There’s a beautiful, elegant clock tower on the southwest corner of the courthouse square in Meeker. There’s only one problem with the clock: it’s wrong.
The courthouse clock is about 5-7 minutes fast. How do I know? Because when I’m rushing to get to a meeting, invariably I check that clock and think I’m late and panic.
Installed in 2007, the clock was one of the projects tackled by the now defunct Meeker Businesses in Action group. A portion of the funds were donated by former Rio Blanco County Abstract owner Dean Hubbell, who donated toward a similar clock tower project in Rifle on Railroad Avenue. After months of fundraising, the clock and the accompanying information kiosks were installed in June 2007.
Here’s where the mystery comes in…no one seems to know who is responsible for maintaining the clock. I’ve asked the county, the town and White River Electric Association, all of which were involved in the original project in some way.
If I remember correctly, the clock has a controller in the base that automatically resets for Daylight Saving Time. Some street clocks have GPS capabilities (atomic clock) to maintain the correct time. However, problems with the controller could lead to variations in timekeeping, particularly after more than a decade.
If anyone knows who is responsible for maintaining the courthouse clock, please let me know. Let’s see if we can figure out how to get our clock back on track.
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I’ve been tagged several times on social media this week in a meme that says newspaper stands for “north, east, west, south, past and present event report.” I love it, because it works, but it apparently has no legitimate historical value as either an acronym or as an abbreviation. Who knows, maybe that’s how new abbreviations are born.
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If you keep sweeping uncomfortable or unpleasant things under the proverbial rug, whether it’s that fall chore you don’t want to tackle or a mistake you’d rather hide, sooner or later you’re going to trip over the bump you’ve created and everything is going to come tumbling out in the open one way or another.
Just a thought.
By Niki Turner | [email protected]
