For some time we’ve had an in-depth history of the first hundred years of Ann Arbor Commandery, compiled by the late Sir Knight Harrison Caswell, PC posted on the website, but today we’re adding a latter compilation which picks up where SK, Caswell left off covering the years of 1965-1990. While admittedly a less detailed account, it none the less includes important historical gems from our proud organization.
Congratulations to Brandon Mullins, PC for being installed as Southeastern Michigan Battalion Commander after his election to the prestigious post earlier this year. Thanks for your dedicated service to Templary. Companion Brandon, Ann Arbor Council’s Thrice Illustrious Master was also honored with the Grand Master’s Service Award and Grand Master’s Meritorious award at the Grand Council session, which due to circumstances he was unable to control with his babysitter he was sadly not in attendance to receive these special honors. Thanks for your great efforts in York Rite Masonry Brandon!
Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13, Knights Templar is proud to have received the Certificate of Merit from the Grand Commandery at this year’s Grand Conclave
Ann Arbor Masonic Temple Tour
Come take a look, and learn about the one we left behind.
Dedicated in 1885, the second Ann Arbor Masonic Temple served as a home to Ann Arbor masonic bodies for 16 years and was the birthplace of Ann Arbor Fraternity No. 262. Come take a look at our old home and learn a bit about Ann Arbor Masonic history.
Masonic Family Picnic | Sunday July 27
AAF262 welcomes Brothers of ALL Lodges, Star Sisters, friends, and families for our summertime tradition! There will be games and prizes, be sure to bring the kids!
DATE/TIME/LOCATION
Sunday, July 27, 2014
12:00- 4:00pm
Olson Park, 1495 Dhu Varren Rd, Ann Arbor, MI (map)FOOD…
Hope to see the members of the Ann Arbor York Rite bodies out in full force!
St. John's Day Table Lodge | Saturday June 21
All Masons of all degrees are invited to attend our annual Table Lodge. This will be held on Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Belleville Masonic Temple.
The program will include our guest speaker Brother Rick Williams, known in some circles as “The Masonic Historian” !
Dinner,…
Hope to see a good turnout from the Ann Arbor York Rite!
Southeastern Michigan Battalion of Knights Templar Ascension Observance hosted masterfully by Detroit Commandery #1 at the Detroit Masonic Temple. It was a beautiful service and wonderful fellowship! Great job Sir Knights!
Corey Curtiss, PC, KYCH
I had the pleasure of representing Ann Arbor Commandery #13 and Southeastern Michigan Battalion in the Most Worshipful Grand Master Bill LeVeque’s Honour Guard provided by the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar. It was quite an impressive arch of steel!
Corey Curtiss, PC
HONOUR ROLL: Corey Curtiss, past presiding of our Chapter, Council, and Commandery was created a Knight of the York Cross of Honour (KYCH) over the weekend. He was knighted by Ernie Berry, Past Grand Master General KYCH, Past Grand Governor MI YRC, Past Most Illustrious Grand Master RSM (left) and invested by Doug Hegyi, PGM, Excellent Chief of Knight Masons of Michigan (right). The KYCH is an invitational organization honouring leaders of the York Rite. Find out more about KYCH at www.kych.org and our local Michigan Priory #22 at http://www.hiram.net/michigan22/
2014 Ann Arbor Commandery Installation of Officers
Congratulations to the newly installed officers of Ann Arbor Commandery No.13, Knights Templar and their Eminent Commander, James P. Piper!
Please join our incoming Eminent Commander, James P. Piper, his officers, and the Sir Knights of Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13, Knights Templar along with their families for our annual installation of officers.
Deo duce, ferro comitante,
Brandon Mullins, Commander
The Belleville Masonic Temple can be found at:
515 Main Street
Belleville, MI 48111-2649
You can find the Facebook event here.
We had a fantastic evening at Detroit Commandery No. 1’s Christmas Observance this year, and we’d like to wish all of our Friends, Brothers, Companions and Sir Knights a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The first Order of the Temple ever to be held at the Belleville Masonic Temple in its 150+ years was a stunning success, and though some last minute cast changes were required Sir Knights from across Southeast Michigan were quick to fill in and Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13’s inspection was held without delay. Congratulations go out to Ronald Merritt II on his being created a knight among us.
Despite having to replace two officers at the last minute due to illness Ypsilanti Commandery No. 54 had a fantastic inspection, and were happy to knight Thane Domrase of behalf of Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13.
In addition we had the pleasure of making Sir Knight Gary Leach, Commander of Ypsilanti, No 54 an honorary member of Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13 in recognition of his dedication to ensuring cooperation and harmony between our commanderies.
Please join us Saturday, November 9th at the Belleville Masonic Temple for our annual inspection. The Chamber of Reflection is set for 8:30am with the opening to follow at 9am. There will be a luncheon that follows that is open to Sir Knights, any Master Mason interested in attending and their families.
Deo duce, ferro comitante,
Brandon Mullins, Commander
The Belleville Masonic Temple can be found at:
515 Main Street
Belleville, MI 48111-2649
Click here for the Google calendar event.
If you would like a copy of the flyer for printing purposes you can find that here.
Ann Arbor Fraternity No. 262: Master’s Letter | - August 2013
An interesting piece of Ann Arbor History passed my way today. I first had a notice from EBAY that an item was for sale involving Ann Arbor Freemasonry. The item was a ribbon from a Knight’s Templar Event and if you look closely at the picture of it, you can see the name “C. E. Hiscock"
Most…
A fantastic article on one of our most illustrious Sir Knights, Charles Edward Hiscock. Sir Knight Edward was elected as Right Eminent Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar of Michigan in 1913, and was the second Past Commander from Ann Arbor Commandery No. 13 to serve as Grand Commander.
High Priest’s Address | Jun 2013
Greetings Companions,
At our April Communication we held our election of officers for the 2013-14 Capitular Year. I am proud to say that Companion Thane Domrase, the current Worshipful Master of Olive Lodge in Chelsea has been elected to the start the officer line as our Royal Arch Captain. His leadership skills and enthusiasm will be a fantastic addition to our dedicated line of Officers. I would like to thank all of our officers for committing to another year of service.
Our own, Excellent Companion Brandon Mullins, PHP has been elected to serve as President of the Southeastern Michigan York Rite Association. We know he will serve this regional service body well and bring many new ideas and energy to that organization as he did with our Chapter and other York Rite Bodies. I wish him well on this new endeavor. The next meeting of this body for all York Rite Masons is on the fifth Monday or July 29 at Milan Masonic Temple at 37 Tolan St in Milan.
It’s an honor to be elected to a second term as High Priest of Washtenaw Chapter. I am looking forward to another great year of Capitular Masonry with the finest group of Royal Arch Masons in Michigan. Although we may be small at this moment, we have proved time and time again that we can do great things and we are on the long term path to growth. As a York Rite team we will be able to go far and restore our place as a premiere York Rite organization.
On Monday, June 17 we will confer the Mark Master Mason degree, opening at 7 pm for brief business and then confer this thought provoking degree. I hope you can attend this night of fellowship and ritual work whether you come every month or if this will be your first time back in a while. We meet at Calvary United Methodist Church, 1415 Miller Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48103-3758. For up to date information visit us on Facebook or at www.aayorkrite.org where EC Brandon Mullins maintains a fantastic website.
Fraternally,
Corey F. Curtiss, PHP
Commander's Comments | Jun 2013
Sir Knights,
Well spring is behind us and another summer is on the horizon. Lodges by and lodge take the summers off and we reap the benefits of brothers across the country being free from their Lodge duties and able to participate in the various York Rite activities that take place.
Speaking of activities, despite canceling our regular conclave we’ve had a number of them since my last letter, and I have no shortage of news to share with you. Firstly, we had the pleasure of taking part in this year’s Southeastern Battalion Ascension observance, organized by Adrian Commandery No. 4, and hosted by Raisin Presbyterian Church, the home church of our Right Eminent Grand Commander, Sir Knight Cortland Rule.
And while on the subject of Southeast Michigan York Rite Masonry I would personally like to thank the Companions of the Southeast Michigan York Rite Association for electing me as president at our recent meeting, and look forward to serving the York Rite bodies in the region for the ensuing year. And as my first act as President I’ve begun work on a new Southeast Michigan York Rite Association & Southeastern Battalion website which when completed will be hosted at semyra.org.
In addition to our Ascension Service and Southeastern Battalion Meeting we also had a Commandery school of instruction where our Past Grand Commander, Sir Knight Jim Hawn helped us to work out some of the kinks in our ritual work, and plan for our upcoming inspection. We’ve set a date of November 9th for our inspection which will allow us far more time to plan than in year’s past and allow a week off for the Sir Knights who will also be participating in Ypsilanti’s Inspection on October 26th. More details on dates for practices and locations will follow.
In other news our long awaited commandery jewels have arrived and can be purchased by Sir Knights for thirty dollars. I’m exceptionally pleased with the way they turned out, and serve as a fitting fusion of historical and the more contemporary design from Ann Arbor Commander’s past. And of course I would like to thank Brother Dave and his company, Hattrick’s Merchandise for producing these fantastic jewels.
The first Sir Knights who will be receiving this jewel are our current Knights of Malta, Thane Domrase, and Ronald Merritt II who are awaiting the Order of the Temple which with the help of Adrian Commandery will be conferred on them in the coming months.
Also I’ll mention that for me, and my fellow brothers of Myrtle Lodge No. 89, June means the Belleville National Strawberry Festival every Father’s Day weekend of June where we’ll be selling fresh strawberries right in front of the lodge and our famous Strawberry Shortcake in our cool air conditioned dining room. I’ll be there and I’ll hope to see many of you as well.
And speaking of Myrtle Lodge it’s important to mention that given the small space of our current location they, at their most recent temple board meeting have agreed to allow the Ann Arbor York Rite to use their location for some of our larger degrees and orders as well as store the required regalia there. So while we are eternally grateful to all the Chapters Councils and Commanderies that have allowed us to bring candidates for further light in masonry we’ll be happy to have this home away from home where we can begin organizing work ourselves.
Our next stated is on June 17th where in addition to our business Chapter will be conferring the Mark Master Mason degree on a brother from Olive Lodge so come out and support your Chapter on starting this brother on journey that will in time lead him to being knighted by our order.
Thanks for reading this month’s letter and I hope to see you at our meeting in June and at the Strawberry Fest!
Deo duce, ferro comitante,
Brandon Mullins, Commander
Mark Master Mason Degree | June 2013
Greetings Friends & Companions,
On June 17th at Calvary United Methodist Church, at 6:30pm, join us for our upcoming Mark Master Mason degree. We will hold a short business meeting, and then go straight into the degree.
As always the more the merrier so we’d love to see companions from across the area out for this great evening of ritual and fellowship