Features

The Solano Stroll this year was threatened by symbolic and actual storm clouds. Some were unhappy with a decision of the Stroll organizers not to pay invited musicians, and a late summer storm cast gray over the morning. A sprinkling of rain fell nearby in portions of Berkeley and north Oakland, but by the afternoon the skies had cleared and the throngs came out.  

The Stroll, falling on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, had a theme of "unsung heros" and the imagery was out in force, from cartoon superheros to a large, period-costumed, contingent organized by the Berkeley Historical Society, local League of Women Voter's chapter, and American Association of University Women celebrating the centennial of the 1911 achievement of women's voting rights in California. 

Carnival dancers, cheerleaders, and Jewish folk dancers swept along the street, bands played, Taiko drums boomed, and fencers parried. There were Morris dancers and ballet mice.  

Modern and historic fire engines led the Parade, and the Berkeley Fire Department later put on a demonstration of opening up a car with the "Jaws of Life", while a Ferris wheel whirled at the top of the Avenue.