Tecumseh Lodge 65
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On January 1, 1994, three councils (Central Ohio, Chief Logan Area, and Scioto Area) merged to form the Simon Kenton Council. Each of these councils had its own lodge of the Order of the Arrow, but for a variety of reasons, these lodges did not merge at the same as time the councils. Nevertheless, it was clear from the start that there was no way the new council was going to continue to operate three lodges. A merger had to take place.
A number of Arrowmen, both youth and adults, came together for two years to establish the details of the new lodge. Many hard lessons learned during the absorption of Kaniengehaga Lodge by Katinonkwat Lodge in 1987 were still fresh in their minds. They realized that despite Katinonkwat’s significantly larger size, the only equitable solution was to create a completely new lodge: new name, new number, new totem, new traditions.
J. R. Ramey, a former lodge chief of Katinonkwat Lodge and still a youth member, took the lead. He spent many hours traveling to see the other two lodges in action and to meet with their leaders. Despite the commitment to ensure equanimity, there was still a great deal of resistance from all sides. However, the merger had to occur.
On January 1, 1996, Tecumseh Lodge 65 was created, taking the place of Katinonkwat, Maka-Ina, and Shawnee Lodges.
The lodge was named for Tecumseh, a famous leader of the Shawnee tribe who lived in Ohio. It is an interesting (and some say deliberate) irony that the name was selected. Tecumseh was an enemy of Simon Kenton, a famous frontiersman for whom the council was named. The two faced one another in battle several times, including during the Battle of the Thames in which Tecumseh was killed.
The panther was selected as the lodge’s totem because Tecumseh’s name translates as “Shooting Star” or “Panther across the Sky,” and refers to the panther-shaped comet or shooting star that was said to have been seen when he was born. The lodge’s totem is often depicted as a panther-shaped comet or shooting star, though a panther or panther head are also often used. The lodge's initial patches also used three rivers flowing together as a symbol of the three lodges uniting into one.
As with the name and totem, it was also decided to select a new number for the lodge (lodge numbers were still in use at that time across the nation). The lodge asked for the lowest available number, and was given 65.
Matt Green served as the first Lodge Chief for Tecumseh Lodge and Dave Turner as the first Lodge Adviser. J. R. Ramey, who was instrumental in helping to guide the formation of the new lodge, served as its second Lodge Chief.
With the merger of councils, Tecumseh Lodge now served a much larger area than any of the previous councils, as well as several camps: Camp Lazarus, Camp Falling Rock, Chief Logan Scout Reservation, Camp Oyo, the LeVeque Scout Reservation, and Camp Otter Run. Otter Run is a primitive and mostly undeveloped property on perpetual loan from Honda in Marysville, so needed little attention, but Ordeal and service weekends were regularly scheduled at each of the other camps, as many as five Ordeals a year, in addition to occasional work days. In the late 1990s, Simon Kenton Council sold the LeVeque property, though it retained use of the Camp Buckeye portion for several years afterwards and Ordeals were still held there until about 2000.
In March of 1997, there was considerably flooding in southeastern Ohio. The Spring Fellowship that year was revised at the last minute and turned into a service weekend to assist with flood relief in Jackson County.
Tecumseh Lodge received the E. Urner Goodman Camping Award in 2002 and 2004.
Shortly before the 1996 merger took place, Katinonkwat, Shawnee, and Maka-Ina Lodges became part of Section C-5B (which later became Section C-4B), encompassing eastern and southeastern Ohio, along with most of West Virginia and small parts of Virginia and Kentucky. Tecumseh Lodge has hosted the C-5B/C-4B Section Conclave several times, most recently in 2013 and 2018, both at Chief Logan Reservation. The 2018 Conclave was the last for C-4B before it merged later that year with Section C-4A (north central and northeastern Ohio) to form the current Section C-4.
In addition to the Section Conclave, Tecumseh Lodge has supported Area C-4 for more than twenty years by hosting the Area Leadership Training Course (ALTC) at Camp Lazarus every November. In 2018, ALTC was renamed to FORUM and now includes both Sections C-4 and C-6B (western Ohio), but still meets annually at Camp Lazarus.
Last updated 20 April 2021