By Victoria Marty, The Gleaner

It's true: There was no need for umbrellas on Saturday. Yet the 2009 Street Strut isn't about convention.


In fact, if there are any rules to the 19th annual Mardi Gras style celebration of wackiness, it's that there are no rules.

That's why the woman who carried a green umbrella dangling miniature soccer balls was probably committing a technical foul ... somewhere.

Then there was the girl who rode a bicycle on which she had covered the tire slats (and her helmet) with pieces of aluminum foil.

And it could be why this year's Grande Ooh-Pee-Doo won the top award in a way that she said was accidental.

"I laid out a couple of things and said, 'I'm tired, I'm going to bed,' " Susie Rideout laughed, her black umbrella embellished with paintings of flowers that matched her dress.