When the wreaths arrive they are blank. 

But those who buy them wouldn’t have a clue as the girls of Dartmouth Scouting Troop 13 put them all together for sale themselves, tying bows and collecting all the pine cones and holly.

The troop set up on Dartmouth Street Saturday, Nov. 30 to meet people from town and sell their holiday wreaths. 

Elizabeth Santos, 18, said, “It helps benefit our charter each year. It’s also a big fundraiser that gets the town involved in what the troop actually does because most people don’t know what the girls' troops do in scouting.”

The troop, which includes girls ages 11 to 17, starts at the scout ranking and ends at eagle. Santos is Dartmouth’s very first woman eagle scout.

She said similar to the boy troops, the girls will go camping, fishing and learn survival skills such as how to start a fire and use knives safely.

“There’s something for everybody in scouting,” Santos said, adding how she encourages anyone interested to join.

The girls have been selling the wreaths for approximately five years now, picking up where the boys left off for about 15 years. 

Santos said she loves most getting “the sense of the town.”

Being from Dartmouth herself, she said she likes seeing her friends and introducing them to a side of her they might have known before. 

She added it also gets the girls in the troop more experience with meeting new people and getting out of their comfort zone, especially those on the quieter side.

Juliette Dalla Costa, 12, said she loves seeing everyone smiling who comes.

“It really cheers me up,” she said.