“What sort of day was it?” the late CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite used to ask at the end of each installment of You Are There, a reenactment-of-history series that aired from 1953 to 1957. Then answering his own question, Cronkite would add, “A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times… and you were there.”

And I was there, but rather than try to reenact events, I’ll just show you the pictures. Yesterday at the foot of Tomales Bay, the neighboring small towns of Inverness and Point Reyes Station were filled with events that alter and illuminate our times in West Marin.

The biggest event Saturday, the Inverness Fair, as always offered a mix of music, fundraising for local civic groups, people selling arts and crafts, and good food.

The fair is held each year along Inverness Way between the firehouse and the library. On Saturday, Latinas sold Mexican food beside the firehouse to raise money for Tomales Bay Waterdogs, which teaches children living around the bay the crucial skill of swimming. (Maria Niggle at right) 

The women’s aprons all said, “Thank You, Maidee Moore.” Maidee, who founded the Waterdogs almost 45 years ago, died last month at the age of 101.

A display that attracted crowds throughout the fair was this Planned Feralhood cage where young people played with kittens that were up for adoption. Kathy Runnion of Inverness Park, who heads the program, was able to find new homes for five of the nine available.

Because the kittens are in the midst of spay, neuter, and vaccination routines, the new owners could not take their cats immediately home from the fair. The delay will at least give them a few days to prepare for the kittens.

Inverness Garden Club again this year sold plants to raise funds for its civic programs. The club maintains plantings on the median of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard through downtown, at Inverness, aptly named Plant Park, at the Gables (which houses the Jack Mason Museum and Inverness Library), at the Point Reyes Station Post Office, and at the Point Reyes Station Library.

The KWMR radio van, which also provides communications for the West Marin Disaster Council, was on hand to raise funds for the community-radio station and recruit volunteers for the Disaster Council. Here Point Reyes Station Disaster Council coordinator Lynn Axelrod talks about communications with Richard Dillman as he sits inside the van.

Dillman is the communications engineer for the Disaster Council and the “transmitter wrangler” for KWMR. He spent 30 years as a special-services officer for Greenpeace, and in 2011, the environmental group donated the van to the nonprofit radio station.

Inverness Yacht Club Youth Sailing program sold grilled hotdogs as a fundraiser for its classes that have taught many young people how to sail. As a former sailboat owner, I didn’t want to be tacky, so I bought a hotdog. Yummy.

Outside the Inverness Library, used books were sold as a benefit for the library system. By the end of the fair, the sellers were offering: “All the books you can put in a shopping bag, $5!”

Tables displaying a variety of arts and crafts for sale attracted fairgoers arriving and leaving on Inverness Way.

Meanwhile in Point Reyes Station, Gallery Route One is in the midst of its annual fundraising “Box Show.”

The show is both an exhibit and a silent auction, featuring three-dimensional works that at least in part take their shape from a box. This box created by Jane Santucci is called Sail A-Weigh.

I’m Feeling Beachy is the title of the box at left, which was created by artist Geraldine Lia Braaten. The box at right, Searching for Water, is the work of artist Ellen Gray. ______________________________________________________________________

An eerie Society’s Child box by Sandra Aufang.

_____________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, five blocks away at the other end of Point Reyes Station yesterday….

Gathered below Ralph Stein’s painting Negative Spin.

Friends, relatives, and admirers of artist Ralph Stein of Point Reyes Station gathered at the Dance Palace Community Center for a memorial showing of his paintings. Stein, who was born in Milwaukee in 1928, died Feb. 24 in Sausalito surrounded by his family. An intermittent resident of Sausalito, Stein had moved to Point Reyes Station in 2012. _____________________________________________________________

Stein (right), an abstract expressionist like Jackson Pollock, had studied art in New York City.

While hanging around with other “Bohemians,” as they were called, he got to know such art-world luminaries as Pollock, William de Kooning, and Robert Motherwell.

He became a personal friend of poet Grace Paley. ___________________________________________________________________

During a reception for the memorial exhibit, Bruce Fox performed surprisingly melodic music on this steel drum from Switzerland. The UFO-shaped instrument is called a hang (pronounced hawn). By tapping on different parts of the hang, Fox was able create an impressive range of resonant notes.

Stein’s determination to become an abstract expressionist painter intensified after he suffered a stroke in 1962, which affected his language center. As a painter, he would not need to use words, he told himself. Fortunately, he was able over time to regain his ability to speak normally.

The artist’s paintings will remain on display in the lobby of the Dance Palace until Sept. 14.

Are you going to Inverness Fair, Sparsely Sage And Timely? Remember me to Juan who works there, he once was a good friend of mine.

The annual Inverness Fair was held Saturday next to the firehouse. At left, oysters from British Columbia served on the half shell were sold as a benefit for the Inverness Foundation. The group maintains the Jack Mason Museum of West Marin History. The Inverness Association is the operational arm of the organization.

Big woofers. The band High Tide Collective from Bolinas was hit with fairgoers, playing a mix of rock ‘n’ roll and up-tempo blues.

The dancing dog. At times throughout the afternoon, folks danced to the band’s music, including a couple who danced with their dog. Watching with rapt attention were a little girl and another dog.

Doggone impressive. One of those selling crafts was Roger Sierra, formerly of West Marin and now living in Petaluma. Among his items for sale were two Guatemalan-made Pipes of Pan. Sierra gave an impromptu demonstration of the instruments’ flute-like sound by picking one up and playing along with the band.

Fresh from holding its own Far West Fest two weeks earlier in Point Reyes Station, KWMR community radio took part in the Inverness Fair, selling t-shirts and giving out bumper stickers.

Waterdogs. Rebecca Porrata (left) and Kate Levinson (right) were among the women selling tacos as a benefit for the Tomales Bay Waterdogs. The program teaches youngsters living around the bay the vital skill of swimming.

Hotdogs. Katherine Landreth enjoys a hotdog sold as a benefit for the Youth Sailing program based at the Inverness Yacht Club.

Inverness Garden Club held its annual plant sale. The club maintains plantings on the median of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard through downtown, at Inverness’ aptly named Plant Park, at the Gables (which houses the Jack Mason Museum and Inverness Library), at the Point Reyes Station Post Office, and at the Point Reyes Station Library.

A colorful duo sold the raffle tickets for the Dance Palace’s annual Duck Derby, a fundraiser for the community center in Point Reyes Station. During the derby, a flock of numbered rubber ducks floats down Papermill Creek, with the first duck to reach the finish line at White House Pool winning. This year’s derby will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22.

No doggerel here. Outside the Inverness Library, used books were sold as a benefit for the Marin County Free Library system. The books of rhyme were mostly fine, and none was doggerel.