
In case you need another reminder, this is the weekend to set our clocks ahead. Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 14, 2021, at 2:00 a.m., another harbinger of spring and brighter days ahead. To make sure you’re on time for Sunday events, be sure to set your clocks to “spring forward” one hour on Saturday night.
Most cellphones and computers render this annual ritual moot but inevitably there’s a stray clock on the oven or microwave that needs to be reset. And, of course, there’s the one in your car that, if you’re like me, you can never remember how to reset because you only do it twice a year!
We were wondering how our beloved Larchmont Village clock gets reset each season. According to John Miron, a local accountant who served as president of the Wilshire Rotary and spearheaded the installation of the clock tower in 2005, the clock automatically resets for Day Light Savings Time, thanks to a computer chip.
Though the first year it was installed, the clock didn’t reset and Miron told us he got nearly 50 phone calls saying the clock was wrong! But the problem was soon corrected when he contacted the manufacturer, who came out and made the adjustment. Ever since then it’s been running on time.
“We’ll see on Sunday if it’s still working,” joked Miron, who shared the story of how the clock was installed on Larchmont Blvd. “I wish we had the foresight to put it in the middle of the street,” said Miron, looking back, “but it was an ordeal to get the clock installed at all.”
Miron credits then-City Councilmember Tom LaBonge for assigning a staff member to the project and helping Miron get clearances from all the various city agencies involved. The power was provided by the Bureau of Street Lighting, and the Department of Transportation signed off on the location, as well as Building and Safety. City crews came out and dug the hole and laid the small concrete foundation for the clock.
The idea for the clock came from Wilshire Rotarians Sandy McClean, Earl Vaugh and Elsa Gillham, who was also a member of the Larchmont Boulevard Association, as way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wilshire Rotary. At the time, the project cost about $15,000 to complete.
Check it out tomorrow and see if the time is right.