Troop 3248 and led her Scouts through research of Madagascar, an island country off the coast of southeast Africa. The girls taught visitors about Madagascar's animal population, culture, and food. They also offered samples of Malagasy cake, a flourless cake, and vary amin'anana (collard greens and rice)."Their food is very different from ours in Madagascar," said Ahner. "I've never eaten vary amin'anana before, but you can buy all of the ingredients here. It's surprisingly good."World Thinking Day was also an ideal time to expose the Scouts to new cultures and ways of life."It's an eye-opener for them, to see how other girls live," said Maria Ahner, a volunteer with Daisy Troop 38 and Brownie Troop 3862. "It helps them to learn about the culture and educational opportunities that other girls have, and to discover how girls live in other countries."