Time Warp

FRANCESVILLE — The church service at First Baptist Church here will start at the same time as always on Sunday — yet two hours earlier than it has for the past year.

Confused? Welcome to Pulaski County, where the clock on the courthouse in Winamac reads 10:15 a.m. and the digital clock a half-mile away outside the First Federal Savings Bank reads 11:15 a.m., and everyone knows neither is wrong.

“Whenever I make an appointment I say, ‘It’s 11:45 here; what time is it there?’ ” said Sheila Garling, owner of Gear Up Sports & Apparel in Winamac.

Folks in this county about 90 miles north of Indianapolis have been caught in a time warp since Indiana lawmakers voted in 2005 to begin observing statewide daylight-saving time for the first time in 30 years. But thanks to a time-zone reversal by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Sunday’s arrival of daylight time, they hope the confusion will finally clear.

While most U.S. clocks spring forward one hour on Sunday, Pulaski County will move the courthouse clock ahead two hours. That will move the county from Central time to Eastern Daylight.

Pulaski was one of 19 Indiana counties that sought to switch time zones after lawmakers approved statewide daylight time.

The U.S. Department of Transportation initially recommended that Pulaski and several surrounding counties remain in the Eastern zone. But it ultimately put Pulaski and neighboring Starke County in the Central zone and most other nearby counties in Eastern.

Pulaski County officials vowed to defy the federal government and move to Eastern time on their own. They changed their minds when government lawyers threatened to sue. Instead, they filed a request in June to switch back to Eastern.

In the meantime, the county’s biggest school district decided to observe Eastern time to minimize confusion. The district has pupils who live in an Eastern time county and shares programs with an Eastern time district.

Many residents and businesses also decided to stay on Eastern. County officials switched the work hours for most county employees from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST to 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central time — making the switch in time zones a change in name only for some.

“That was confusing in itself, but people lived through it,” County Commissioner Michael Tiede said.

Others, however, decided to stay put.

“We just decided if that was the official time, we’d abide by it,” said Dennis Gutwein, the pastor at the First Baptist Church, who kept the clocks at the church and his insurance business in Francesville on Central time.

Some residents have found it simpler to refer to fast time or slow time when making plans.

Federal officials in February approved Pulaski County’s request to return to Eastern. But Gutwein worries the confusion will get worse Sunday when the clocks move forward. Some people might show up for Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. EDT, others at 9:30 a.m. EST and others at 9:30 a.m. CST, he said.

“It will be strange,” Gutwein said.