Visit from Grand Chapter and Most Excellent Companion Charles Robertson from Illinois

It was wonderful to have Most Excellent Companion Robertson out for a visit to our chapter, along with two of our own Grand Chapter officers. And while attendance was light due to many of our members taking part in Bro. Tom Kendall's masonic service, it was a great time of fellowship, and we look forward to meeting again sometime soon.

St. John Baptist's Day

Please register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/st-john-baptists-day-tickets-449810263607

While sorting through the archives of Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13, Knights Templar we came across an 1882 copy of our by-laws, and after noting how thick the text seemed, we found that in the back was a special ritual for observing St. John the Baptist Day. The ritual was produced by three of our members, two of which were clergymen, and includes elements standard to English liturgical worship along with prayers unique to the Knights Templar. We do not know how long this ritual was performed or when it fell out of use, but this year we'd like to present it to our fellow Sir Knights, and the public as a whole.

The event will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2023, and will begin at 4pm at the Zal Gaz Grotto with the Ann Arbor-Fraternity Lodge No. 262, F&AM & St. Mary’s Lodge No. 4, F&AM PHA Table Lodge to follow. You can purchase tickets for the table lodge at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/st-marys-and-aaf-262-third-annual-joint-table-lodge-tickets-618458394707

Dress will be templar uniform with sword or business, with ladies in Sunday best.

Lady Puja Mullins, COT Named Distinguished Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Lady Puja Mullins, COT on being named Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the Ann Arbor/ Ypsilanti Regional Chamber. This was announced today to a crowd of her students at the Brick Elementary School Auditorium and a breakfast recognizing her along with other educators from our area will be held on May 18th. Tickets are available on the Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti Regional Chamber Website.

Knights Templar Educational Foundation Scholarship Renewal Presented to Ms. Katherine Ellis of Ann Arbor

On Thursday 21st April S.K. Art Davidge, KCT, Recorder of Ann Arbor Commandery had the honor of presenting a Knights Templar Educational Foundation scholarship grant check to Ms. Katherine Ellis of Ann Arbor. Ms.Ellis is completing her 1st year at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering where she is majoring in Chemical Engineering. She is an active Rainbow with Phoenix Assembly #49 and recently became a member of her family's OES Chapter in Ohio.

Sir Knight Brandon Mullins, PC, OC Published in Knights Templar Magazine

Be sure to check out March's issue of Knights Templar Magazine for a special article by our very own Past Commander, Brandon Mullins, where he discusses "A Place of a Skull." This is a version of the paper he presented at the 68th Triennial Conclave of the Grand Encampment Knights Templar USA where he was inducted as the first member of a new order of Templar scholars, the Order of Clairvaux. You can find all issues of Knights Templar Magazine at: https://www.knightstemplar.org/KnightTemplar/archive/

Dr. Warren Pan from Michigan Medicine's Kellogg Eye Center awarded $70,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Inherited Retinal Disease Research

Dr. Warren Pan from the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center was awarded a $70,000 grant to study: Pharmacologic activation of PKM2 for photoreceptor neuroprotection in inherited retinal diseases.

A leading cause of childhood blindness is due to a collection of over 280 inherited mutations that disrupt the photoreceptor cells of the eyes from converting light to vision. These photoreceptor cells are very active and require significant energy to perform their functions. They will examine PKM2, an enzyme important in energy production that is also linked to a gene mutation that results in childhood blindness.

The research goal is to pharmacologically increase the activity of PKM2 to improve photoreceptor health and subsequently vision. Dr. Pan will continually treat an animal model of inherited photoreceptor degeneration with our PKM2 activator drug and evaluate visual function, photoreceptor survival, and photoreceptor metabolism over the disease time-course. By studying these changes over time with and without the drug, we will begin to understand the cellular and metabolic mechanisms responsible for this devastating group of diseases that cause childhood blindness. These studies will move us closer to developing a novel drug capable of treating vision loss in this diverse set of inherited diseases regardless of gene mutation.