Remember to Spring Forward This Weekend!

This is the weekend... It is time to move the clock ahead one hour and "Spring Forward"!

Officially at 2:00 am on Sunday, March 12, 2023, is when we move the clock ahead one hour to 3:00 am. (Most of us change our clocks before bed on Saturday night, or when we roll out of bed on Sunday morning -- but you can do it at exactly 2:00 am if you'd like!) We make this time change as we begin Daylight Saving Time. (The correct terminology is "Saving" not "Savings". There is no "S" on "saving"!) This is also the weekend I'm grateful for the clocks that reset themselves!

Why Do We Change Our Clocks in the Spring?

Ben Franklin gets the blame for this one! The idea "saving time" goes back to 1784, when Franklin came up with a daylight saving time. He wrote about his plan anonymously in an article called "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light". He proposed that the people of Paris could save on candles by waking up earlier in the morning and making use of the natural morning light. Ben's suggestion was more of a joke than a legitimate proposal for France, but wouldn't you know it, years later, we would actually do something similar right here in the United States.

We first started to use daylight saving time during World War I as a way to conserve fuel. Germany was the first to spring forward on May 1, 1916. The rest of Europe followed soon afterwards. Here in the United States we didn't adopt the plan until the Standard Time Act of March 19, 1918. That act confirmed the existing standard time zone system that we have and also set summer Daylight Saving Time to begin on March 31st of that year. We would "fall back" on October 27th, 1918. Even back then, the idea was not very popular. Farmers hated the idea because it meant they had less time in the morning to milk cows and get their harvested crops to market. After the war, Congress did away with Daylight Saving Time by overriding President Woodrow Wilson's veto.

After being abolished by Congress, Daylight Saving Time became a local option. From 1945 to 1966 there were no federal laws on daylight saving time. Local communities would choose if they were going to participate in "time shifting" or not.

When Did We Start Using Daylight Saving Time Again?

During the 1973 oil embargo by OPEC,  Congress enacted a trial period of year-round Daylight Saving Time. This "test period" began on January 6th, 1974, and ended on April 27th, 1975. Since that time, Daylight Saving Time has never really gone away.

Over the years the "spring forward" and "fall back" times have been adjusted. Now we move our clocks ahead the second Sunday of March and fall back again the first Sunday of November. (March 12th and November 5th in 2023.)

Check the Batteries in Your Smoke Detectors

When we change our clocks, it is also a good time to remember to check the batteries in the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Many newer homes have the detectors "hard wired" into the home's electrical system, however most detectors still have a battery backup. Remember to check those batteries so the devices are ready to go if they are ever needed.

Parody Movie Trailer about "Spring Forward"

A few years back, a group called The STATION by MAKER did a spoof movie clip about changing the clocks in the fall. The following spring, the same group also did another mock trailer for "Spring Forward"...

You'll get that hour of sleep back later this year when we "Fall Back" one hour on Sunday, November 5th.

The time change also means it's time to do a little spring cleaning...