 On the weekend of
July 27, 2003, Otena and Kotso Lodge came together at
Camp Wood Lake for a special weekend called "The
Gathering" During the weekend a special vote was
held by both Kotso and Otena Lodges to approved the
joining of both lodges by January 1, 2004. The
Texas Trails Council had informed the group earlier in
the weekend that only one OA Lodge Charter would be
issued for 2004.
Meetings of a Lodge Unification Committee were held to make the joining as smooth and seamless as possible with little to no interruption of current lodge plans and activities. Members of the Lodge Unification Committee consisted of Joey Ellis, Otena Chief; Robert Orchard, Kotso Chief; Korey Kennedy, Kotso Vice-Chief of Service; Aivars Jurkis, Kotso Lodge Adviser; Sam Mangrum, Otena Lodge Adviser; Jeremy Moon, Kotso Staff Adviser; and Les Zimmerman, Otena Staff Adviser. The committee, following a contest for a new lodge name, selected the name "Penateka," which is a tribe of the Comanche Indians that lived in the area of the Texas Trails Council. Pronunciation is " Pen-ah-took-uh." The name means "Honey Eaters." On Saturday, December 13, 2003, a Celebration Banquet was held at the First United Methodist Church in Coleman to elect the new officers for the lodge and celebrate the signing of the new lodge charter papers. Ninety-three Arrowmen and guests attended the Celebration Banquet at the First United Methodist Church in Coleman. Seven officers were elected at the banquet by the youth Arrowmen in attendance. The new Chief, Joey Ellis, along with the Adviser Aivars Jurkis and Supreme Chief of the Fire, Kent Brown, signed the charter for the new Lodge which will become effective January 1, 2004. Each lodge had special historical displays on the history of their respective lodges with Otena presenting a power point presentation on its past and present history. Go to the link below for a history of the Penateka Indian name written by Steve Ellis of Brooksmith. History of Penateka Indian Name Chapters Organized The former Kotso and Otena Lodges now operate as chapters for 2004 and it is planned by 2005 that there will be four chapters, one for each district in the Texas Trails Council. The first chapter to choose its name was the Kickapoo and Noreast Districts. They chose the name "The Black Arrow Chapter" in honor of the first camp honor group in the former Comanche Trail Council. Their first activity was held April 2-4, 2004 at Camp Billy Gibbons with some 80 Arrowmen in attendance. It rained on them that Friday but Saturday and Sunday turned out as great days for service projects and fellowship. Their chapter chief is Jared Blair. The former Kotso Lodge chose as its name "Tosa Tasiwoo Chapter" which translates to White Buffalo in the Comanche language. It is phonetically spelled as TOH-sah tah-SEE-woo. Their first big event was hosting the annual Webelos Lock in April 16-17, 2004. Then on April 30 - May 2, they had a Tosa Tasiwoo Chapter Brotherhood Fellowship at Camp Tonkawa. Their first chapter chief is Korey Kennedy. Patches
The totem selected for the new lodge was the Medicine Wheel. A special "Charter Year" patch featuring the Kotso Buffalo, the Otena Indian Head and the Penateka Medicine Wheel was designed and issued to all members who joined the new lodge during the charter year. |
 Ordeal Patch |
 Brotherhood Patch |
 Vigil Patch |
 2005 National Jamboree Lodge Patch |
 2006 NOAC Lodge Patch |
| New Ordeal,
Brotherhood and Vigil patches, designed by Charlie
Moon, were issued. Each registered Arrowman in
the lodge could purchase up to five patches each,
depending on their honor in the lodge. The
restriction applied only during the first six months
of 2004. Charlie Moon received the first patch of each
new design in appreciate of the work that he did in
designing the patches. The Scout Executive, Kent
Brown, was presented with the second set of
patches. Each newly elected officer received a
patch of his current honor in the lodge.
First Officers of Penateka Lodge First
lodge officers, who served until July 30, 2004
were:
The new officers met and prepared a constitution and by-laws as well as developed a budget and calendar for the new lodge. Each Chapter had selected a name for their chapter other than their former lodge name.
Go HERE for list of Lodge Officers First Lodge Banquet
The lodge received a plaque from Section SR-2 as a National Quality Lodge for 2003 and a plaque recognizing Penateka Lodge for 2003 "Best Lodge in Promoting Camping." The two former lodges were combined in determining the awards from the new charter but the recognition was for the Penateka Lodge. Each of the former lodges were also presented with a certificate of appreciation from the National Order of the Arrow for their participation in the "One Day of Service" in 2003. The speaker for the banquet was the Supreme Chief of the Fire Kent Brown. He told the youth and adults that only they could make the lodge great by their leadership, service and hard work. An auction was held at the end of the banquet with over $600 raised to help the new lodge. Items auctioned ranged from Dublin Dr. Pepper to a coffee table with the lodge flap inlaid into the top of the table. There was lots of friendly bidding from the some 60 people who attended the first banquet. The banquet consisted of barbecue with all the trimmings. Founder's Award The Founder's Award was created by the Order of the Arrow to honor and recognize those Arrowmen who have given outstanding service to the Lodge. The bronze medallion bearing the likeness of E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson is reserved for an Arrowman who demonstrates to his fellow Arrowmen that he memorializes in his everyday life the spirit of achievement as described by our founder. At least one award must be to a youth under 21 years of age. The award
was first presented in the Penateka Lodge at the
first Banquet on on July 17, 2004 at Camp
Tonkawa. Centurion Award -
2015
For nearly 100 years,
the Order of the Arrow had purposefully
recognized Scouts and Scouters who best
exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their
daily lives. Therefore, our organization’s
centennial provided a unique opportunity to
commemorate those among us who are exemplars
of the “high ideals and purpose of the Order
of the Arrow.” The Centurion Award aimed to
highlight “Hometown Heroes,” or Arrowmen, who
had meaningfully contributed to the forming,
maturing and ongoing operational excellence of
their local council’s lodge, and who, in doing
so, inspired others to follow in their
footsteps. The following arrowmen were
presented the award in 2015:
Service as a Youth:
Dr. Joe Bob Alexander
Cody Cedergren
Joey Ellis
Michael Failor
Jeremy Moon
Joe Ed Burnam
Service as an Adult:
Roy Curbo
Brad Dempsey
Vigils
2004 -
Christopher Brooks, Ray Easterling (A), Steve Ellis
(A), Alex Huse, Chad Iley, Cole Leatherwood, Judd
Smith and Les Zimmerman
Lodge Chiefs 2004 -
Joey Ellis (To July) Lodge Adviser 2004 -
2009 -Aivars Jurkis
Staff Adviser 2004 -
2007 - Les Zimmerman Lodge Conducts Scouting for Food Drive In association with United Supermarkets and local food banks, the lodge conducts each year an annual good turn - Scouting for Food in November. They started this food drive in 2003. The annual food drive is designed to help the local food banks and pantries in the Texas Trails Council territory obtain some extra food for the holidays. The Arrowmen of the lodge organized the food collection and made arrangements with the food banks that warehouse and distribute the food to those in need. Local Packs, Troops. Posts and Crews collects over 26,000 pounds of food. All food collected throughout the area stayed within the community in which it was collected. This is the major service project of the lodge outside of their service to Camp Tonkawa and Camp Billy Gibbons. The drive has been continued each year since the new lodge was formed. Lodge Newsletter The first
Lodge Newsletter, The Four Winds, was published in
2004. According to their web page, "The
Four Winds is the official newsletter of Penateka
Lodge, Texas Trails Council. It should be
published roughly four times a year, about once a
quarter, although issues may be missing due to
publication difficulties. Due to the need to
disseminate information, there may be more than four
issues, or the publication interval may change." Service Projects The lodge continues to help at many
different council events including Donkey Day at
Camp Billy Gibbons, Work weekends at Camp Tonkawa,
as well as doing service projects during their
fellowships at both camps. Go HERE
to view Penateka Lodge Facebook page We want to thank Dr. Roger Schustereit for providing us with the NOAC and Jamboree Lodge patch scans. And we want to thank Corky Dement for keeping our officers and Vigils updated. Last
Updated: January 21, 2024 |
The first official Lodge Banquet was held
at Camp Tonkawa on Saturday, July 17, 2004.
New officers were elected in the afternoon for a
full twelve months. They are Ben McAnally,
Lodge Chief (center), Jared Blair, Vice Chief of
Service & Activities (left); and Chad Iley, Vice
Chief of Chapter Operations (right). Four
other positions will be filled at a later time.
The Vigil Honor is the highest honor that
the Order of the Arrow can bestow upon its members
for service above self to the lodge and local
council. The first person to receive the Vigil
Honor in the Order of the Arrow was its founder E.
Urner Goodman, who received this honor in 1915. Date
shown is the year of the induction, not necessary
the year of selection. The first induction was
held June 26-27, 2004 at Camp Billy Gibbons. The
second induction was held at Camp Tonkawa October
29-30, 2005. Pictured at left is Steve Ellis
receiving his Vigil Certificate from Ben McAnally,
Lodge Chief, at the July 2004 Lodge Banquet.