Editor’s Note: An observant reader wrote today to correct us saying it’s actually Daylight Saving Time — no “s” at the end of the word “Saving.” So naturally we had to double check. Of course our reader is correct but apparently the plural form of the word is so common that it’s considered acceptable.
According to Thesaurus.com
“Daylight-saving time (singular saving) is technically the correct version: the practice is saving daylight. Still, daylight-savings time (with the plural savings) is so commonly used that it’s become an accepted variant of daylight-saving time. As some have pointed out, perhaps this is because of the phrases that use the plural savings when talking about money, such as a savings account at a bank or a savings rate taken out of your paycheck for a rainy day. Or perhaps, the regular use of the acronym for daylight-saving time, DST, has caused some of us to forget what it stood for in the first place.
So, we corrected the story. But, then we read about the use of the hyphen… we decided not to go there. 🙂
By now everyone should know that Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday morning at 2:00 a.m. Here’s your chance to catch an extra hour of sleep as we set our clocks back one hour. This annual fall tradition of “falling back” will happen automatically for our local clock tower on Larchmont.
A few years ago, we reported on how this delightful local tradition came to be and we thought it was worth repeating. 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 seasonal time changes, thanks to a computer chip.
The first year it was installed the clock didn’t reset, however, 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 the Department of 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.
