DANVERS - Polly Armstrong used to load her brother's red wagon with Girl Scout cookies and roam her Salem neighborhood selling them for 50 cents a box.

That was the 1940s, when the girls wore dresses, caps, gloves and neckerchiefs, and everything had to be crisply ironed. Armstrong was the top seller in her Salem troop, an honor that - along with her perfect attendance record - earned her scholarships to attend Girl Scout camp in the summers.

Ever since she joined the Girl Scouts in 1939, Armstrong has kept the organization in the forefront of her life, and she's hardly slowing down.

"It did a lot for me," said Armstrong, who turns 79 next month. "It helped me become the girl I am today."

Armstrong wears Girl Scout earrings and jewelry and has three identical Girl Scout afghans. "I got them as gifts," she explained.

In her 68 years as a Scout, she served as a troop leader nearly half that time, in eight different communities as far away as Washington State, and mainly with older girls.

"I don't take any guff," said Armstrong. "I love 'em and I would do anything for them, but they have to be respectful to me."

She was a neighborhood administrator in Danvers, has been on the local Service Team the last 24 years, and is the director of the Girl Scouts Spar and Spindle Museum, which is located at the regional council headquarters in North Andover.

This past week, as the Girl Scouts organization began celebrating its 95th year, Armstrong coached Danvers Girl Scouts for flag ceremonies at local events. She assembles girls of all ages, and she is a pro at calming down the occasional anxious Girl Scout or teary Daisy (the kindergartners).

"She has said many times she was going to step aside, but she's always called into active duty," said June Guidara, who has been involved with the Danvers Girl Scouts for years, "because she's always the one who thinks of everything and gets it organized."

Last Sunday the Danvers Girl Scouts held their 35th annual banquet - an event Armstrong founded 35 years ago.

At the museum, Armstrong is the steward of hundreds of antique uniforms that she loans to the girls for special occasions. She knows the life story of Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low and the genesis of Girl Scout uniforms and ranks. In fact, she is writing a book about the local history of the Girl Scouts, an endeavor she started three years ago.

"I have four chapters so far but that's it," said Armstrong, who has "life member" status. "I'm in too many things. I'm going to have to cut back."

Much to Armstrong's frustration, her arthritis is keeping her away from national Girl Scout conventions these days. But her body belies her spirit.

"She's got great exuberance and she's always cheery," said Guidara. "(During the flag ceremonies), you can see her in the audience, moving her fingers around to tell the girls to go in this direction or that direction."

Armstrong and her late husband, Paul, had six children. Their son, Michael, moved into her house on Pickering Street with his wife and children and built his mother an in-law apartment. They have family dinner together every night.

Armstrong's husband, who died of cancer in 1994, shared her passion and was a member of the Girl Scouts for 18 years.

"I miss him more and more," she said as she sat in her living room, wearing a light blue sweater embroidered with "Girl Scouts" in green thread.

Armstrong's favorite activity as a young Girl Scout was "primitive camping," and she delighted in heading up camping trips as a troop leader.

"Camping. Oh, that was my bag," she said. "The more rough it was, the more I liked it.

"I think that's why I like Girl Scouts so much," she said, smiling. "We learned so many different things. We accomplished things. It just seemed like we were more free to think for ourselves."

READER BOX

What was Scouting like when you were a child?

* Community service was very important. It was World War II. I remember folding bandages for the Red Cross every Saturday morning, and collecting tin, rubber and aluminum. Sometimes I would stand in line for older people to get their sugar, coffee and butter.

Did you ever take a break from Scouting?

* When (my husband and I) moved to Chicopee, I had a baby two weeks later. The next week, I called the Girl Scout office and said, "I'm ready!"

Why do you like it so much?

* The camaraderie and the self-confidence. It gave me the opportunity to travel. Golly, I've met so many people and been to so many states.

How dedicated were you?

* Sometimes you get embarrassed in high school that you're a Girl Scout, but not me. In high school, I did my oral reports on Girl Scouting. At the reunions people remember that and joke with me.

Has Girl Scouting changed?

* Yes. I think it has to change - times have changed. The morals and the respect stay.

Memorable event?

* I put on teas for nine years at the Glen Magna estate and I covered 1,600 girls. It was proper tea time. They came all dressed up and they looked so cute. I had the host and hostess greet each person at the door dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Endicott.

Morsel of history?

* Back in the early days when Girl Scouts started, they made the cookies at home and sold them for 25 cents a dozen.

Favorite cookie?

* Samoas! Now we call them Caramel deLites.

Plans to "retire"?

* I want to be a Girl Scout as long as I can in some capacity. I wish my body would say, "Yes!"