Point Reyes Light - July 10, 2003
Raucous July 4 in West Marin
By Ivan Gale & Dave Mitchell
From a man found near death the following morning in Bolinas to a dispute in Inverness over raising the UN flag, Independence Day in West Marin was unusually eventful Friday.
Bolinas
The biggest headaches by far were in Bolinas where hundreds of out-of-town cars jammed Horseshoe Hill Road and the main route into town, Olema-Bolinas Road. Deputies estimated the total crowd at up to 3,000 people, roughly twice the town’s year-round population.
Greatly aggravating the problem for the 10 to 12 Highway Patrol officers and sheriff’s deputies on hand was an Internet announcement that there would be a rave (unauthorized party) on Bolinas Beach Friday evening.
Deputies at 2 p.m. learned about the Internet posting, which also predicted 2,000 people would attend, Sheriff’s Lt. Rich Ginnodo, commander of the West Marin substation, told The Light.
Indeed there was a rave, he said, but it drew hundreds, not thousands, of people. Nor was the band as loud as rave bands often are, he said.
Because crowds showing up to watch the annual tug-o-war across the Bolinas Lagoon Channel between Stinson Beach and Bolinas men and women and because of an Independence Day parade up Wharf Road, officers previously agreed with organizers to close the downtown to traffic during the morning and early afternoon.
Motorists entering town from Highway 1 were diverted to a parking lot on Mesa Road.
However, once the parking lot at Mesa Park became full and a solid line of vehicles was stopped on Olema-Bolinas Road, further traffic controls were instigated.
Road closing extended
If 250 more cars had tried to park in town, fire engines could not have reached parts of Bolinas, the lieutenant said. As a result, officers stopped traffic into town at the Bolinas Wye until 6 p.m., causing at least one merchant to complain the extended closing was hurting his business.
In fact, Lt. Ginnodo noted, when he ordered the Olema-Bolinas Road opened at 6 p.m., the Highway Patrol would have preferred to keep it closed longer.
Although fireworks were illegal throughout Marin except at the county fair, at 20 to 30 places around the beach, people were setting off skyrockets. Although officers stopped people from setting off fireworks at one home, they left people on the beach alone.
With scores of people breaking the county’s fireworks law, officers would have spent all their time carting people off to jail and not doing more important work, the commander said, explaining why the fireworks were allowed to continue. However, he added, "at 11 p.m. we shut everything down....For the most part, a good time was had by all."
Bolinas was warned
Ironically, New Riley of Bolinas on June 30 published a letter in the Bolinas Hearsay News in which he warned, "Remember six years ago when we had a memorably awful Fourth of July, went into panic mode, and decided to cancel the next year’s celebrations entirely because it looked like the whole scene had gotten out of hand.
"Once we had calmed down, we realized that much of what happened was because of the Fourth falling on the day before a no-work day, and people being people, many decided they could go to Bolinas, get falling-down drunk, trash the town, and sleep in the next day.
"We talked through what could be done and figured out that a few simple precautions – more visible law enforcement presence, controls over late-afternoon liquor sales, a friendly but no-nonsense vibe patrol, monitoring and informing traffic coming into town, setting up parking on the Big Mesa – could prevent the worst excesses without blighting the festivities.
"Well, guess what? The calendar’s rolled around so that the Fourth is on a Friday again. Unless we’re willing to abandon downtown and the beaches to the hard partiers and clean up afterwards, we need a few civic-minded souls to be a calming presence."
Planning for next year
Sheriff’s Lt. Ginnodo noted officers and civic leaders last month had begun preparing for Independence Day; however, planning for next year’s Fourth of July will begin this month.
The overwhelming mystery remaining from Friday night’s events is whether a Bolinas resident was beaten into a coma or had some kind of accident. He was found Saturday near the tennis courts’ restroom, which had been surrounded by crowds Friday. Please see story on Page 1.
Stinson Beach
In Stinson Beach, Fire Chief Kenny Stevens estimated a crowd of 10,000 people crowded public beaches during the day, and nearly half the crowd remained in Stinson into the night. Many night revelers brought illegal fireworks to shoot off on the beach, and Stevens said one 15-year old boy at Calle de la Ona burned his hand setting off a blast.
Minutes later, sheriff's deputies were alerted by a Calle de la Sierra resident that a large group of youths were partying in front of her house on the beach, drinking, shooting off fireworks, and using her front steps for a restroom.
Several minor, alcohol-related fights occurred in town, Stevens said, but he was most alarmed at the half-dozen or so helium balloons that flew over town having been set ablaze with torches.
"They would go 700 to 800 feet up in the air, then start drifting over the ocean," Stevens said. "We were all just holding our breath."
Dillon Beach
Yet another immense crowd showed up in Dillon Beach, and Lawson’s Landing campground was full with 2,500 to 3,000 campers, said co-owner Nancy Vogler.
"I hate the Fourth," an exasperated Vogler told The Light Wednesday. Despite hiring two off-duty officers to help with security, she said they were unable to limit all the fireworks being lit around their 850-acre plus campground. In fact, youths setting off fireworks in sand dunes started a small fire that was put out quickly.
One camper complained that someone was shooting rockets at other people’s travel trailers although deputies could not find the culprit.
Dillon Beach Resort staffer Ian Porter said things were boisterous but not out of control at the day beach where the resort lit a bonfire and many guests played volleyball and horseshoes, and held a tug-o-war.
Inverness
Inverness held its 99th annual footraces at the firehouse green, with sprints for men and women, boys and girls, a marshmallow races for toddlers, three-legged races for older youths and adults, and a gunny sack rack for children.
Gene Ptak read the prologue to the Declaration of Independence giving special emphasis to usurptations of citizens’ rights by the king of England, implicitly comparing them to actions of the Bush Administration.
However, a central event of the celebration was canceled by organizers Dave Baty Jr. and Robert Cardwell, who decided that a ceremonial raising of the UN flag next to the state and national flags could not be held.
The decision infuriated Inverness Public Utility District Director Richard Pearson, who lined up board approval for regularly flying the flag on the firehouse green.
However, master of ceremonies Michael Holland, quoting Cardwell and Baty, announced, "It was decided that this should not be a political event. Those who disagree with this, and those who support our present government are invited to vent or pontificate right here after the races."
No one did, but the UN flag was raised with little notice from most of the crowd. Pearson, however, said it was absurd to claim Independence Day is not political.
He objected to the Stars and Stripes being used to support Bush Administration policies while supporting the UN, which the United States belongs to and helped create, is considered divisive.