PHOTOS: Shades of Green Celebrates Urbandale Girl Scouts

Thin Mints, Carmel Delights, Shortbread, Lemonades and other Girl Scout Cookies took the place of hot dogs in an Urbandale eating competition.

The Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa hosted the first "Shades of Green" event at its building on Hickman Road in Urbandale Tuesday.

The event had everything one would want: cookies, one-of-a-kind desserts and the five pillars of Girl Scouts.

Jennifer Allamby, gifts manager for Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, said the first-time event was a way to create community cultivation for the Urbandale Chamber.

"We had a lot of people very interested and excited," Allamby said of planning the event.

Through Allamby's connections in the Chamber the event was able to include a cookie munch-off and a dessert competition.

"The girls from Urbandale are here so guests can talk to them about what their troops are doing," Allemby said of Girl Scouts in attendance.

Lyida Shook, 11, was helping to sell Girl Scout cookies at the event, while enjoying a few sweet treats herself.

"Girl Scouts is a way for girls to interact with girls they might not otherwise," Lydia said. "There are good experiences."

Iowa Girl Scouts will be selling cookies until mid-March.

The sales from the cookies go to a variety of activities for troops.

"I think we'll use some for camping and other new things for us to bond as a group and learn trust," Kennedy Ortmeier, 12, said.

While guests could snatch up a box or ten of cookies on Tuesday, the night belonged to special desserts created by local businesses and the cookie eating competition.

Chocolatarie Stam showcased a Carmel Delights Gelato, the West Des Moines Sheraton used Lemonade Cookies for their parfait treat, while The Garden Grill made a Thin Mint Grasshopper for the Girl Scout Cookie Dessert Challenge.

Guests used a raffle ticket to vote for their favorite sweet treat.

The cookie munch-off pitted Urbandale Fire Marshal Jon Rech, Urbandale Chamber President Becky DeVries, Urbandale Mayor Bob Andeweg and others.

"So far things are going great," Jamie Boersma, Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa CEO said. "The idea is to have fun and the girls can sell cookies to support and learn the five life skills."