The can-do spirit of two Inverness couples was celebrated at the Dance Palace last Saturday night during the third annual Community Awards Banquet. Jim and Pam Campe and Barry and Linda Linder were honored for their lifelong service and leadership in West Marin in a ceremony that included a hearty meal and a live auction that exceeded their goal of $30,000 for children’s programs. Among their impressive list of accomplishments, Mr. Campe and Mr. Linder were instrumental in the design and construction of the Dance Palace itself. Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, who presented letters of appreciation to the couples on behalf of the county, ended his speech on a personal note. “I have known these people for most of my life, and no one has done more for our community, or for the Dance Palace,” he said, and then turned to the couples. “And I know that you will continue contributing… because I know you very well.” Slideshows of the Campes and Linders depicted lives well-lived, with photos of weddings, round-bellied moms-to-be, the foundations of new homes and other projects that involved paint, hammers and garden tools. After the Campes relocated to Inverness from Berkeley in 1971, she helped get the first local preschools off the ground and then taught at the Inverness School. She also helped found the West Marin Soccer League and co-organized a Russian exchange program. Mr. Campe, an architect, directed the design and construction crews for the Dance Palace in 1989, and supported neighbors as they salvaged and rebuilt their homes after the 1982 flood and the 1995 Mount Vision Fire. He also co-designed and remodeled the first certified passive house for the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin. Upon receiving their award, the Campes playfully chastised the event’s speakers for their long-windedness before unrolling a banner that read, “Thank you!” The Linders, who both hail from Queens but met in West Marin in the 1970s, have a similar abundance of energy. Mrs. Linder was a long-time nurse at West Marin Health and Human Services and served on the Marin Head Start Health Advisory Board, Marin Breast Cancer Counsel and Stockstill House Advisory Board. Mr. Linder, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, was a fashion buyer in New York before trading in his three-piece suit for painter’s overalls when he moved to West Marin. He has volunteered his painting skills to numerous nonprofits and, with his wife, coordinated a food share program through St. Columba’s Church in the ’80s, helped provide food for low-income seniors through West Marin Community Services and, for 10 years, ran the flea market at the Inverness Fair to raise funds for the Inverness Garden Club scholarship fund. Together they created—and to this day maintain—the median in Inverness. Amid cheers from the crowd, Mr. Linder accepted his award with a grin and implored, “My only question is… what took you so long!”