Pugh

A few years ago, I wrote a column about time, our time, the time before the railroads imposed their time.

It wasn’t until 1918, at the insistence of the railroads, that time zones were created. Our gatherings on depot platforms were at their time, and in time their time became our time.

Before railroad time, how was our time determined?

The State of Michigan was first surveyed in 1815. A surveyed line was run from our state’s northernmost point in Sault Saint Marie, south to our state’s southern border. This line is the “Michigan Meridian.” It’s a line of longitude that marks the western boundary of Montmorency County.

From that line, true north-south lines can be determined anywhere in the state.

Long before railroad time, Charles Reynolds was the proprietor of Reynolds Jewelry in downtown Alpena. On the back wall of his store was a large clock. On that clock, he set the time. Where did he get it?

A line of longitude was surveyed on the roof of his store. On this line, Charles constructed a mount that held a solar transit, a device that enabled him to determine the exact center of the sun as it crossed the line.

When it did, it was noon in Alpena.

Then the big wall clock was set, from which time traveled to churches whose bells announced the beginnings and endings of our days and the moments of significance that lay between.

Charles’ solar transit is at the Besser Museum, a gift from the Reynolds family.

The wall clock is gone, and the church bells don’t ring like they used to. Now, many churches don’t have a bell. But that’s probably a good thing, for although Alpena has 7% fewer people than it did in 1970, there are 29% more churches. If they all had bells, our times could get confused.

Best we stick with railroad time, even though it hasn’t always been good time.

When railroads first appeared, everybody wanted to own railroad stock. They said railroad tracks would be laid as far as the eye could see in every direction forever and ever. Share prices soared until there came a day in 1846 when they didn’t anymore. Many investors lost their life savings.

Those were tough times.

Now we have SpaceX and AI companies. Stocks are reaching valuations in the trillions of dollars. Everyone wants a share. Everyone wants to be wealthy, everyone isn’t, everyone won’t be:

Presently, the top 1% of our population holds 32% of all household wealth, the top 10% over 68%. The botton 50%? — They have 2.5%.

College graduates hold 74.5% of the wealth. Those with some college, 14.5%. Those with a high school education: 9.3%; those without a high school education, only 1.5%. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (March, 2026)

And it’s not getting any better for those who lack an education. A few days ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the surge in energy prices had wiped out a year and a half of wage gains for the average American.

Gabriel Zucman, an economist, warns, “If you want a well-functioning

economy, it’s not good to have too much concentrated power with extreme wealth at the very top. It distorts markets. It distorts democracy.”

And it distorts time.

College graduates live an average of 11 years longer than those who never finish high school. Here’s the breakdown:

Those who completed college had an average lifespan of 84.2 years. Those who completed some college, 82.1 years. In contrast, high school graduates had average life spans of 77.3 years, and those without a high school diploma only 73.5 years. (Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation. (Jan, 2025)

So, it’s not just a matter of time; it’s a matter of life — and death.

Not everyone needs to earn a college degree. The correlation between education, wealth, and life span may now be less. The Alpena News recently reported that union apprenticeship programs can receive community college credits toward degrees, an effort by the state to address wealth disparity.

However accomplished, it is undeniable that increased skills, training, and knowledge can enhance our existence.

So, we need to mount transits that find the centers of time, avoid blurring at the extremes of right and left, the intolerances of darkness, and include equality and diversity in the definition of a fair opportunity to attain better times.

To that end, has the time now come when our young people don’t have time for school board members who divert precious resources by rejecting a lowest bidder, who miss 30% of school board meetings, who refuse a gift of $150,000 to finance a continuing educational experience, who retain unneeded law firms, and who fail to send their own children to public school — an apparent rejection of its mission?

Young people may not realize they don’t have that time.

But, we should.