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By Shirley Thorne
County Line Correspondent

Welcome to the first week of Daylight Saving Time (DST) in 2025. Here’s hoping everyone remembered to advance needed clocks one hour last Sunday, and by now our bodies have adapted to the change. For more data on DST, keep reading.
Piney Grove AME Zion Church will celebrate Men’s and Women’s Day during the 11 a.m. worship service Sunday, March 16. Associate Pastor Kelly Brawley of Mount Pleasant AME Zion Church of Statesville will be the guest speaker. Piney Grove members invite others for this special service followed by dinner prepared and served by the men.
Upcoming events: a United Christian Building Team breakfast fundraiser sponsored by Clarksbury Methodist from 6-10 a.m. Saturday, March 29; and V-Point Ruritan country breakfast 7-10 a.m. Saturday, April 5.
Our community extends sympathy to the family of Sonia Guadalupe Cesar Ponce, who died in an auto crash last Thursday on Old Mocksville Road as she was returning home from work at Montessori School in Statesville. She was born in 1974 in Mexico to Pablo Cesar Alba and Maria De Jesus Ponce Aguila. The mother of two adult daughters, she lived with her husband Omar Escobar Ochoa on Cartner Road.
Donnie Keller continues to improve but remains in Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Caleb Williams continues to go to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for regular blood checks and to Duke University Medical Center as needed. Since his immune system is weakened, he is limited in his interaction with others.
Join us in prayer for the Lord’s divine healing and blessings upon Donnie, Caleb, and other residents who are having health problems. Pray for the family of Sonia as they deeply miss her in life. Continue to pray for the many residents who have the flu and respiratory viruses as the number of such viruses continue to increase in our area. Continue to remember in prayer the victims of the flooding of Hurricane Helene in our mountains.

DST Origin and Facts
Some of us may have been awake Sunday morning as our time advanced from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. It is amazing how smoothly the change occurs in our country of over 340 million population. But, it hasn’t always been that way.
Here are some brief facts:
• In 1784 while living in France, Ben Franklin suggested that citizens coordinate their activities with the sun to save candles and money.
• In 1895 George Hudson, a postal worker and entomologist in New Zealand, suggested moving the clocks ahead by two hours to give him more time to hunt bugs after his postal work. In 1927 New Zealand’s Parliament adopted his idea and awarded him a medal, although it was initially ridiculed.
• In 1916 Germany enacted Hudson’s idea to save energy needed for fighting in World War I. Many countries in Europe and North America followed suit.
• For consistency in the U.S., in March 1918, President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation creating our country’s five time zones and on Easter Sunday that March, “war time” (as it was initially called) was official in the U.S. But, it was repealed in 1919 as the war had ended.
• As the U.S. entered World War II, “war time” was enacted year round from February 1942-September 1945 to save needed energy for the war effort.
• In 1966 the U.S. Congress enacted the Uniform Time Act, which further standardized time zones and set the dates for DST.
• Why does time change at 2 a.m. on the designated Sundays? In 1918 President Wilson wanted the time change each year to be minimally confusing and disruptive; hence, he chose 2 a.m. when passenger trains in New York City were not moving. Today 2 a.m. is used since that is when most bars, restaurants, stores, etc. are closed and most people are at home and asleep.
• Our country is about evenly divided in favorability of DST. I like it since I love plants and flowers and DST gives me more time to work with them other than very early in the morning. Most farmers hate it since it interferes with feeding/milking times for cows and goats.
If you absolutely hate DST but love living in our country, then move to Arizona or Hawaii – the only two states that do not switch to DST.
Here’s hoping you have enjoyed these brief facts about DST as I did.