The Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia kicked off the Girl Scout year Sunday afternoon with a "Family Fun Day and Recruitment Carnival."

The carnival, held at the Butler Community Center on Athens Street, featured some games, a moon walk, door prizes and snow cones.

Also set up at the carnival were several booths with information about Girl Scouts.

Jacqueline Davis-Gines, a troop leader from metro Atlanta who was in charge of the carnival, said the event "invited kids from all of Hall County to learn about Girl Scouts."

Several Girl Scout staff members from Athens and Gainesville were there to help with the event. Leaders and Scouts even came from Savannah and Columbus to help out.

"I noticed that in the community that a lot of the girls didn’t know what Girl Scouts was," Davis-Gines said.

There were some bilingual speakers there to help those girls and their families who spoke Spanish.

Adults weren’t left out.

The Girl Scouts were recruiting volunteers for troops.

Many young girls came with their families to have fun and look into joining Girl Scouts.

"I want to do Girl Scouts," said Haylee Stephens, 7, of Gainesville.

She enjoyed the snow cones and the moon walks at the event. "My favorite one is the big slide," Stephens said.

Kaylie Dover, 7, of Gainesville, said she came "to find out about Girl Scouts and maybe sign up." Her favorite part of the carnival was "the toys and how fun it was."

Bailey Viele, 9, of Gainesville said she was there to play and to also maybe become a Girl Scout.

Sydney Lovick, 8, of Gainesville, said she isn’t a Girl Scout yet. "Maybe I will be one this year," she said.

Davis-Gines saw the benefits of Girl Scouts through her daughter.

"It was a wonderful experience to see my daughter grow in confidence and self-assurance."