William Penn Life, 2015 (50. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2015-11-01 / 11. szám
JubiTiőbo» Celebrating 70 years of Hungarian scouting in exile Story and photos by Richard E. Sarosi As I turned into the parking area of the Sik Sándor Cserkészpark in Fillmore, N.Y., Aug. 14,1 was not sure of what to expect. I was invited there to attend the Hungarian Scout Jamboree celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris by Camp Director and Branch 14 member Endre Szentkirályi. At the entrance, I noticed a familiar looking tower, but I was not sure where I had seen it before. As I began my walk into the grounds, I took in the lush growth of trees, along with tents and camp sites that were set up along the roadway. I saw a pavilion where some scouts were practicing their dance steps. This pavilion also looked very familiar. The Hungarian Scouts have called this property home for about 50 years. The two structures that looked familiar were originally built for the Hungarian program at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. The tower and pavilion were among several structures that were relocated to the campgrounds after the Folklife Festival. One sculpture from the festival I hoped was among those moved was the Puli kutya (dog), but I was told the dog was the first thing to be dismantled and destroyed when the festival concluded. It would have been great to have the Puli kutya guarding the grounds for the scouts. As I learned more about the scouts attending the jamboree, I became more fascinated by their whole experience. More than 700 girls and boys ages 10 and above had come from all over North and South America (including the USA, Canada, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, and Chile), western Europe, Australia and Asia (Beijing, China). There also were representatives from sister Hungarian scout associations in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine. The Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris can trace its roots to the displaced persons (DP) camps organized in Germany and Austria at the end of World War II. Thousands of Hungarians were fleeing the Iron Curtain, and many of them were leaders in Hungarian scouting which had been banned by the Communist authorities. These leaders organized troops in the DP camps and conducted leadership training for young people. They hoped the new scouts would spread these leadership skills to their new homes abroad, and plant the seeds of Hungarian scouting. In 1989, after the fall of Communism, it was these Hungarian scouts, who had existed in exile for 45 years, who reintroduced scouting to Hungary, to the Hungarian settlements in the Carpathian Basin and to Hungarians all over the world. They taught young people to appreciate their cultural heritage while being upstanding citizens of the country in which they lived. The scouts attending this year’s Jamboree, held Aug. 6 to 16, certainly received a full measure of Hungarian history and culture, judging by what I witnessed during the last day of the camp. They experienced Hungarian history, culture, music, food, life skills, stories, survival skills, discipline, cadence songs, and the Hungarian language.
