The 50th Anniversary banquet of the lodge was held at the First United Methodist Church in Comanche, Texas, on the evening of January 7, 1995.  There were 150 arrowmen in attendance.  Lodge members Marc Griffin, Betty Hart, Aleck Griffin, Russell Griffin, and Pat Hart prepared a smoked brisket meal with all the trimmings.   Hilda Griffin, not yet a member, also helped prepare the meal.  Master of ceremonies was Pat Leatherwood. Twenty-one former Lodge Chiefs attended the banquet and were recognized.

Connie Mack Hood, shown on right, the Lodge’s first Lodge Chief, talked to the group about his experiences and how he was selected as the chief when the group changed from Kunieh Society to Otena Lodge.  Frank Hilton presented the lodge’s first Order of the Arrow’s Founder’s Award to Perry A. Wakefield, Jr. and Michael Don Beach. 

Some of the special former arrowmen present for the banquet included Burts J. Kennedy, Associate Director, Cub Scout Division, Boy Scouts of America; Rick Wilkins, Staff Adviser of our Section II and Director of Camping for the Circle Ten Council, Dallas; Alfrod J. Havens, Scout Executive of the Black Beaver Council, Lawton, Oklahoma and former Scout Executive of the Comanche Trail Council.  Also present were Dabney Kennedy, Gordon J. Place, and Manley Webb, all former Lodge Advisers.

Speaker for the evening was Dabney Kennedy.  Dabney Kennedy was one of the first Brotherhood members of Otena Lodge and one of the first three Vigils in the lodge.  He served as Lodge Secretary, Vice-Chief, Chief, Junior Lodge Adviser, and Lodge Adviser of the lodge.  He was responsible for developing the Order of the Arrow’s Founder’s Award.  He was a member of the National OA Committee and served on that committee for twenty-five years at the time of the banquet.  Everyone present was presented with a copy of the “History of the Otena Lodge” booklet. It took two years of work by several Arrowmen to research the material for the book.