Gretchen

"With our angle of descent, leaning will be ineffectual!"

- Gretchen

 is one of the Fireside Girls in Danville Troop 46231.

Biography
She was one of the Ferbettes in Phineas and the Ferb-Tones ("Flop Starz", "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown"). She also helped Phineas Flynn win the Swamp Oil 500. Isabella Garcia-Shapiro thanked her for a job well done and complimented her on adding the bow to the Team Phineas Race car during the pit-stop ("The Fast and the Phineas"). She also sings in S'Winter ("S'Winter"). In a deep voice, she counts down the blastoff of Phineas and Ferb's rocket when they visit their star ("Out to Launch"). She appears to have a large IQ, having to repeat her statements due to the others not understanding what she had said, and saying words that no one else in the room knows ("Bubble Boys", "Isabella and the Temple of Sap").

Physical Appearance
Gretchen has rather short auburn hair and blue eyes. She is wearing glasses, and wears her uniform with a large collar, bell-shaped sleeves, a red belt around her skirt, and low-top shoes.

Known Patches

 * Help Thy Neighbor Patch (About 52 as of "Isabella and the Temple of Sap")
 * Aquatic Safety Patch ("Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror")
 * Sewing Patch ("Run Away Runway")
 * Tent Pitching Patch, Marshmallow Patch ("Get That Bigfoot Outa My Face!")
 * Aeronautic Patch ("De Plane! De Plane!")
 * Broadcasting Patch ("Let's Take a Quiz")
 * Shrimp Net Repair Patch ("That Sinking Feeling")
 * Saying A Word No One Else In The Room Knows Patch ("Sesquipedalian," meaning having many syllables)("Isabella and the Temple of Sap")
 * Sap Collecting Patch ("Isabella and the Temple of Sap")
 * Mountain Moving Patch ("Phineas and Ferb-Busters!")
 * Rodeo Clown Patch ("Robot Rodeo")
 * Desert Tracking Patch, Rain-forest/Jungle Navigation Patch, Rock-climbing Patch, Non-power Flight Patch, Concussion First-aid Patch ("The Great Indoors")
 * Flier Delivery Patch (Twice "The Remains of the Platypus")

Isabella Garcia-Shapiro
Gretchen and Isabella appear to be very good friends. In the instances where Isabella does not actually listen to what Phineas is saying to her due to drifting off into fantasies, Gretchen repeats it for her convenience. ("Isabella and the Temple of Sap")

The Other Fireside Girls
Gretchen along with the other Fireside Girls gladly help out with Phineas's and Ferb's Big Ideas. The other Fireside Girls sometimes have difficulty understanding Gretchen first time stating something so Gretchen repeats it in a different way to get her statement across. ("Bubble Boys")

Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher
Gretchen frequently participates in Phineas' and Ferb's Big Ideas. They will sometimes help the Fireside Girls get a specific patch(es) ("Robot Rodeo" and "The Great Indoors")

Background Information

 * Gretchen is voiced by Ariel Winter. She is the first of the Fireside Girls after Isabella to have a speaking role in the series.
 * She and Katie are the only Fireside Girls that appear in the Phineas and Ferb Nintendo DS game.
 * In "Isabella and the Temple of Sap," she appeared to take the most prominent role, having the most spoken lines of dialogue.
 * She is the only Fireside Girl other than Isabella to have a Counterpart with a speaking part in "Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension".
 * She may be a reference of Velma from Scooby-Doo, whom she resembles in several ways, and may be the girl using the catchphrase "Jinkies" off-screen in that episode.
 * She may also be a reference to Marcie from the Peanuts  comic strips and TV specials. Gretchen often calls Isabella 'Chief" much like the way Marcie calls Peppermint Patty "Sir".
 * She, Katie and Milly are the only Fireside Girls to appear in "Disney's Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever!".
 * In Ballad of Badbeard, she and Holly appear to get seasick.
 * Gretchen appears to be the shortest of the main Fireside Girls (All episodes that all the Fireside Girls are in) and the lightest as the other girls were able to carry her weight while she was reading "The Fireside Girls Book of Dendrology" (a large, heavy book) with no problems in "Isabella and the Temple of Sap."
 * In "Tri-Stone Area," she is seen without her glasses as a cave-girl while singing "Zubada."
 * Dan Povenmire revealed that she is "a dead-on caricature" of character designer Greg Guler's daughter.

Identity Crisis

 * At first glance, it may be difficult to tell which of the Fireside Girls is Gretchen. Early on in the episode, she is the girl who asks the question about Phineas' racecar being electronically fuel injected; however, she is not given a name at this point. Her name comes later when Isabella compliments her on the bow she ties on the car, but it is unknown which Fireside Girl she is since Isabella was speaking to the group. The last piece to the puzzle is that Ariel Winter is credited as Gretchen in the end credits for the episode "Out to Launch". However, Katie has also spoken in the episode. Therefore, she has a speaking part in the episode, and must be the Fireside Girl who asks the question. The episode's print novelization in Speed Demons further confirms this by way of the narration explicitly stating that it is Gretchen who asks the question.