Kevin, I guess I'm a bit confused. Here's what I've got thus far:

ThisWorkbook:
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
ActiveWorkbook.RunAutoMacros xlAutoOpen
End Sub

Module1:
Sub auto_open()
MsgBox "event happened"
End Sub

This does not work when the workbook is opened via the VB-like form,
but it does work when you dbl click the template to open. It seems the
workbook_open event is being bypassed.