The History of the L.A. based Hungarian Scout Troop #8, Júliánusz Barát

In 1959 Béla Fesztory set about to organize Troop 8. It was suggested that the troop be named after Júliánusz Barát, a Hungarian monk that lived in the 12th century. The Hungarian Scout Association, headquartered in New Jersey accepted the name, and thus the Júliánusz Barát troop 8 official began.

The first camp was held at Hanna Flat, near Big Bear Lake, a total of thirty four people attended. Up untill 1968, every camp was held in the Big Bear Lake vicinity.

The 1968 campsite was in Huntington Lake (Sierra National Forest) where the other Hungarian troop, troop 17 of Hollywood joined troop 8, eighty scouts were in attendenece.

In the spring break of 1967, a "water" camp was held on the Colorado River near Blythe. This tradition continued four years, and in 1993 the tradition was reborn, situated instead on Lake Isabella (Kern County).

During the Thanksgiving of 1967, our first annual Canoe Trip was held on the Colorado River. Unlike previous traditions, this one never died out and is one of the most attended gatherings of the year.

The first "Cserkész Bál" (Scout Ball) was also held in 1967.

Since 1973 all summer camps were jointly attended by California's five Hungarian troops.

All the Hungarian Scout troops in the Western half of the U.S. and Canada came together for a a summer camp in 1992, which was known as the "Kuruc Nagytábor". It was held in the Chemeteken campground (Sawtooth National Forest) in Southern Idaho.

The Scoutmasters of troop #8

Béla Fesztory.........1959-1967
László Tárnok.........1968-1969
Kornél Szemerédi......1969-1972
László Tárnok.........1972-1977
Viktor Sátorhelyi.....1977-1979
Árpád Ecsedy..........1979-1980
Gertrud Kékessy.......1980-1984
Lajos Károlyi.........1985-1988
Pál Kass..............1988-1989
Csaba Csipke..........1989-2000
Erzsébet Tractenberg..2000-